Death on 94.7

[Moab]

Firstly: if the medics from the BarOne tent are cyclists and are reading this: what the?? You let someone with a shortness of breath ride on!! What planet were you born on?

 

Second: Why did it take over 30mins to get an ambulance to a heart attack patient???

 

Third: If the cyclist who complained about his time when we stopped the race to load a dying person into an ambulance is reading this: what if it were you?

 

Lastly: to my fellow spectators and the doc who was on scene:    You guys rocked!! 2 of us went with the wife to the hospital and we can gladly report that her brother and sister were there with her when she got the news.

[idrive]

I have shortness of breath whenever I ride a hill and how can you blame 'first aider' for allowing him to continue.

 

Surely if he felt unwell he should've stopped!

 

Sorry, if it's short and blunt, but please get the full, and accurate, story before you post.

[porky]

I agree with Dp Cpd, if someone complains of shortness of breath at a medical tent, theres a reason - dont make condesending remarks idrive - even if you think they can continue your response should be, "I suggest you stop and have it checked".!

 

 

[dirtrider]

This is a very sensitive topic but I have to agree with I-Drive on that statement . At a race the race director wanted to withdraw me from the race because he felt I was in no condition to continue . I decided to go ahead despite his request for me to stop .

[markStockton]

While it is sad that this guy died on Sunday. What I think we all are loosing sight of is that he died not only doing something that he loved, but doing it with his wife on a tandem. 

[MsBehavn]

I have shortness of breath whenever I ride a hill and how can you blame 'first aider' for allowing him to continue.

 

 

If you're working as a "first aider" on any kind of sporting/endurance event, and a participant comes to you complaining of shortness of breath, rather err on the side of caution than allow them to continue.  Believe me - the chest pain/shortness of breath that you feel just before you have a heart attack is nothing like the shortness of breath that we feel on hills!

 

Yes, the guy probably should have stopped but when a suitably qualified medical person takes your vital signs and tells you that it's ok to continue, you tend to take their advice on face value.

 

I'm not blaming the first aider.  Nor am I blaming the victim of the heart attack.  This is just my opinion, but if you're not suitably trained or fit then, really, you should NOT be participating in events like this.  It's not a fun ride by any stretch of imagination.

 

My deepest condolences to his friends and family, and Di, I take my hat off to you for being their for him and his family when this tragedy occurred.

[IanJ]

idrive, yes we all get short of breath sometimes but not to the extent that we seek medical advice for it. The guy obviously felt something was wrong so went to get professional advice. If the medic was not 100% sure that the cyclist was fit to continue or did not have the correct equipment to make a proper judgement then he should have advised him to stop, they were after all only 200m from Sandton Clinic at that point.

 

If the cyclist then said that he will carry on anyway then it is his own problem.

 

[Mark]

WE are all the same, how many times have you ridden with cold/flu when we all know we should not. Our attitude is it wont happen to me even after we have been advised not to ride. You can't blame a medic he may have sugested it so unless you have all the facts 100% correct please don't point fingers.

[porky]

While it is sad that this guy died on Sunday. What I think we all are loosing sight of is that he died not only doing something that he loved' date=' but doing it with his wife on a tandem.  [/quote']

 

Thats little justification mark, if we could see the future, I am sure he and his family would rather have had him sitting at home watching tv.

 

But I agree its a sensitive subject and must be approached with a degree of sensitivity for the family, another good reason to have an accidents and incidents forum as I think it was widget suggested.

 

However, the purpose of the discussion is also to speculate on possible issues and discuss the sad incident in the hope we can all learn from it, as long as its done in a sensitive manner to all, possibly something good could still come out of it.

[slowpoke]

a recommendation should be made and they say it was medics, not mere 1st aiders that actually said he was fine to continue. if he'd continued anyway even if they had said to stop then it would be different. i had an ambo called in for a lady who fell even though she was arguing with me and a spectator that she was fine - she'd gone down had, skidded quite a way and she had hit her head - we were not willing to "let things be" (i suspect the spectator might have had 1st aid training as well by how he was dealing with things) because a bump to the head is risky. shortness of breath that doesn't go away when you stop at the water table is not a good sign.

 

but none of us was there when they'd stopped and spoken to the medics - he might well have appeared to only be unfit and his BP might've been fine in which case maybe they were justified in their reaction.

 

anyway, how the heck do you think they feel knowing what has happened???? do you not think that maybe they are beating themselves up big time about this?

 

my belief is that when it's your time it's your time. and it was his time. imagine he'd been sitting alone at home watching the race on TV because "he wasn't fit enough" and had a heart attack anyway all on his own without sharing his last moments with his wife doing something fun??????

[downhill]

Cant we change the topic to Death of 94.7.

[Tumbleweed]

Cant we change the topic to Death of 94.7.

 

oh, stop it now, downhill. if you want someone to talk to, start your own thread.

[Sammajoor]

 

Cant we change the topic to Death of 94.7.

 

oh' date=' stop it now, downhill. if you want someone to talk to, start your own thread.

[/quote']

 

He can't wait for the World Champ funride to start so he can also have his own thread

 

Something like             Vaalies go HOME

 

[idrive]

A first aider is exactly that. Trained to give 'first aid'. Sure he/she checked pulse or something, but what if it was within parameters layed down or 'within spec' as us mechanically minded folk would say?

 

There were over 300 medics ranging from ALS, ILS and BAA on that event with 27 or so ambulances and response cars from Netcare and MMC.

 

On top of that there were over 100 physio/massage people

 

I'd say that's enough ....

 

These medics cannot force someone to stop...... only we can decide whether or not to continue.

 

[MsBehavn]

A first aider is exactly that. Trained to give 'first aid'. Sure he/she checked pulse or something' date=' but what if it was within parameters layed down or 'within spec' as us mechanically minded folk would say?

 

There were over 300 medics ranging from ALS, ILS and BAA on that event with 27 or so ambulances and response cars from Netcare and MMC.

 

On top of that there were over 100 physio/massage people

 

I'd say that's enough ....

 

These medics cannot force someone to stop...... only we can decide whether or not to continue.

 

[/quote']

 

Rule #1: Treat the patient - not his vital signs. 

 

You're 100% correct that we cannot force the patient to stop but the minute you're wearing a badge or some kind of medical qualification and you begin treating them, then you're accepting some kind of responsibility for their care.  That would be why most ambulance/response crews have a RMT (refused medical treatment) clause on the patient report forms.

[cycleq]

Actually, the research shows that if you are at risk of a MI, whether or not you are exercising at the time makes little difference to the time-frame of the event. It is going to happen whether or not you are cycling or sitting on a couch. Also, let me assure you that anyone who has had a heart attack can tell you, the preceeding pain/shortness of breath is so hard to define as a heart condition that most people die because they mistake it for something else.

My sympathies for the family of the deceased. I think the important thing is that he was doing something he enjoyed in the company of his wife.