Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: PhilRich on 14 July 2013, 18:51:26
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Two lads on a training exercise in the Brecon Beacons :(
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/2013/jul/14/two-servicemen-die-training-brecon-beacons
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That is terrible news, sadly this sort of incident does happen......... :'( :'(
My thoughts go out to their family and friends...... :( :( :(
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Hmm. Did an hour or two of gardening today without thinking too much about dehydration and was rewarded by a splitting headache and a quick prayer to the porcelain god. Glad I got a warning shot and was able to do something about it. :(
How awful. :'(
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This nearly happened to me while training in Sandhurst. It doesn't need to be hot for it to happen, my incident happened on a day where is was only 17 Celsius.
It was a log race competition and basically I ran out of H2O. I had drunk all that I was carrying and I didn't have time to drink any more in any case. With just a mile to go I went from feeling absolutely fine to beginning to struggle. I pushed on because I didn't want to let my mates down. The last memory I have is of running down the road back to the back gate off Barossa. Apparently I continued another 500m but I don't remember that, I collapsed and started to vomit....bile. I was evacuated to the medical centre where they fought with me to cannulate me so they could get some fluids in, but I was in a panic and fighting them off. They were considering sedating me but for some reason I relented. I later found out that the doc was prepared for the log run and the possibility of heat injuries and had cool fluids ready.
I was evacuated to the local hospital where I went in to total body cramp, one of the most painful things I have experienced. In A&E I was treated by doctors who would later on become friends and colleagues as I commissioned in to the medics. I was given diazepam to combat the cramp but I fond myself unable to make coherent words, so when they asked me for my parent's details so they could inform them all I could do is dribble. About an hour had passed but I only had snippets of memory totalling about 5 minutes.
Overt he next 24 hours they pumped 22L of saline through me as apparently heat injuries cause proteins to break off in to the blood which clog the kidneys eventually causing kidney and multiple organ failure. I didn't sleep becaue they kept taking observations every 30 minutes. I needed regular blood tests and check-ups for several weeks afterwards and here is became apparent how lucky I was. I had reached an internal body temp of 41.9C. Many die when they reach 41C. I am sure it is the initial intervention from the doctor at Sandhurst that saved me.
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A very sad incident. I suspect 30 years ago it would just have been reported "Two died - accident" end of story.
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I live only a few miles from here and regularly climb Pen-y-Fan, the highest mountain in South Wales, and a prominent training ground for the armed forces and the SAS. You regularly see them out in all weathers and you only realise how tough their training is when you see the terrain first-hand. My heart goes out to the families of the deceased :(
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Very sad news indeed.
I really hope this isn't taken in the wrong way whatsoever, but this type of thing is inevitable when training the hopeful 'elite'. I'm quite sure all the recent and not so recent wars have seen Soldiers in environments far more extreme than a (comparable) medium sized hill in South Wales in moderate temperatures.
I am not for one second suggesting the two trainee's were weak or not upto the job, just that maybe there were unfortunate circumstances leading to their death - Lack of water, perhaps a few shandy's the night before..... who knows?
Does seem strange (and unusual) that two people die on the same training exercise. :-\