MachoHikerDave says
No one was denying him water for a screwed up reason. The participants are on a course phase that you are trying to survive off only what you find in the environment. That's what was signed up for. To me, it would be odd on a course like this if someone said, I'm hungry and suddenly you stop and a full meal is served. That's not the point of the course.
Bad analogy. Did anyone suggest, after he was clearly in trouble
-"pale, wracked by cramps, speech slurred, desperate for water and hallucinating so badly he mistook a tree for a person, speech thick and mouth swollen, companions were carrying his possessions for him"- that maybe he wasn't macho enough and should drop out. Do people really think clearly when they are dehydrated? Was he even capable of making rational decisions for himself? Doubtful. The brain is the first to go.
MachoHikerDave says
I didn't blame the participant or the school.
Oh, I think you are, but it doesn't matter, the program did, "BOSS, has denied any negligence and instead blamed Buschow".
MachoHikerDave says
Perhaps the instructor was unaware that he veered wildly or was delusional.
That's would be significant if true, given that the other participants noticed.
"During a break, he mistook a tree for a person and said, "There she is." "This was the first point at which I became concerned knowing that delirium happens when dehydration becomes severe," a camper wrote. Buschow "also asked if there was much air traffic that went through here, and asked if anyone had a signal mirror."Perhaps, this is why 5 people dropped out of the course after his death. Might they have lost trust in the staff to be able to act rationally in their best interest, having watched staff allow a man to die when water was readily available? Having watched staff deny his symptoms and allow him to die.
As for the staff:
"He said he could not go on," staff member Shawn O'Neal wrote two days later in a statement ordered by the Garfield County Sheriff's Office. "I felt that he could make it this short distance and told him he could do it as I have seen many students sore, dehydrated and saying 'can't' do something only to find that they have strength beyond their conceived limits."
O'Neal didn't inform Buschow about his emergency water.
"I wanted him to accomplish getting to the water and the cave for rest," he wrote. "He asked me to go get the water for him. I said I was not going to leave him.... Shortly thereafter I had a bad feeling and turned to Dave and found no sign of breathing."
but was warned by the staff not to fill it. During the early phase of the expedition, participants can drink water at the source only and cannot carry it with them[/b]."[/i]
Warned by the staff? Shouldn't that be the participant's decision, how hard they want to 'push' themselves? Which "perceived limits" they choose to challenge and which they choose to accept? THAT should not, and never should be, someone else call. Period.
MachoHikerDave says
I think it is clear in the course description that you are given no food or water other than what is found on the course.
Look, if that's the case, then they should have to put that in their disclaimer. WE WILL NOT PROVIDE YOU WITH WATER, EVEN IF YOU ARE DYING. DON'T TAKE THIS COURSE UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO RISK YOUR LIFE. WE LITERALLY ALLOWED ONE MAN TO DIE. THAT'S HOW SERIOUS WE ARE.
I was talking to an MD friend this afternoon. His comment was that they should not be allowed to deny participants water, EVER. Food, yeh, you can go up to a week without food, but clearly you can die of dehydration in a matter of hours. You can "condition" yourself for endurance, but you can not "condition" yourself to need less water. Denying participant water, particularly those in trouble, is clearly neglect and sadistic.
BTW, my MD friend also commented that after a while, after dehydration had gone too far, the hiker would likely not even notice he was thirsty anymore. Based on the other participants comments, he was clearly showing classic signs of severe dehydration. His symptoms were denied.
