4-year-old dies after riding Disney attraction

[BirdMom]

Oh how sad - then it could be a pre-existing condition that was unknown prior to their trip.

That was sort of the case at the Cal. Splash - we had a teenage girl with a heart condition decide to go on the ride anyway and she died before her party got to C-lift. Everyone on the crew who had to witness the CFA nurses trying to revive her was pretty shaken up.

[SoarWhoreCoCo]

And the News Sensationalism continues....

On CHannel 13 they reported that Disney Cast Members did not perform CPR for two minutes after the boy was discovered passed out.....Hello idiots! We are not trained for this only lifeguards and medics. Could any of the newscaters reporting have performed CPR ?? 99% chance not...Damn sorry but they pissed me off! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[BirdMom]

I don't know if it's the company protecting CM's from good samaratin lawsuits or what, but it's always puzzled me why there isn't someone in each locaton, each shift, who is trained in CPR. When I temped at Hyundai in Fountain Valley every department had at least one person trained in CPR - plus, the person's cubicle/office was clearly marked that they were the one to turn to in case of emergency. Oh well - at least there are accessable first aid stations all over the park in California. If someone had a pre-existing medical condition, there wouldn't be much that even an R.N. could do to save them from their own biology.

[Stduck]

In the state of California you are not required to perform CPR if you are certified but if you start you legally cannot stop till paramedics arive. But if the person dies you are not to blame under good semaritan law.

[IndyandMarion]

While the death of the boy is sad yes, there are a few CMs that I have talked to (including myself) that are slowly starting to get tired of the whole "Guests blaming us when a ride is down because of Mission: SPACE"

Case in point (Today actually): I had a guest come up to me (A mother with a party of four) and ask me if the ride was safe and if her daughter was tall enough.

Naturally, and obviously, we don't operate our rides unless they have been inspected every morning and during a down time to ensure that it can operate safely. I was very kind to her and told her as I was checking the child's height "Yes, like all other attractions here, we do not open unless we are sure the ride is safe for guests"

And then, it came...

"Well that's not what happened on that other ride"

A few of us have gotten to the point to where we get a little miffed when that comment comes. Keeping my professionalism, I told her (In a manner to shut her down), "It was the parents fault, not ours."

Which, going by what leftcoaster stated, was the fact since the child had pre-existing health conditions (Something which you cannot escape at M:S unless you're blind enough not to see the giant neon yellow signs with the health warnings...all 17 of them and deaf enough not to hear the constant loop in the loading area about the same health warnings), then it was clearly the parents fault, with all due respect.

The fact of the matter is, the child, while unfortant, would have eventually run into complications in that off chance and, it just happened to be on M:S. It could have been on Pirates and it still would have obviously been natural causes (Unless a person was so frail that the small drop in the ride injured them).

But that's just my two cents and the general idea that's going around with a few CMs I talk to.

[PirateJohn]

In the state of California you are not required to perform CPR if you are certified but if you start you legally cannot stop till paramedics arive.

Not quite. You can stop if you are too exhausted to continue.

[Stduck]

^Forgot about that part thank you for correcting me

[disneyfireman]

Oh how sad - then it could be a pre-existing condition that was unknown prior to their trip.

That was sort of the case at the Cal. Splash - we had a teenage girl with a heart condition decide to go on the ride anyway and she died before her party got to C-lift. Everyone on the crew who had to witness the CFA nurses trying to revive her was pretty shaken up.

I am stationed the the house that responded to this incident. Im not really at liberty to discuss specifics, and I am no doctor, but in my professional opinion, he may of had one of two pre-existing conditions.

Number one - Aneurysm of the brain, aggravated by the almost 2 g's produced by the ride OR

Number two - An embolism. which is the sudden blockage of an artery in the lung. Once the artery is blocked, usually by one or more blood clots, oxygen levels in the blood drop, and blood pressure in the lungs rises. Death can occur in minutes or up to an hour later, depending on the size and location.

My question is this. Why did it take 2-3 minutes to begin CPR?? Aren't the ride operators trained in CPR? If not, why not?? If CPR had begun within 1 minute, this baby could have possibly been saved. Again, I am no doctor, and CPR may not have done anything, but it would have given him a fighting chance.

[Anna]

I have long suspected a brain aneurysm or grand mal seizure. The fact that his body went completely stiff before passing out is a sure sign of a brain abnormality.

The preliminary autopsy just checked for bruises, broken bones, and other things on the outside of the body to determine blunt trauma. The complete autopsy should tell us more. A brain aneurysm is a ticking time bomb. It seldom gives any warnings and could have happened at anytime, even while sleeping.

One newspaper report from the boy's hometown said that the mother stated the child stiffened up right before the ride began to spin. In this report, the mom said her son's legs went straight out before the spinning and she thought he was stiffening up because he was scared. The ride began and the child then passed out. If this is the case, the child could have had an aneurysm or even a stroke or seizure before the ride even started. My bet is still on an aneurysm.

edited to add:

I just read this article which seems to confirm my suspision that it could have been a brain aneurysm:

"Dr. John Kuluz, an associate professor and expert in pediatric critical care and brain injuries at the University of Miami, said the mother's report of her son's rigidity suggests that the brain was a more likely suspect.

"That episode of being rigid makes it sound as if the brain was having increased pressure," said Kuluz, who does research in children's brain injuries.

He said different things could cause the stiffening, including a hemorrhage or bleeding in the brain that might be triggered by high G-forces and spinning. But, he added, it's unlikely that a healthy child suddenly would be stricken.

Pediatric cardiologists said various abnormalities can trigger sudden death. However, they said, serious problems usually make themselves known before age 4.

Overall, doctors said children's bodies are better able to deal with the physical stresses on intense amusement-park rides. They said they couldn't give blanket recommendations to parents.

"If anything, a kid can tolerate [rides] better than an adult," said Dr. Tom Carson, a Florida Hospital pediatric cardiologist. "But I guess the best advice is that if there is any family history of sudden death or fainting, those kids should be evaluated by a physician before going on a ride like that."

[Zazu]

Why did it take 2-3 minutes to begin CPR?? Aren't the ride operators trained in CPR? If not, why not?

Nope, attraction hosts are not trained in CPR. In six years, I haven't even been offered the chance to take a class in it.

I thought we might get trained on the automatic defibrillators, but instead we were told that only other guests or trained CMs could use them. Again, no offer of training -- just the warning that dicipline up to and including termination could result from an untrained CM using them.

As for the reason, there's only one, and it's pretty obvious: $ :scrooge: $