12-year-old boy dies on Disney's Rock'n'Roller coaster at Disney-MGM studios!!!

[Lorelai]

Sorry, but your post makes no sense. ECG Echocardiogram EKG Electrocardiogram are two completely different TESTS, one examines bloodflow, one examines rhythms. CPR cardio pulmonary resusitation is a life saving measure to provide circulation and oxygenation when someone is in cardiac arrest. I think you are referring to AED automated external difibrillators, where you inserted ECG and EKG.

If you are a doctor (which you very well may be since you used a term like VF ventricular fibrillation and shockable rhythm), evidentally medical teminology is VERY different in your area of the world.

I am not a doctor or a nurse or a medical professional.

I don't know where you found your information, but it is inaccurate.

An electrocardiogram records the heart's electrical activity as represented by a graph (wave lines/hopefully not flat lines). It can be referred to as ECG or EKG. They are one in the same.

An echocardiogram is a real time sonogram picture (picture made from sound waves) of the heart's function and make-up (it displays way more than just blood flow, and can detect functional, as well as non-functional, anomalies). This is referred to as an "echo", never an ECG.

I realize that you are not a medical professional, and just trying to help others understand, but fact check with your health care provider, or even a simple web search, next time before dispensing medical terminology. Try www.heartcenteronline.com. or an American Heart Association approved source of info.

 

[dizprincess717]

Okay, first of all to those who said my statement is "harsh" ... At least 3-5 times each day Guests came up to me and said "I have high blood pressure, but this won't matter will it?" Hello - right there on the warnings it says about high blood pressure! Also, I am not a doctor. Not just conditions, but heights as well. One mother wanted to sign a waiver to let her daughter go on Splash Mountain ... so yes, when you go down drop 4 your daughter can fly out of the seat. Yes, we'll sign that right away, ma'am.

Here's my thought on not knowing about conditions...

With all of the reports about ride-related injuries and deaths, wouldn't parents maybe want to go to the doctor to have their children checked? I know that that's what my parents would do because they already had my sister and I checked because we always go to amusement parks. Maybe some more knowledge on these medical things and we wouldn't have so many deaths.

Once you're a CM at WDW, trust me, your entire view point will change. I called my friends who still work at Splash as well as my boyfriend and parents who also work at WDW, and they all agree with me. Even *gasp* the managers of the rides in Frontierland!

 

[Silverbelle990]

My love and thought go out to the family and cm's. I didn't read the whole thread but i do have a question. For the CM's are they trained in just the running of the machines or do they get first aide training as. I think disney should require it. Mothers and fathers want to ride the fast rides when they take thier children. If they take thier children and they are a few inches short then the parents tell them to stand straighter to get them on the rides.

I myself am a parent and plan on taking my son to disney in feb..he is 44inches now and we plan to ride rrc. If he deosn't meet the restrictions then we'll go on TOT more. We are leaving my 2 year home. He is too small and my oldest is a dare devil and rides big.

My opnion.....if they are too small don't force it. The restrictions are there for a reason. And to those with heart problems they don't know about...there isn't really anything anyone can do other then just hope.

Again my thoughts nd prayers to the family and cm's.

 

[#1MMFan]

With all of the reports about ride-related injuries and deaths, wouldn't parents maybe want to go to the doctor to have their children checked? I know that that's what my parents would do because they already had my sister and I checked because we always go to amusement parks. Maybe some more knowledge on these medical things and we wouldn't have so many deaths.

Whilst I think this is a good idea, it just doesn't seem feasible in reality - firstly, it would place a ridiculously high demand on doctors both in terms of time and in terms of investigations. Not every cardiac abnormality is going cause a murmur or something detectable in a routine doctor's appointment. If you then think about then investigating every child where there is any doubt, or indeed EVERY child going to an amusement park by performing an ECG or an echo then really it becomes impossible and unreasonable. Perhaps in fee-paying America it might be more likely for parents who can afford to have it done, but in the UK the NHS most certainly would not fund that. Essentially a doctor appointment for detection of some abnormality in an otherwise healthy child prior to going to a themepark is not a good screening tool.

 

[Jimemo]

I guess when you really think about it, in the long run, getting your kids tested for heart disease would be a good idea.
But not all families are like all of us here on the disboards and other theme park/coaster websites. They only go to theme parks maybe once a year or every couple of years.
Myself for instance, I never did sports when I was younger. Because of it, my parents never really forced me to get physicals. I have a fear of needles, and I used to go craaazy in the doctor's office... but that's another story.

I don't remember where I was going with this, lol. But I don't think most parents think, "We leave for Disney World in a month, better go get checked out for heart conditions!"

