5 year old drowns on holiday.

[GTI Mom]

Hi fbrs - yes. That is the worst thing: that they blame the teenage sister and the lifeguards. Trouble is - some people run away from blame. They cannot face the fact they are to blame - so they blame everyone else instead. I never like to think ill of anyone though - so I'd like to think that they are in a mix of panic-stricken guilt and self-denial and that when they come to terms with what happened - they can come to terms as best they can, but never ever forget that child and what they did all the same.

[Chrisgr31]

When our daughter was around 5 we were in the UAE staying at a hotel, my wife decided to do water Aerobics and I was looking after our daughter. As we walked round the pool she tripped and fell. She didnt fall in the pool but the lifeguards were impressive. The one nearest was out of his chair before I had even turned round!

Within a minute or two the hotel nurse had appeared along with security, swiftly followed by the security manager and hotel manager, all for a small girl who had tripped over her own feet! As she had cut her chin they were all for taking her to hospital, however we just got the nurse to patch her up.

Once daughter had stopped crying the staff then checked there were no slippery patches by the pool or raised edges she might have tripped/slipped on. We felt their reaction was over the top, but when you hear the reaction of the parents in this case its not surprising they went to such lengths.

You cannot leave a child of 5 by a pool being looked after by a 15 yr old, its not fair on the 15 yr old if (or in this case when) something goes wrong.

[Grenoble]

Chrisgr31 said:

You cannot leave a child of 5 by a pool being looked after by a 15 yr old, its not fair on the 15 yr old if (or in this case when) something goes wrong.

Have to disagree. You can be married at 15 in parts of Europe. Are you saying they can't be responsible as a parent? Less sure that age is the relevant factor...

[croyde]

Just raising the point that the parents made about how long the ambulance took.

It's something that I now appreciate coming from the UK and London in particular. My ex-wife had a stroke right in front of me and the ambulance was there as soon as I had finished the emergency call, same when I had a heart attack a few years ago.

I had another heart situation at a posh resort on a Greek Island and was told to order a cab to get to the hospital 30kms away as they didn't think that they had an ambulance. One did arrive after about 2 hours but they were just a driver and a porter not the wonderful paramedics that we get here.

I worried about this when I stayed at a friends house on a tiny idyllic Bahamian island. If I had had another episode there it would have been a cab to the harbour, try and hire a boat to the next island, a cab to the local airport, charter a plane to the island with an international airport then a big plane to Miami.

Never thought about it before but even a simple broken limb on a Greek island, Egyptian resort, North African adventure or even a Bahamian millionaire's paradise can be a major disaster as there will be no quick response like here in the UK.

[Chrisgr31]

croyde said:

Just raising the point that the parents made about how long the ambulance took.

It's something that I now appreciate coming from the UK and London in particular. My ex-wife had a stroke right in front of me and the ambulance was there as soon as I had finished the emergency call, same when I had a heart attack a few years ago.

Just as well you werent in Sussex then. A friends father had a heart attack in the doctors surgery, took the ambulance well over an hour to arrive and thats far from an isolated case. Took 90 minutes for one to arrive last week to an elderly lady who had fallen in the street, took an hour just to get a paramedic in a car. A friend passed out at the station, the paramedic car took 45 minutes to arrive, and had tried phoning the train guard for directions (to receive the response "I dont know the train takes me there on the rails" and so had to stop with lights flashing to ask a passer by for directions! I know of more cases where the ambulances have taken up to an hour to arrive, it is not unusual.

[Vipers]

Grenoble said:

Chrisgr31 said:

You cannot leave a child of 5 by a pool being looked after by a 15 yr old, its not fair on the 15 yr old if (or in this case when) something goes wrong.

Have to disagree. You can be married at 15 in parts of Europe. Are you saying they can't be responsible as a parent? Less sure that age is the relevant factor...

At the end of the day, it's no good trying to pass the buck, the parents were responsible, not the tour operator, not the lifeguard, not the 15 year old daughter.

A sad outcome and the parents will have to live with that for the rest of their life.

[King Herald]

croyde said:

Just raising the point that the parents made about how long the ambulance took.

It's something that I now appreciate coming from the UK and London in particular.

To be honest, if the kid was already 'drowned' then there is about a 5% chance an ambulance would be able to do anything at all. Only in the movies do drowned people get resuscitated and then stand groggily to their feet and carry on with life. In reality once they are dead, they stay dead.

But I hear what you are saying about the UK, as we now live in the Philippines and the concept of quick medical aid in the event of an ambulance is something of a joke here. There is no 999 to call here, you pretty much have to do your best, have a contact number etc.

[arfur sleep]

Zyp said:

I had to resuscitate my 2 week old (but 5 weeks prem) son on the lounge floor for 40 minutes whilst waiting for an ambulance.

I hope it's all good now.

[Zyp]

arfur sleep said:

I hope it's all good now.

He's nearly 8 now, and a fit and healthy rugby player standing head and shoulders above his class mates!

Have to say, there's one hell of a strong bond between us.