A man who collapsed in the East End heat Friday afternoon and who was taken to the Cayman Islands hospital following a valiant rescue attempt was pronounced dead later that evening.
Cayman Islands hospital personnel have confirmed that the 21-year-old died Friday.
Royal Cayman Islands Police said the man, a volunteer with the Blue Iguana Recovery programme, had arrived on the Island earlier in the week. He was from Indiana, USA.
Around 2.15pm Friday, Royal Cayman Islands Police
received a report that a man was ill and needed medical assistance in the bush area approximately 1 –
1.5 miles from the East End public beach.
Police, fire and ambulance crews were not able to reach the man – who had collapsed from apparent heat stroke – by vehicle on land.
Instead, firefighters and paramedics on scene made a valiant effort by walking 20 minutes – covering about two miles – through the bush to reach him. They helped stabilise the patient when they arrived, police said.
The RCIPS helicopter then came to the rescue.
Police said a medic boarded the aircraft and the crew flew to the bush
area. Staff from the RCIPS Air Operations Unit dropped some machetes to the paramedics and friends
of the ill man, asking them to clear a landing area for the chopper.
Firefighters helped cut down the vegetation and cleared an area
large enough to accommodate the helicopter, according to Chief Fire Officer Dennom Bodden.
The helicopter later landed at the George Town cricket pitch where an ambulance took the victim to the hospital.
Prior to the chopper landing on the cricket pitch, police had to clear out some school children who were just wrapping up a game for safety’s sake. There were no difficulties with the helicopter landing in the George Town field.
The young man who collapsed was said to be in the remote area of the East End working with Cayman’s Blue Iguana Recovery Programme.
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The chopper just proved value for money.
wow,21 and dies of heat exhaustion. Wow…I never thought that was even possible.
A quick search show;
Heat stroke can occur suddenly, without any symptoms of heat exhaustion. If a person is experiencing symptoms of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, OBTAIN MEDICAL CARE IMMEDIATELY. Any delay could be fatal. You should seek emergency medical care for anyone who has been in the heat and who has the following symptoms:
Confusion, anxiety or loss of consciousness.
Very rapid or dramatically slowed heartbeat.
Rapid rise in body temperature that reaches 104 to 106 degrees Fahrenheit.
Either drenching sweats accompanied by cold, clammy skin (which may indicate heat exhaustion); or a marked decrease in sweating accompanied by hot, flushed, dry skin (which may indicate heat stroke).
Convulsions.
Any other heat-related symptom that is not alleviated by moving to a shady or air-conditioned area and administering fluids and salts.
How is it possible that so many people disagree with the first post The chopper just proved value for money? As of Monday morning there are 23 people that disagree and thankfully 38 that agree.
What is up with that?
Is it because this man died that it wasn’t worth the money, or do you assign an expat’s life to be worth less than a helicopter?
What if it was a Caymanian? Would it be worth the money then?
Nice.