Troubled teens to get reality check from coroner

Kim Smith

Monday, Nov. 26, 2001 | 9:32 a.m.

When Dennis Nolan was a young paramedic, running from car accident to car accident and shooting to shooting, one fact continually struck him.

"I was seeing people my own age dying," Nolan said.

The images stayed with him and now, years later, Assemblyman Nolan, R-Las Vegas, is one of the driving forces behind a program that will allow troubled teenagers to visit the Clark County Coroner's Office two days a week to face the same realization.

The program, set to begin in January, will not be a Scared Straight-type program, Nolan stressed. Instead, it will be a three-hour educational program on Tuesdays and Thursdays designed to show kids how fragile life is.

District Court Family Judge Cynthia Dianne Steel, the county's primary juvenile judge, will choose the participants after meeting with probation officers.

Although the youths will not see autopsies or uncovered remains, they will get a full tour of the facility, Nolan said. In addition, the teens will be required to explain how they got into trouble, and listen to the stories of real people and how they died.

The teens will be shown pictures of people who have passed through the coroner's office. They will see photos of birthdays, holiday celebrations and other milestones, and may even see photos taken at the scene of their death.

When possible, the people the teens will learn about will be their age.

Family members of each of the deceased people will have given their permission in advance, Coroner Ron Flud said. Some family members may speak to the teens about the devastation they've experienced.

For example, the teens may see the bodies and hear about the lives of overdose victims, car accident victims or the victims of violence.

At the end of the evening -- for which they must pay $40 -- the youths will be required to write an essay on how the visit affected them.

Two groups of youths are being targeted -- those who have gotten into trouble with drugs and alcohol and those who have been found guilty of such crimes as gang or domestic violence, Flud said.

"We want to show them that it can be over very quickly, that the human body is very fragile and that it doesn't take a lot to end it," Flud said.

Nolan said 11 states have similar programs and he was pleased at the support the program got locally.

Steel, mental health officials, state Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, and representatives of the coroner's office and the Division of Child and Family Services worked together to develop it.

The program is about "mortality and choices, taking risks and consequences," Steel said.

"So many kids are desensitized by watching TV, playing video games and watching the 11 o'clock news," she said.

After the teens smell the unescapable stench of death and hear such sad stories, Steel said she hopes they will start making better choices.

Weiner said that if the program works, she would like to expand it to include visits to rehabilitation hospitals, so youths may see that their actions can cause a wide variety of horrible consequences.

Flud said that some people in his profession are reluctant to participate in such projects, deeming them ghoulish and disrespectful. But he set aside his own reservations upon being assured of two things.

First, Flud said he was told he would have total control over what the program would entail. Second, he learned that the state law includes a provision that lawmakers are to receive annual reports on the program and, if they deem it unsuccessful, they can cancel it.

A few groups of youths will be taken through the program before the holidays so it can be fine-tuned before it officially begins Jan. 7.

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