Boy dies after riding Rock 'n' Roller Coaster

[Dwarful]

Ok pardon me, I did not read all 26 pages. I feel for this family for this tragic experience. I cannot fathom their grief.

I think that we hear more about accidents at Disney because attendance is greater at WDW parks than out of state, smaller, amusement parks. I know Six Flags St. Louis in the 30+ years of operation has had several deaths and one murder (yes, a man deliberately unstrapped his wife while riding in a stand up rollercoaster).

 

[DznyGrlSD]

According to CNN, initial reports say he had Congenital Heart Disease...

 

[dismedic]

OK after 26 pages and debate over AEDs the news is in a congentital heart defect

No not the ride , No not G forces NO not DISNEY that caused this poor souls death but an act of god.

When will people stop jumping to conclusions??
The press and even the members of this forum have an uncanny ability to jump to conclusions .,


AEDs are usefull in limited circumstances now in 2006 the American Heart Association has changed the way we as EMS providers "shock" people.

Seems that Disney most definatly has had a run of bad luck,

We must remember by virture the volumes of children that pass thru these parks per day are overwhelming compared to most amusement resorts.

Do incidents happen at other parks involving the worst of the worst a child dying? Yes it does but does it get splashed on every news outlet NO, Only because its Disney

MY prays go out to the family although nothing I have ever seen can console a families grief than when they loose a child

The best we can do is not speculate and debate but offer our words of help and sorrow for those who have lost.

 

[CommunicoreBabe]

So sad

It was so sad to read this thread. It brought back the memory of the confusion that goes on when someone dies suddenly and so unexpectedly. My condolences to the family.

 

[autumndawn1006]

I think there is a lack of understanding and knowledge when it comes to defibrillators, especially AED (automated external defibrillator). I think most of the folks here would pass out if they actually knew what a difib does.

Okay class, a quick lesson so we can stop worrying about the AED's
A difibrillator is not the magic machine you might believe. It is not used for just any unconscious or unresponsive person, much less every cardiac arrest (heart attack). The difibrillator is used for two reasons...only one of which is relavent here, or to an AED. The heart MUST be in a rhytm called Ventricular Fibrillation for the AED or manual defibrillator to be used, well, to be properly used, anyway. Ventricular Fibrillation, or V Fib, is when the heart is sort of "quivering", shall we say. It is beating, but beating in many of the electrical nodes found in the heart, so blood is not being pumped as it should. (picture a small sack of worms just kind of wiggling)

Okay, so what you see on TV or movies is crap...you see docs and others use defibrillators on any and every type of cardiac arrest. Nope, sorry, they are worthless on all EXCEPT the V Fib.

So how does it work...simple really. The defibrillator (figuerd out why it is called that yet?) will "shock" the heart and CAUSE IT TO STOP BEATING (don't pass out on me)...and hope that when and if the heart restarts it can "reset" itself and begin a normal rhythm. Alot of times, the heart stays stopped and then the defibrillator becomes useless.

Proper CPR is still the most effective tool for cardiac arrest.

Thank you Timmay. I like it when I learn something new here.:sohappy:

 

[beyondthepalace]

I think there is a lack of understanding and knowledge when it comes to defibrillators, especially AED (automated external defibrillator). I think most of the folks here would pass out if they actually knew what a difib does.

Okay class, a quick lesson so we can stop worrying about the AED's
A difibrillator is not the magic machine you might believe. It is not used for just any unconscious or unresponsive person, much less every cardiac arrest (heart attack). The difibrillator is used for two reasons...only one of which is relavent here, or to an AED. The heart MUST be in a rhytm called Ventricular Fibrillation for the AED or manual defibrillator to be used, well, to be properly used, anyway. Ventricular Fibrillation, or V Fib, is when the heart is sort of "quivering", shall we say. It is beating, but beating in many of the electrical nodes found in the heart, so blood is not being pumped as it should. (picture a small sack of worms just kind of wiggling)

Okay, so what you see on TV or movies is crap...you see docs and others use defibrillators on any and every type of cardiac arrest. Nope, sorry, they are worthless on all EXCEPT the V Fib.

So how does it work...simple really. The defibrillator (figuerd out why it is called that yet?) will "shock" the heart and CAUSE IT TO STOP BEATING (don't pass out on me)...and hope that when and if the heart restarts it can "reset" itself and begin a normal rhythm. Alot of times, the heart stays stopped and then the defibrillator becomes useless.

