Three Yr Old Boy Dies choking on Hot Dog

[TwingleMum]

As I write this I feel like vomiting I'm so upset. All I can think of is my own 3 yr old son. My sister is a 1st grade teacher. A teacher at her school went to WDW at Easter w/her 5 yr old DD & 3 yr old DS. The 3 yr old had a hot dog choked on it & DIED. They couldn't dislodge it - hiemlich , nothing worked. And it was soo crowded that the ambulance couldn't get through in time. I'm soo damn angry I mean why didn't Disney security clear a path for ambulance ahead of time?? Did they not want to disturb the Disney illusion that nothing bad happens at WDW?? Where was the nurse or EMTs I thought each park had a first aide stations. I know from my EMT training that a hot dog is just the right size to lodge in a little ones throat.(think garden hose) I only very recently allowed son to have hot dogs but only after I split it in half and skin it. The ER doctor told the woman the skin on a hot dog expands making it hard to dislodge. This poor woman is also in her 1st trimester of pregnancy. She won't eat or drink She kept fainting at the wake and had to be carried out of the funeral service. So when you tuck your little ones in tonight say a prayer for this poor Mom and count your blessings. Remember don't rely on Disney in a crisis and NO HOT DOGS FOR LITTLE ONES !!

 

[mitros]

Just curious, we live here and florida, and the news services jump at a disney story, especially something like this. I haven't seen or heard anything about this so far today. Where did you find out about this. Disney likes to squelch bad stories about the place, but they couldn't cover up something like that. How reliable is the teacher that told your sister about the tragedy?

 

[MrsPete]

While this is tragic, my first thought is not "why didn't Disney do more" but rather "why didn't the mother cut up the hot dog"? It's common knowledge that hot dogs are the #1 food that toddlers choke upon. Any hot dog that is served to a child should be sliced into quarters length-wise.

 

[jctwizzer]

Pardon me for being a skeptic, but this story just doesn't ring true. Supposedly, it happened at Easter; in which case it would be on the front pages all over the country---and no one seems to have heard about it. No. 2. Having seen Disney's response to emergency situations in the past, I find it hard to believe there was a delay because emergency crews couldn't get through. Sounds like one of those urban legends to me----

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

This story is a tragedy. And hot dogs are a terrible idea for Little Ones. I will say a prayer for this family. It's heartbreaking.

I actually went to a party last month where a two year old was running around and playing with a piece of hot dog in his mouth. I mentioned it to the father, and he said, "Oh, hotdogs are only dangerous for babies. It's okay for toddlers." Uuugggh.

I'm not surprised that the press didn't pick up on it, though.

I have a feeling that people do die in theme parks every so often, just like anyplace else. They have heart attacks, strokes, etc.

The media probably looked at this story as no different than if the Little One had choked at home. And unless it's a small town, that's not considered newsworthy.

Now, if a person died from riding an attraction or being crushed in a crowd. That's different. The press would be all over it. Although, I have to say that Disney does a good job of squelching the news quickly.

It is hard to believe that Disney wouldn't have had someone near by who could have performed a tracheotomy. I'm sure the cast members wanted to save the boy. I don't think anyone there would feel it was more important to maintain an illusion than to save a child.

At the busiest time of year, I bet it's difficult to break through the crowds. It would seem prudent to have EMT's located at stations throughout the park. I'm surprised someone in the crowd wasn't a doctor or nurse. I believe a tracheotomy can be performed with just a sharp knife and a common drinking straw. Maybe no one knew the seriousness of the emergency.

What a sad story. I will pray for the family.

 

[Muffy]

I cannot find any information about this tragedy at WDW. How very sad for the family if this did happen.

 

[Chuck S]

While Disney is good at "keeping things quiet", I find it difficult to believe that there is absolutely no mention of this incident in the media, they do tend to jump on any tragedy at Disney, even here in Texas. It is very rare that EMTs would ever drive a full sized ambulance though a park crowd - there are back entrances almost everywhere. There was some sort of accident at the Electric Umbrella once (I don't know if someone fell, or collapsed, or had a heart attack, or whatever), but the EMTs arrived via what looked like a modified electric cart that could make it through crowds easier.

