Saturday, December 11, 2004
the mighty roy
yesterday, at work there was a school group that came down to the beach for their highschool sports carnival on the beach. about 400 kids strong, the group dominated the beach and the water. it wasn't the best day for beach weather, so really it didn't interfere with much else. just the screaming kids gave me a headache.
however, at one point, someone came up to me and said there was a boy they had put into the first aid room to lie down because he was not feeling well. i walked in to check him out. upon entering the room, i took one look at this kid and my first thought was- heart attack. i am serious. he was lying there on this bed completely pale and sweaty, short of breath, complaining of pain in his chest when i asked him to breathe deeply. upon further examination i was even more convinced of my diagnosis, but was unable to investigate it any further, because i did not have the tools to do so. so i called an ambulance to the beach. the paramedic, when he arrived took one look at this kid, and i know his reaction was the same as mine- possible heart attack. so the kid was treated as a cardiac patient, canulated, given aspirin, hooked up to the heart monitor and transported to the hospital. i do not yet know the outcome. i would not be surprised if it was something to do with his heart. it is crazy to think that is the case for a 17 year old boy. then again, i am always thinking of len bias, who died on the basketball court from a cardiac arrest, and he was in much better shape than this kid yesterday. so you never know.
oddly enough, not more than five seconds after packing up and transporting the kid in the ambulance, i was called down to the beach on the sand where another boy was crash tackled from behind, suffering from a very sore head, neck, and spine. once again another ambulance was called, and this boy was treated and transported to hospital for a possible spinal injury. my opinion, is he will be fine, but better to be overly cautious than not.
who ever said lifeguarding at collaroy beach was boring?
however, at one point, someone came up to me and said there was a boy they had put into the first aid room to lie down because he was not feeling well. i walked in to check him out. upon entering the room, i took one look at this kid and my first thought was- heart attack. i am serious. he was lying there on this bed completely pale and sweaty, short of breath, complaining of pain in his chest when i asked him to breathe deeply. upon further examination i was even more convinced of my diagnosis, but was unable to investigate it any further, because i did not have the tools to do so. so i called an ambulance to the beach. the paramedic, when he arrived took one look at this kid, and i know his reaction was the same as mine- possible heart attack. so the kid was treated as a cardiac patient, canulated, given aspirin, hooked up to the heart monitor and transported to the hospital. i do not yet know the outcome. i would not be surprised if it was something to do with his heart. it is crazy to think that is the case for a 17 year old boy. then again, i am always thinking of len bias, who died on the basketball court from a cardiac arrest, and he was in much better shape than this kid yesterday. so you never know.
oddly enough, not more than five seconds after packing up and transporting the kid in the ambulance, i was called down to the beach on the sand where another boy was crash tackled from behind, suffering from a very sore head, neck, and spine. once again another ambulance was called, and this boy was treated and transported to hospital for a possible spinal injury. my opinion, is he will be fine, but better to be overly cautious than not.
who ever said lifeguarding at collaroy beach was boring?