Proper CPR is still the most effective tool for cardiac arrest.

Thank you for the insight about the true effects of an AED. My point really is why aren't they more available? Also, in this scenario as well as the pervious incident, it seemed that no one knew what was going on. Now I do not expect every team member to know CPR but they should be trained on how to get assistance fast to the people in need. Both cases now it seems everyone was standing around with their thumbs up their @@@. Lack of proper training of course will not prevent these things from happening, but they might help get the person quicker treatment.

 

[Monty]

Thank you for the insight about the true effects of an AED. My point really is why aren't they more available? Also, in this scenario as well as the pervious incident, it seemed that no one knew what was going on. Now I do not expect every team member to know CPR but they should be trained on how to get assistance fast to the people in need. Both cases now it seems everyone was standing around with their thumbs up their @@@. Lack of proper training of course will not prevent these things from happening, but they might help get the person quicker treatment.

If the father was performing CPR and is trained [Special Forces certainly are], then everyone did exactly as they should, which is to let him control the resuscitation effort. I would assume if an AED was available, he'd have used it if the situation warranted and if it wasn't, he would continue CPR until EMS arrived, which I believe he did.

As I said early on in this thread, let the facts speak for themselves. If the situation warrants it, there will be an inquest. An inquest would look at whether anything could have been done better to obtain a better outcome and make recommendations for corrective measures WDW and/or Reedy Creek could implement. To my knowledge, Disney pays attention to recommendations and acts on them.

The sadness of losing a son is the real story for me. No man should out-live his children, let alone have them die in his arms. I said two extra prayers as I tucked in DS11 tonight, that God be with this father and his family and that I be fortunate enough to pre-decease my boy many years from now.

 

[Dizneyworld4430]

As a medical student you should know at least two things:
1)There is more than one thing that can cause loss of life.
2)No diagnosis should ever be made without investigation into the cause of the problem!
Boy I would hate to see your malpractice premiums when you graduate!:lookaroun

yes i am quite aware of that and no need for rudeness. but i gave my oppinion and noticed that i said student. that means im still learning no need for the brashness. btw im just finishing up my first year. so guess what im allowed to make mistakes

 

[Dizneyworld4430]

see thats why i rarely post on here. because no one can ever just discuss anyting. something bad towards another memeber always comes up. and i bet 99 percent of the people on here are adults. i have been wanting to say this for a while but we are all on here because we have the same love for disney. why must we make it a point to bash people. there are other civilized ways of stating your mind. sorry i just had to make my peace. does anyone else agree with me

 

[Dizneyworld4430]

I wouldn't say all carnival people are on drugs.... They do get it right most of the time don't they?

your right they do but i read that most of them are/were on drugs or just got out of jail. i dont know im just not a big fan of them and after i saw a mother riding the zipper with her son fall to her death i have just kinda had a hatred towards carnivals.

 

[hypercatmatt04]

I was at RNR a few days after this happened, and there was a man riding in the seat the boy died in and the rest of the train was empty. He just kept riding. Was this some sort of investigation? Sorry if this has already been mentioned.

 

[Avid Merrion]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/orl-bk-disney06292006,0,5996099.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

I couldn't get that link to work.

 

[Kwit35]

I am just plain sad. I feel so bad for this family. No matter how it happened, it is just unthinkable to lose a child. I lost a younger sibling when I was 10 and it was the worst possible thing my family has ever gone through. The pain NEVER goes away. Never. Now that I am a parent myself, the pain is even worse. I think my parents are two of the strongest people I have ever known, to go through this tragedy and stay together and just survive. This family has a hard road ahead of it, but they will survive. All they can do is remember the good times and be there for one another.

 

[Monty]

I was at RNR a few days after this happened, and there was a man riding in the seat the boy died in and the rest of the train was empty. He just kept riding. Was this some sort of investigation? Sorry if this has already been mentioned.

A few days after? It only happened 4 days ago... Nevermind.


I would guess you're right. If a single rider was repeatedly riding the same train alone, it may well be part of an investigation. How much information of value would be obtained without the train running full, I don't know. Presumably the train would react differently to the track empty compared to full? Weight, balance and speed would likely all be affected.

 

[hypercatmatt04]

A few days after? It only happened 4 days ago... Nevermind.

Fine.
Two days after..

 

[Monty]

Fine.
Two days after..

