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Scores of Boy Scouts Fall Ill From Heat While Waiting for President to Arrive at Jamboree
COX.Net AP Story ^ | July 27, 2005 | MICHAEL FELBERBAUM, Associated Press Writer

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.

___

On the Net:

CDC explanations of heat illnesses: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/extremeheat


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: aphill; boyscouts; bushsfault; fortaphill; heat; jamboree; president; scouts
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To: SandRat
Ever since they started allowing gay scout leaders, clear thinking has come to a halt with the Boy Scouts. Here in just one Jamboree, we have two major events that either caused death, or caused widespread illness.

In the pre-gay Scout leader days, part of the Scout motto was to be "mentally awake".

Have they removed that from the Scout motto, considering the events of the past few days?

41 posted on 07/28/2005 11:38:07 AM PDT by Dont_Tread_On_Me_888 (Bush's #1 priority Africa. #2 priority appease Fox and Mexico . . . USA priority #64.)
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To: MikeHu

If they were doing that they'd bring them to Phoenix Arizona or Yuma Arizona.


42 posted on 07/28/2005 11:41:07 AM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: MikeHu
I'm surprised that people can even function in temperatures above 90 degrees.

Every Saturday here in Orlando, the guys and I go play hard-court tennis outside, with temperatures above 90, humidity about the same, and with court temperature from the hard-court probably above 120-degrees. We play hard and run hard for three hours.

I sweat, I go through about 64 oz. of water, but I have a blast.

I guess one just gets used to it.

43 posted on 07/28/2005 11:41:25 AM PDT by Dont_Tread_On_Me_888 (Bush's #1 priority Africa. #2 priority appease Fox and Mexico . . . USA priority #64.)
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To: THEUPMAN

On Nation,....Under Therapy!


44 posted on 07/28/2005 11:44:58 AM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Dont_Tread_On_Me_888

ummm,... Scouts do not allow gay Adult Scout Leaders. As to the clear thinking there wasn't any and they violated every bit of the rules and the training on Safe Scouting.


45 posted on 07/28/2005 11:47:33 AM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: Dont_Tread_On_Me_888

That's a fallacy. One's tolerance to heat and cold are genetic more than conditioned. That's a common misunderstanding of the variability (diversity) and adaptability of people. Some people are cold tolerant more than others and some people are more heat tolerant than others. To assume that we are all born the same and that one can condition or get used to those thresholds is one of the great health dangers. That's why there are different ideal climates for people and these sensitivities are not just all in their head; the body is giving them valuable information about its operating conditions. They shouldn't be running marathons on the hottest day of the century -- or playing tennis on torturous conditions. They should be playing them under optimal conditions for peak performances. Otherwise, they'd run the pole vault in a hurricane.


46 posted on 07/28/2005 11:53:49 AM PDT by MikeHu
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To: SandRat
ummm,... Scouts do not allow gay Adult Scout Leaders.

We hope so, but considering all the attempts, one would think the RATs slipped a few in under the cover. The RATs seem to get everything to go their way eventually.

47 posted on 07/28/2005 11:54:45 AM PDT by Dont_Tread_On_Me_888 (Bush's #1 priority Africa. #2 priority appease Fox and Mexico . . . USA priority #64.)
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