And it doesn't matter hoooow many times you warn someone about the ride, people will ignore the safety warnings and go on anyway, and people will always force their kids on.

 

[madfordonald]

It is very upsetting to see this story. I can't imagine what the parents must be feeling and I would never want to go through what they have...but man, what a place to go! I suppose if I were to die, WDW would be the place I would want to go. Then I'd will my spirit to haunt the place...not scary but, just so I can ride all the rides. I can only hope that his last moments were fun and enjoyable ones. Hopefully it was instant with no pain.

 

[jjarman]

It is very upsetting to see this story. I can't imagine what the parents must be feeling and I would never want to go through what they have...but man, what a place to go! I suppose if I were to die, WDW would be the place I would want to go. Then I'd will my spirit to haunt the place...not scary but, just so I can ride all the rides. I can only hope that his last moments were fun and enjoyable ones. Hopefully it was instant with no pain.

I have been thinking the same thing for 2 days now.

 

[madfordonald]

I have been thinking the same thing for 2 days now.

Thank goodness I'm not the only one. I hesitated posting my thought due to the sensitive nature of the situation.

 

[KimberlyC]

Daisax,
I do agree with you that survival rates are extremely low.

With that said, the survival rates are VERY HIGH in places where AEDs are being placed in numbers where there are large groups of people. Take O'Hare, with close to 80% survival.

I don't know the statistics but a few pages back I told the story of my co-workers husband - a man I know personally with whom my DH and I had lunch last weekend. The AED saved his life. That is all I need to know but I'm glad to see the survival rate is so high in places with these. These machines save lifes and don't cost that much. It seems like a no brainer.

With all of the reports about ride-related injuries and deaths, wouldn't parents maybe want to go to the doctor to have their children checked? I know that that's what my parents would do because they already had my sister and I checked because we always go to amusement parks. Maybe some more knowledge on these medical things and we wouldn't have so many deaths.

This is just not practical unfortunately. Most insurance companies won't pay for these tests without a referral and generally a reason is required to obtain one. And at what age would this happen? I was 48" tall at age 5 and rode my 1st real coaster (Gemini at Cedar Point).

 

[Mom2Casey]

Wow...Now that is way out of line. You have no right to post something like that here. Not only is it totally off topic, it is uncalled for and unwanted on these boards. Take your political view elsewhere!

Back to the story:
Why can't we all call this what it is. A tragic accident. It is not the fault of the child or his parents. It is not the fault of Disney. Things like this happen everyday to other people in other places but it never see's the light of day because it didn't happen in a Disney theme park.

If you want to avoid tragedy, stay at home so you don't have to ride in the car, could get killed there. Keep the blinds drawn and don't go outside because you can get skin cancer and die. Move away from the City because the air is polluted and this can eventually kill you as well. Don't eat certain foods (meat, vegitables, sweets) because too much of any one of those can kill you. Better not watch the TV or play video games either because they can cause seziures in some people that might cause death.

C'mon people. It was an accident and a tragic one at that. I'm not suggesting that the family just get on with their lives but we need to. I'm heading to Disney in July with my wife and kids (15 & 16 years old) that I believe are in good health and I plan to enjoy all of the rides in all of the parks without thinking twice about this situation.

I don't think that Disney should not be "dumbing" down it's rides to make ensure that some small fraction of the visiting public does not have a "reaction" to it. Mission Space's tamer version is a bad step in a bad direction, in my opinion. Like someone else earlier wrote, maybe we should expect Disney to build a non-moving version of Rock-N-Rollercoaster. Wow, that would be fun, huh, but nobody will die.

What does concern me the most is the fact that the parents already have a lawyer involved. I hope that they will not try to capitalize on the tragic death of their son to find a payday.

YOU COULDN'T HAVE EXPLAINED IT BETTER!!!!!!!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Just got home from work.....saw this on our local news (Autopsy showed the boy had a congenital heart condition) :
http://www.nbc10.com/news/9451521/d...tml=phi_4pm&ts=T&tmi=phi_4pm_1_02550606302006

Not sure if this had been posted yet.....sorry if it has.

 

[SnowWitch]

Placing AED's at the exits of the higher octane rides is a great idea. Several years ago no one thought of having AED's at Little League Fields but many do now because of the young boy who was hit in the chest with a baseball during a little league game and ultimately died. All it took was one child and people became proactive. Many thought this child probably had R on T and then went into vfib which is a shockable rhythm. "AED's" worthwhile express to save even one child in my opinion.

To address the statement by our British doctor here on the boards. Many may have expendable income and chose to pay out of pocket for cardiac testing but unless there is a legitamate reason 1. Many insurance companies will not even pay for a specialists (Most require you have a referral before they will pay) 2. Without reason they certainly won't pay for un-necessary testing. Now if your not insured, have no ability to pay, or have gov't assistance by all means pick up the phone and dial 911 and say you have chest pain and we will be happy to test you for everything under the sun at the expencse of the tax payers and the insured. Sorry off my soapbox now!