 

[Puffy2]

True story or not, there are several things that young children should NEVER be given to eat or play with. The following is a list of known choking hazzards:

1. Hot Dogs (cut them up in small pieces please)
2. marshmellows (these lodge and then SWELL in the thoat and become almost impossible to dislodge - do not give marshmellows to small children and instruct the older ones to bit off small pieces of them)
3. grapes ( they are just the right size to lodge in the thoat - cut up grapes if you are going to give them to children)
4. balloons (do not allow children to blow up balloons - they can get sucked back into the thoat and block the passage way).
5. Toys with small parts - watch what you give your young child to play with.
6. nuts
7. Popcorn (encourage eating only one piece at a time and supervise while eating)
8. any gooey (sp?) candy that is difficult to chew (milkduds come to mind).

Don't allow your children to "stuff" when eating. Remind them that eating is a "serious" time - laughing while eating can cause a person to inhale food.

When someone is choking (and no air is being exchanged) they only have a few minutes before brain damage occurs and a few more minutes before death. The likelyhood that an ambulance crew could have helped by the time they arrived would have been very slim.

Everyone should learn the hiemlich and be trained in CPR.

 

[Chuck S]

Excellent post, Puffy 2.

Parents should always supervise and control what a young child eats, no matter where they find themselves.

 

[sha_lyn]

TwingleMum ... I'm wondering why you posted this here after it has already moved by moderators to the comunity board from the restaurant board. I understand you being angry about a child dying, but WDW is not resposible for a parent giving a child a choking hazzard. You also stated that you have had EMT training. Then you know how quickly brain damage can occur, and it is very likely that nothing would have saved this childs life (other than not feeding it a choking hazzard in the first place)

 

[Viking]

Originally posted by OllieDannyandMe
At the busiest time of year, I bet it's difficult to break through the crowds. It would seem prudent to have EMT's located at stations throughout the park. I'm surprised someone in the crowd wasn't a doctor or nurse. I believe a tracheotomy can be performed with just a sharp knife and a common drinking straw. Maybe no one knew the seriousness of the emergency.

What a sad story. I will pray for the family.

A tracheotomy with a sharp knife and a drinking straw That is euthanasia at its worst. - Sorry for being so blunt, but as a paramedic and first-aid-instructor I know what I'm talking about.
A tracheotomy is a dangerous thing to do when you have an adult patient, but with a kid it is even more dangerous due to the smaller proportions and the relatively short neck.

Things like trachoetomies with a leatherman and a disassemble ballpen are done in TV-series like "Quincy" with J. Klugman, but not in real life. Like most things in TV it is just nonsense.
The odds are that you just kill your patient and get sued for it - and you would deserve to be heavily fined or even sent to jail.
A proper tracheotomy needs proper equipment and proper training.

 

[erinch]

when a restaurant at IOA served my son a cobbler with ground up pecans in it (after denying there were any nuts), he went into immediate anaphylaxis. I administered the epi and screamed at the manager that we needed an ambulance stat.

First Aid showed up w/in 3 minutes with a portable stretcher. They ran with the stretcher (with immediate security clearing the way) to First Aid, where an "Emergency van" (equipped with standard equipment) transported him to Centracare. The turnaround time was incredibly fast.

I'm betting Disney responds in similar fashion, rather than trying to move an ambulance thru the park.

 

[OllieDannyandMe]

A tracheotomy with a sharp knife and a drinking straw That is euthanasia at its worst. - Sorry for being so blunt, but as a paramedic and first-aid-instructor I know what I'm talking about.

Thank you for correcting me! I saw that on an old episode of M.A.S.H. when I was a little girl, and it shocked me so that it always stayed with me. I just assumed that in a worst-case scenario, someone could do that rather than let the person choke to death.

I have no medical experience, though, so I really do appreciate you correcting my post. I would never want to hurt anyone with bad advice. Consider this an official retraction! And thanks again.

Amy

 

[eleanor]

I never heard this story anywhere. Where did you read It?

 

[zulaya]

It's a little fishy that if this child supposedly died over Easter - that was 2 weeks ago - that nobody ever heard about it. Whenever there has been even the most remote problem at WDW, the Sentinel is all over it. They certainly were fast to report the man who died on Splash a few years back.

If this happened, it is a sad experience for the family, but it in no way is Disney's fault. Hot dogs are a known hazard - the parents will never forget this.

 

[jimmybop]

Disney does have a great medical staff. And the with the Magic Kingdom, it would not be that hard to get them out no matter how busy it is do to the tunnel system available under the park. also the medical staff do have the modified golf carts at all the major parks (i've actually seen one driving through world showcase, as well as them sitting there back stage while i was working there on my college program).

