Death on 94.7

[Ratty]

Question still remains, why did it take the ambulance 30 minutes to get there (Obviously I wasn't there and I'm taking this from what was said).  If there were +- 27 ambulances, surely one of them could have got there a little quicker?  Especially as someone said it was 200m from the Sandton clinic?

 

I just hope the wife doesn't blame herself for what happened.  She knew him better than anyone else there and I'm sure if he was in real bad shape she wouldn't have let him continue.

[Bateleur1]

To my knowledge, only an ECG would actually indicate wether a person is about to have a heart attack.  Don't think that equipment was on hand there.  I think we should just all accept that it was this persons time to go.  We are all mortal here and each and everyone has an expiry date on us. It is sad, but that is how it happens.

 

My condolences to the family.

[cycleq]

Strangely enough an ECG will only tell you that you are having a MI - they are not predictive until the infarct has initiated. cycleq2008-11-18 01:41:00

[widget]

I dont get this " died doing something they loved bit" - what is your field of comparison here?

 

Personally I am disturbed at the lack of compassion by some posters here, I understand a medic cleared him to continue, if they were not trained for the position, thats negligence, they should not have passed a medical opinion, if they were unsure, they should have suggested he stop there and then and seek further advise from a qualified person.

 

My brother is a doctor of 30 years experience, I ran the scenario by him, his first comment was - were the people who checked him initially at the stand qualified advanced medical personall? - it seems not.

 

His second comment was, In a race or an event of this nature one places their life in the hands of the medical personal, if it took 30 / 40 minutes to reach him as has been suggested, thats unacceptable, in a critical heart attack one has a small window of opportunity, 30 minutes is outside that window.

 

His third comment was, Most people accept a medical opinion at face value, there is a huge responsibility on the medical person to err on the side of been conservative.

 

This is an awefull situation for the family and even I feel somewhat disturbed by it, and I have no connection whatsoever, its not good enough to just say, we had "X" medics on duty, "Y" ambulance services on standby etc, response needs to be 5 minutes no more in a critical situation and rather than just having "bodies" on duty, have trained people able to make responsible decisions.   

 

widget2008-11-18 01:42:28

[slowpoke]

as to the time it takes for ambo to get there... it was tough enough getting apst some cyclists on a motorbike to go sort out taxis that were trying to invade the route so i can only imagine how the ambo must've struggled to get past.

 

for some strange reason cyclists seem to get very very selfish (refer to that old Jeckyl and Hyde thread). when they are on a bicycle ONLY they matter - cars and other people must move away for them and NO ONE and NOTHING must block them, not even marshals and ems vehicles. then they get in their caar - same thing... suddenly cyclists can all just die and get out of their way because now they have finished and they want to get home. it really p1sses me off big time, but until they are the one who needs assistance they don't seem to think anyone else deserves it.

[widget]

I am not sure I agree with that comment slowpoke, I am fully aware SOME cyclists have no interest in their fellow man, but that runs through the entire population be they runners, cyclists or couch potatoes, I do believe most cyclists out there on the day are rational people doing the best they can at the time.

 

One death is too many, and one AVOIDABLE death is tragic, it seems to me there were compounded elements which lead to the fatality, we cant just lay the blame entirely at the cyclists door.

  

 

[slowpoke]

widget, i'm not saying the tragedy is their responsibility, but those cyclists who don't move over for official vehicles did contribute to the delay in response time. i also didn't say that it was all the cyclists that refused to move over - just some of them. unfortunately those that are like this tend to be like this in all aspects of their life. i also didn't say that it's only cyclists who do this - one trip of 5km along any road in this country will show it to be a huge SA problem.

[widget]

I concur slowpoke - there is a real lack of compassion in this country in all walks of life.

 

I have been disturbed about this incident since my wife who witnessed it told me, I have prayed hard for all concerned, but still, I have a nagging concern that this will just get swept away like so many other incidents and nobody will learn from it.

 

[Joe Low]

My cousin who was fit and in his mid-thirties felt strange whilst playing football; drove himself to the hospital and died of a heart attack in the emergency room whilst hooked up to all the bits and pieces.

 

My feeling is that these things will happen and agonizing over who did what to who & the could have, should have, blame game is unhelpful in getting through a difficult time.

 

 

[dirtrider]

Yes Joe it will and does normally happen . What's with all the questions ?

[widget]

My cousin who was fit and in his mid-thirties felt strange whilst playing football; drove himself to the hospital and died of a heart attack in the emergency room whilst hooked up to all the bits and pieces.

 

My feeling is that these things will happen and agonizing over who did what to who & the could have' date=' should have, blame game is unhelpful in getting through a difficult time.

 

 

[/quote']

 

Theres no blame from my side JL, however I think the issue has already been broken down to "digestable" points and to me anyway, it makes more sense now.

 

I also think the point of a forum is to discuss topicical issues, gather differant views, hopefully see things from anothers point of view perhaps avoid the issue yourself in the future, and / or see what can be done better next time.

 

Whats the point of having a forum if we all just say, "Oh well it happened, move on.?"

 

[Joe Low]

Theres no blame from my side JL' date=' however I think the issue has already been broken down to "digestable" points and to me anyway, it makes more sense now.[/quote']

 

This is someone else's loss, why must it make sense to you? Why must it make sense at all?

 

I also think the point of a forum is to discuss topicical issues, gather differant views, hopefully see things from anothers point of view perhaps avoid the issue yourself in the future, and / or see what can be done better next time.

 

Whats the point of having a forum if we all just say, "Oh well it happened, move on.?"

 

Sure, the Hub is infotainment but it starts to look pretty ghoulish on these threads.

 

The point of acceptance in grieving is that it alleviates the pain of those suffering.