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean, it just struck me as an odd way of putting it. I use my share of terms out of habit, so I shouldn't be throwing stones in my glass house...

 

[rbrower]

How tragic, I feel sorry for the family....BUT...

...is anyone else thinking "oh no, here we go again"...?

That is what I was thinking! It always seems that whenever somebody dies on a disney ride, it is because of a health problem! Then everybody blames disney when the person mainly at fault is the person that got on even if they had a health condition!

 

[dopey]

That is what I was thinking! It always seems that whenever somebody dies on a disney ride, it is because of a health problem! Then everybody blames disney when the person mainly at fault is the person that got on even if they had a health condition!

Maybe I'm brain-addled, but who blamed Disney?

Please don't say the media. The media reported the fact that it happened. Unless you can point out some newspaper or TV editorial that said Disney needs to pay more attention to safety.

There was certainly a lot of speculation here and, I imagine, at other discussion boards. Most people suspected the boy had some sort of health condition. Confirmation of that fact came a day later, so there wasn't a whole lot of time for there to be any finger-pointing.

And, really, can YOU blame the kid or his parents? Did his parents know their son had a heart problem so severe that he'd die on a rollercoaster? Wouldn't that be murder?

 

[rbrower]

Maybe I'm brain-addled, but who blamed Disney?

Please don't say the media. The media reported the fact that it happened. Unless you can point out some newspaper or TV editorial that said Disney needs to pay more attention to safety.

There was certainly a lot of speculation here and, I imagine, at other discussion boards. Most people suspected the boy had some sort of health condition. Confirmation of that fact came a day later, so there wasn't a whole lot of time for there to be any finger-pointing.

And, really, can YOU blame the kid or his parents? Did his parents know their son had a heart problem so severe that he'd die on a rollercoaster? Wouldn't that be murder?

sorry if I sounded a little harsh when I said that. I really do feel sorry for the family and I didn't mean to sound rude when I said that. I was just saying that I wish people were a little more careful about the rides that they went on.
I knew after I wrote that somebody would get mad at me for it but then I had to leave and I forgot about changing it when I got back until after You posted Dopey!

 

[Tom]

Maybe I'm brain-addled, but who blamed Disney?

Please don't say the media. The media reported the fact that it happened. Unless you can point out some newspaper or TV editorial that said Disney needs to pay more attention to safety.

Well, I'm sure there are tons of people that are ignorant enough to actually think that this WAS Disney's fault - in fact, I've seen a few on TV already. Last night on Fox News, they had two guests on one of the shows. One who had a brain and one who didn't - as usual. The one without, funny enough, was a member of the media (he wrote for some magazine). These words actually came out of his mouth:

"...this ride killed a 12-year-old boy..."

"...Disney knew when they were designing this ride that someday, someone would die while riding it..."

He actually was point-blank blaming Disney for this accident. In fact, he was implying that Disney was malicious in their design, knowing that someone would die on the ride. What an idiot. I was yelling at the TV - this guy was SO stupid. And the sad part is that Cletus is sitting at home watching that going, "Gol-leeee....that disneyland company done kilt that yungin! Thems should be locked up in the slammer." So, directly or indirectly, the media is responsible for all (ok, most) blaming that is being directed at Disney.

As for the comments on AEDs and CPR - here's my take. I wish there were NO AEDs sitting around, just for anyone to grab and use. Thank goodness that here in Indiana we have a Good Samaritan law that says if you, in your best interests, attempt to save someone's life and hurt or kill them in the process, you are not held liable. I don't know the laws of other states, and even with my CPR and First Aid training (OSHA required in construction), I would be hesitant to help anyone, and i CERTANLY won't go grab an AED and shock someone. Like Timmay explained very nicely, if you use it for the wrong reason, or even use it incorrectly, you could do more harm than good. I definately don't want Cletus (yes, the same one as before) seeing me keel over in a roller coaster and decide to use the AED on me, merely assuming that Cletus has NO medical training whatsoever, like most people.

It's sad that people lose loved ones at Disney World - but we have to understand (which the moron on the news last night didn't) that these people with these pre-existing conditions could have died ANYWHERE. Had they been riding the school bus to school and it slammed on its breaks...or even riding in their family car (which goes faster than any ride at WDW). It's 100% unfair to say that a ride killed someone. It merely, and coincidentally, was the outside factor that activated the sequence of events that was destined to happen anyway.