Posted on 07/27/2005 9:25:30 PM PDT by SandRat
BOWLING GREEN, Va. -- About 300 people, most of them Boy Scouts, were sickened by the heat Wednesday while waiting for President Bush to arrive at a memorial service for four Scout leaders who were killed while pitching a tent beneath a power line.
The president's visit to the Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill was postponed because of severe thunderstorms and strong wind. Instead, Bush is scheduled to visit the gathering Thursday.
But before the president's appearance was called off, many Scouts fell ill from temperatures that rose into the upper 90s, made worse by high humidity.
Half of those were treated at the base hospital, about three miles frmo the event arena, and released. Dozens more were sent to other hospitals, where they were in stable condition Wednesday night, said Gregg Shields, a Jamboree spokesman.
Soldiers carried Boy Scouts on stretchers to the base hospital, and others were airlifted from the event.
Jamboree officials called for emergency help from surrounding areas, and ambulances transported Scouts during the storm, which brought high winds and lightning.
Jamboree spokeswoman Renee Fairrer said she was not sure if any of the illnesses were serious. "If there are any, I haven't heard about them yet," Fairrer said.
Hours earlier, Scouts began gathering for the event, passing through security screening to get a place in an open field facing the stage where the president planned to speak.
Scout leaders distributed water by the caseload, and the Scouts were told they could remove their uniform shirts if they had another shirt underneath.
"This is hot for me," said Chad McDowell, 16, who lives in Warrenton, Ore. "Where I'm from if it's 75, we think that it's a heat wave."
Those who fell ill suffered from dehydration, lightheadedness and fatigue, among other symptoms.
The gathering has drawn more than 40,000 Scouting enthusiasts from around the world to the fort about an hour south of the nation's capital.
The memorial service had been planned to honor four men who were electrocuted Monday while pitching a dining tent at the Jamboree.
On Wednesday, a spokesman said the group had ignored scouting teachings by putting the tent under a power line.
The Scout leaders also had taken the "somewhat unusual" step of hiring a contractor to help with the task, Scouts spokesman Gregg Shields said.
"Boy Scouts are taught not to put their tents under trees or under power lines. I don't know what happened in that case," Shields said.
Some Scouts witnessed the deaths of the leaders as the large pole at the center of a large, white dining tent came into contact with power lines. Screams rang out as the tent caught fire and the men burned.
An investigation into the accident is incomplete.
While power lines crisscross the Jamboree's 7,000 acres, the leaders of Western Alaskan Troops 711 and 713 had ample room to erect a tent out of range of overhanging limbs and power lines.
The Jamboree is divided into subcamps, each of which is responsible for putting up a mess tent for what could be the hundreds of Scouts in their division. Shields said he did not know if Scouting has a specific policy regarding the proximity of tents to power lines, and he could not identify the contractor hired by the Alaska troop.
Flags flew at half-staff near the shooting range Wednesday. Cameron Ogilvie, 15, of York, Pa., said he heard of the deaths from his bus driver as he was riding back to his campsite.
"It shocked all of the boys on the bus hard. We all just got quiet," he said.
Scoutmaster Brad Mohr, 51, of Pasadena, Calif, said an announcement after the accident informed leaders not to erect structures taller than 6 feet.
Those killed were Michael J. Shibe, 49, Mike Lacroix, 42, and Ronald H. Bitzer, 58, all of Anchorage, Alaska; and Scott Edward Powell, 57, who had recently moved from Anchorage to Perrysville, Ohio. Shibe had two sons at the Jamboree and Lacroix had one.
Three adults were injured, and one returned to the Jamboree after being released from the hospital.
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On the Net:
CDC explanations of heat illnesses: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/extremeheat
We met GWB when he visited out local Air Base in 2001. Both of my son has him autograph their BSA cards.
Conditions in the area were truly extreme today. Sure, we had Atari when I was growing up, and I played outside constantly in the summer, but on the 1-2 literally worst days (99 degrees+ with high humidity) I sure as heck spent the day inside.
"Bush's fault: Children hardest hit."
< /DNC-MSM >
I publishes at on an earlier thread that when our NG unit was there at AP Hill, we treated several heat stokes and lots of heat exhaustion...
It's a problem you see in the summer time, during heat waves.
"Conditions in the area were truly extreme today. Sure, we had Atari when I was growing up, and I played outside constantly in the summer, but on the 1-2 literally worst days (99 degrees+ with high humidity) I sure as heck spent the day inside."
Sounds like a typical summer day in my neck of the woods, but I understand where you are coming from up there with the hear. That is just like a below freezing day down here when everybody bundles up like it's the second coming of the ice age.
Well, at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey in the Revolutionary War on a very similar day, hundreds of soldiers on both sides dropped dead on the field from the heat, so I don't think we're seeing signs of the increasing wussification of the country.
I once had to stop an employee from erecting one of our large antennas beneath a power line near an airport. He had two of the four poles of the assembly connected and raised by the time I pointed up at the powerline over his head.
He turned pale and just about fainted dead on.
Had that ground antenna gone much higher, he would have been, quite literally, fried.
Powerlines are dangerous even when you *aren't* touching them. Electricity does arc to ground.
It's not just you...but, what did you expect from the "news" media???
What are they preparing these boys for?
Iraq?
Yeah you sweat just as much. it just evaporates quicker so you don't notice it.
Worker: Man, it's hot out there today! I'm sweatin' like an ______ pig!
Safety Manager: Make sure you're drinking enough water and I do mean water!
SM thoughts: Where's that stinkin' heat thing-a-ma-bobber. Probably need to put these guys on a work/rest cycle, takes several weeks to gettem' acclimatized and only a day or two in AC for 'em to lose the acclimatization....I hate the heat season.
FYI Pigs dont sweat.
Nonsweating is a disorder some horses have, also. Oddly enough, the cure for it is to give them beer. It doesn't actually cure it, but it makes it possible for them not to overheat.
There are three horses in the barn where I keep my horse that get two bottles of beer a day. One of them will only drink Guinness stout.
I dont think I ever saw a horse that didnt sweat. Around here we have a lot of Amish and their horses sweat sop badly the foam will fly off them sometimes when they are trotting them down the road. Ya know the Amish for a people who use horses a lot , dont seem to me to care for them very well. I suppose like most things it depends on the person, but I have seen some bad looking critters among their herd.
Well Mike , its like this, The dates for these Jamborees are set up probably a year in advance, I am sure no one knew we would be in a sweltering heat wave when they set it up.
to honor four men who were electrocuted Monday while pitching a dining tent
What the ------????
want to be a hero? stick your finger in a light socket ....
I have known a horse that did not sweat . It is a condition called anhydrosis. Serious problem for a horse in work.
Plus horses in competition in high heat die from heat stroke. Need to get the electrolytes fast in them and ice them down. Heavy draft animals have more problems than TB's and Arabs that have circuLatory systems that are bred for heat dissipation.
Don't forget, Bush and Cheney are also entirely responsible for global warming, so they had a hand in this.
Some Democrat coworkers here blame Bush of course for making the kids wait because he didn't want to get caught in the rain. These people refuse to live in the real world sometimes.
Good time to work on cooling down strategies.
I'm surprised that people can even function in temperatures above 90 degrees. I'm not surprised some of the troops come down with mysterious illnesses working in unrelenting 100 degree temperatures . I think the proper response is for the human body to shut down and take a siesta.
I almost can't stand watching them play those five set matches in tennis tournaments when the guy/gals are already cramping and getting delirious when the court is 120 degrees and they won't close the roof because it isn't raining.
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