The Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)

DALTON, Ga. — Collin Blankenship, 13, watched as his brother Corbin, 9, drove a police golf cart through an obstacle course, knocking over orange cones and weaving like someone who's had too many beers.

"I think I'll do better than him because I've driven a car before," Collin said.

Next up was their sister, Carlee, 6, who knocked over more than 20 cones. The elder Blankenship brother did better, but he still knocked over several cones.

All three got an idea about the perils of impaired driving through the drunken-driving simulator called Fatal Vision.

And learning about safety, and the police and fire departments that protect it, was what the Public Safety Fair was all about.

Police, firefighters, emergency medical service workers and other emergency personnel from Whitfield County and Dalton had a variety of displays and demonstrations at the North Georgia Fairgrounds. The Public Safety Fair was in conjunction with the National Night Out event promoting crime prevention and safety awareness.

The Fatal Vision experience gave the Blankenship brothers some safety awareness.

Both said the scene through the goggles -- which simulate the vision of a person with a blood-alcohol level of twice the legal limit -- was "blurry" and confusing. It was not how they would want to feel while driving a car.

Also at the event, police and firefighters discussed their careers and experiences with the hundreds of children and parents who attended.

Taekwondo students demonstrated their martial arts skills, and there were various information booths, emergency response vehicles and lots of men and women in uniform.

In one area, personnel from the Whitfield County and Dalton fire departments worked a simulated wreck scene.

Amid broken glass and twisted metal, the firefighters worked in 90-plus degree heat to free the victim, a dummy, from the wreckage.

The drill helps the public understand what they do, and helps the emergency workers stay sharp, said a sweaty Robbie Jones, an engineer with the Whitfield County Fire Department, as he took a break to get a cold drink and a hotdog.

"Time is everything as far as patient care. The quicker you get them out the quicker you can get them to the hospital," he said. "That's why we always keep up training and do stuff like this, so we can be proficient with our job."

Copyright 2008 Chattanooga Publishing Company