If you have any major concerns, the Chairman of the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts: PAUL S. PRESSLER, released a report on saftey at the Walt Diseny World Resort and you can view it here: http://www.disney.go.com/parksafety/

but in the end, accidents do happen, even in the happiest place on earth.

my thoughts to the family

 

[DaveK]

What a tragedy for this family. I can't easily imagine the anguish of a family visiting WDW and losing a loved one during their trip, even though I witnessed an unfortunate incident a couple of years ago at WDW.

A lady, who looked about the same age as my wife, was riding in the front seat of the same log we were in on Splash Mountain, and she died near the end of the ride. Apparently she either had a heart attack or a neck injury after the drop and the paramedics weren't able to revive her in the loading area after the ride was over. Her husband and two children were riding with her. He was sitting in the seat behind her and once he realized she had slumped over, he climbed into the front to try to help her out, but apparently she passed away. We asked some of the Disney staff if we could give information about what we saw to try to help in some way, which we did.

They closed the ride for an hour or two and checked to make sure it was functioning properly. I was expecting to hear something on the news media about it, but never did, so I figured that either Disney tried to keep the story quiet or maybe they were able to revive the mother on route to the hospital. So the next day, we decided to go back and ask about the family. The staff couldn't answer our questions about what had happened, either because they were told not to, or maybe the staff members we asked really weren't aware of what happened. I had thoughts about contacting someone in the local media but never did.

I was kind of shaken up by the event, along with the rest of my family, and it took a couple of days until we could get back to enjoying our trip. It did help us to realize how fragile life really is and how much we all should be truly thankful for. Sometimes, especially when we return to WDW, I find myself thinking about that family and saying a prayer for them, wherever they might be, and hoping that they have been able to cope with the situation as best as could be expected.

So I agree with TwingleMum who suggested to say a prayer for the mother of the 3 year old boy and to count your blessings.

 

[susy]

How horrible!!!!! A teacher a my son's preschool lost her 4yo DD (a student at the school) in Jan, due to a drowning. The father was supposed to be watching her. He is now in jail and the mom is pregnant. She is back to work now and I've even seen her laughing a few times. Nice to see after all she is still suffering.

A question about hotdogs. My son is five and just ate one today at a birthday party. I just put in a bun and he just ate it. Is it okay??? Should I still be slicing it lengthwise?

 

[Tjkane28]

This hot dog story is a most unfortunate story on a couple of levels.

First, this is a common urban legend that circulates every so often. It usually involves a theme park and a vacationing family and a slow response from the emergency staff making the park and its parent company look either incompetent or uncaring.

However, unlike other urban legends, such as cooking your insides by tanning too much, this one is not without medical merit. Children frequently choke and die from a piece of hot dog lodged in the throat. That makes it unfortunate. It happens, but most unlikely did it happen according to this story.

Secondly, it perpetuates fear and sadness in people's lives. After reading how many people are going to pray for this "unfortunate family" it is clear that people are really affected by this legend. Many people who read these boards are parents of young children who visit the park. Why perpetuate this story any further? There is no evidence that it ever took place! Until such time as someone has documentation regarding the authenticity of this story, it should be filed under hoax.

Stay calm and save your prayers for people who really need them! But one should always cut up hot dogs into little pieces for young children.

 

[SueM in MN]

Hot dogs and other similar foods are dangerous to infants and young children (very nice list, Puffy2). If this really happened, I am very sad for the family.
But... this sounds too much like urban legend emails that I have received, a lot of very sad details, each one making it even sadder. Some of the details (like the hot dog skin swelling up) don't sound plausible at all. This just doesn't ring true.
I have seen WDW CMs and EMT people respond to accident/incidents several times. If this senario happened in a restaurant, the EMT people would not have needed to come thru a crowd, they would have gone thru backstage areas. I've seen EMT CMs (walking with full pacs) arrive pretty much out of nowhere and I've also seen the golf-cart like vehicles that others mentioned. I have seen these things when we were at WDW during Spring break when it was really busy and they arrived very quickly. We also have used First Aid in each of the parks, so I know that at least some of the staff are RNs. When DD had a seizure and I was sitting with her at a bench recovering, it took only a few minutes before a CM came to enquire if we needed any help ( we were in Epcot in a bench area betwenn Germany and Italy where there are no buildings).