Heatstroke Fatalaty Inquest

[Overlandman]

From ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-09/e ... st/7153876

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Bushwalk death inquest: Father tells of calls for help after teen son collapsed from heatstroke
By David Weber
Posted about 9 hours ago

Cape Range National Park
PHOTO: Part of WA's Cape Range National Park (Supplied: Tourism Western Australia)
RELATED STORY: Police name tourist who died in the northwest
MAP: Perth 6000
A father has told a coronial inquest in Perth about how he called for help after his son suffered severe heatstroke during a bushwalk in Western Australia's North West Cape.

The WA Coroner's Court is holding an inquest into the death of Scottish teenager Ewan Williamson, 14, who fell ill while walking the Badjirrajirra Trail in the Cape Range National Park in December 2012.

The court was told temperatures on the day were above 40 degrees, and there was little shade on the track.

But Ewan's father Gordon Williamson told the court that he and his son were experienced walkers in similar terrain, particularly in New Zealand.

The pair set off shortly after 10:00am and had walked for more than an hour when Ewan complained about feeling faint. They found a cave, where Ewan drank water and recovered.

Counsel assisting the coroner Toby Bishop said the pair returned to the track, but rather than heading south towards the car park, they mistakenly walked north and covered a much longer distance than expected.

Straight away I knew this was a dire situation.
Richard Du Cloux, former WA Police constable
When they were about 400 metres from the car park, Ewan said he could not walk any further.

Mr Williamson sat his son down in a culvert before going back to his 4WD, where he phoned triple-0 and requested police before grabbing a shade and more water.

He told the court the call "took a while" because, he believed, the officer had trouble understanding his Scottish accent.

Mr Williamson also said at the time he made the call to police, he "wasn't concerned" for his son's life, but did want assistance.

However he said when he got back to Ewan, he was semi-conscious, so he soaked him with water and called for an ambulance.

Officers searched for up to 15 minutes after reaching trail

Mr Williamson's call to police was recorded as being made at 2:03pm, and at 2:15pm a 'priority three' job was entered in the WA Police system.

Four minutes later, a call was made to Exmouth Police Station to tell them of the job, with the supervising officer who made the call suggesting it should be treated as a more urgent 'priority two'.

Exmouth constables Richard Du Cloux and Paul Bott left for Cape Range National Park, and were told along the way that Ewan had fallen unconscious.

Mr Du Cloux, now a former WA officer, told the court via video link from Queensland they searched for up to 15 minutes after arriving at the area.

He said when they found Ewan he was lying and having fits, with froth at his mouth, and was non-responsive.

"Straight away I knew this was a dire situation," Mr Du Cloux said.

The officers poured more water on Ewan and tried to carry the boy, who weighed 85 kilograms, to the car park.

However he said that became difficult and he stopped and placed the teenager in the recovery position.

"It felt like an eternity to get back to that car park," Mr Du Cloux said.

When ambulance officers arrived, Mr Du Cloux said Ewan did not appear to be breathing.

Paramedics performed CPR before taking Ewan to Exmouth Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death was consistent with severe heatstroke or exhaustion in a boy, complicated by a recent viral illness which caused inflammation of the heart muscle.

Coroner investigates 'priority three' classification

Among other things, the coroner is looking into whether the allocation of a 'priority three' code to the incident was appropriate and whether the response of emergency services was affected.

Mr Du Cloux told the court he could not be certain if he was told it was a 'priority two' situation, and did not see the dispatch system.

However he said the combination of the location of the incident, the high temperature and Ewan's age made him think it was a serious matter.

Mr Du Cloux said Constable Bott drove to the scene as fast as he could in the circumstances.

The coroner is also considering whether enough details of Ewan's condition were obtained, and whether officers receiving triple-0 emergency calls had sufficient training.

The inquest continues.

[wayno]

40 degrees in the shade?
dry heat?
dont get conditions like that often in NZ, experienced walkers in NZ equates to no equivalent experience for aus in the summer.
in NZ you dont loose as much sweat as you do in aus. almost unknown for people to expire from the heat in NZ

[GPSGuided]

85kg at the age of 14? With 400m to go, the father had spare water to pour on the boy? Why didn't he let the boy drink earlier? Sounds to me that the father seriously lacked experience and did not know how to adequately take care a minor, an overweight one at that too. Sad and many lessons in there.

[north-north-west]

I've walked that track - in mid August, and even then it wasn't cool. It's exposed, stony ground with mostly low, light scrub. Doing it in December when the majority of your experience is in UnZud conditions is a classic case of ego v environment.

This is the sign at the start of the track:

[photohiker]

85kg at the age of 14? With 400m to go, the father had spare water to pour on the boy? Why didn't he let the boy drink earlier?

He poured water on the boy after returning back from the car:

Mr Williamson sat his son down in a culvert before going back to his 4WD, where he phoned triple-0 and requested police before grabbing a shade and more water.

The news story also said the boy had had a "a recent viral illness which caused inflammation of the heart muscle"

I agree it is a disastrous decision to go walking on a hot aussie day with no shade. Not the first time, and sadly it won't be the last.

[wayno]

side effects of dehydration, the body becomes even poorer at heat regulation and the blood thickens up making more work for the heart.

[Gadgetgeek]

Without knowing the kid, but my guess as far as an 85kg 14 year old, growth spurts can also really fry the bodies ability to regulate itself, so if last year he was 20 kg lighter, even if its muscle he put on, that can really do a number. Athletes can also push themselves farther than they should, its sometimes easier to deal with kids who wimp out instead of those who push.

Sad outcome for the family, but proves again how several little things can add up to be too much.

[Overlandman]

I haven't seen any other media reports on the inquest since the 10th of February
Just wanted forum members from Western Australia to keep us posted on any updates (if there are any).
Regards OLM

[GPSGuided]

Mean weight for a 14 yrs old boy is 51kg, going up to 68kg for the 95th percentile. 85kg is way up.

[Bogong Moth]

I haven't seen any other media reports on the inquest since the 10th of February
Just wanted forum members from Western Australia to keep us posted on any updates (if there are any).
Regards OLM

There haven't been any I can see.

[Overlandman]

Update from ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-30/t ... ds/7798742

[wayno]

"In her findings she said the boy's father had "miscalculated the effect the heat would have on his son", who she said was "not acclimatised" to the conditions after his arrival from Scotland, where it was winter."

its not just seasonal differences, I was on the kepler track in NZ in summer talking to an aussie, it was wet weather, he hadnt brought wet weather gear because it was summer and dry where he came from, he expected NZ to be dry to.., the kepler is only a few kilometres from the wettest area in the world at sea level... he only had jeans to wear for pants , he was due to spend a day above the bushline in driving wind and rain...

[ribuck]

I've seen people from cold countries who don't own any light-coloured clothing or even a sun-hat. On a 38 degree day they will be hatless, wearing their thick black clothes.

[wayno]

dont people understand parts of australia are as bad as the sahara or arabian desert for heat? they think westernised country, reasonable weather?

[GPSGuided]

'Accident' is relative.