My prayers are with the family of this young boy!

 

[#1MMFan]

To address the statement by our British doctor here on the boards. Many may have expendable income and chose to pay out of pocket for cardiac testing but unless there is a legitamate reason 1. Many insurance companies will not even pay for a specialists (Most require you have a referral before they will pay) 2. Without reason they certainly won't pay for un-necessary testing. Now if your not insured, have no ability to pay, or have gov't assistance by all means pick up the phone and dial 911 and say you have chest pain and we will be happy to test you for everything under the sun at the expencse of the tax payers and the insured. Sorry off my soapbox now!

Thanks SnowWitch - that's interesting - I figured that you probably would test in an emergency, but I had (unconfirmed) similar thoughts about the insurance thing and referrals. Sadly, it is unrealistic anywhere to test for these things as a routine. I guess we all take our chances, and I guess God has his reasons. I do hope that the family don't pursue a claim against Disney as the chances are surely that the boy's congenital defect could have caused a problem at some point somewhere and it just happened to be Disney property he was on. Overall I would never let the knowledge of deaths like this ruin my trips to Disney, unless of course there was some negligence was involved.

 

[Step]

Pilots and astronauts go through a lot of tests for a reason. Personally I don't plan to bother with either MS or RNR.

My heart goes out to the family of this poor little boy.

With children, the first time most of these 'pre-existing' conditions become known is AFTER some life threatening 'reaction'. Most kids make it through years of activities without a diagnosis of a hole in their hearts...sometimes it is caught in a pretty rigorous physical exam required by professional level (college) sports...and then there is a panic and a hastily scheduled operation.

My point is that pre-existing is not the same as foreknowledge about the condition. We are all walking timebombs for things like aneurisms...things that are 'waiting to happen' but can't be pre diagnosed.
It's possible that the G forces that rides like MS and RnR create could 'trip' one of these pre-existing but as yet undiagnosed conditions.

I doubt that any of the deaths of the last few years were because of a pre-existing condition that the people KNEW ABOUT. You just don't get a letter informing you that you have a aneurism lodged in your neck and it is about to explode!!!!!!

 

[Bisney World Rocks]

The father is in the military. They have JAG. The family having a lawyer is NO indication of an impending lawsuit and should not be speculated.

It is likely that the ARMY appointed one to him to be used as a spokesperson for the family and assist in taking care of finalities which will be of military nature.

 

[valandemmy]

Daisax,

AEDs are going to work only on VFib and VTach (for lay people: Vfib is an irregular "quivering" of the heart where blood can't pump effectively, Vtach is where the heart beats very fast and out of control). It is very possible that this 12-year old boy had a non-shockable rhythm. Unfortunately, no one will ever know. I read an updated article and it said that the AED was not attached until 7 minutes! Chances are not good if it's more than 3-5 minutes, chances go down 10% for every minute the AED is delayed.



not to pick but...

VTach is not Shockable unless it is Pulseless VTACh

and according to statistics.. with in 4 minutes is the prime time to be shocked, unless CPR has been started and then it goes to about 6-7 minutes. after that even if brought "back" the neurological problems d/t lack of o2/blood supply to the brain would be HUGE.

Charles,
btw, im am ACLS/PALS certified (advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric advanced life support) and an Emergency room RN.

 

[HappyLawyer]

i am not a medical expert, but perhaps there was something internal that triggered it. I am overweight and have ridden the ride several times. Then again, i never know, if we are unaware it can happen. My thoughts go out to his family. God bless them through this ordeal.

 

[Minniespal]

Tragic.

 

[MiaSRN62]

i am not a medical expert, but perhaps there was something internal that triggered it

My post #151 has a link. It states he had a congenital heart defect.
From the link :

An autopsy statement by Dr. Sara H. Irrgang, Associate Medical Examiner on Orange County, Fla., said: "No evidence of injury was found but congenital heart abnormalities were detected which will be further evaluated. The cause of death will be left pending until results of the additional studies are obtained."

Perhaps further results from the autopsy will reveal more. Very sad.

 

[luvthemouse71]

I'm rather shocked \ amazed that Disney hasn't placed a defib at each one of it's rides. Defribillator's are less than $1000 (at retail, mind you) and training to use the newer ones is very minimal. I'm not saying it would have saved the kids life, but I just found it as odd in the report.

This is an excellent point-AED's are becoming the gold standard for cardiac arrest...I believe one shock is equal to 2 minutes of CPR.