More than 80 scouts sent to hospital from heat exhaustion at World Jamboree opening ceremony

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

https://m.koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=356264

I completely understand how this happened. When there was a crazy 30°C heat wave during Stockholm Marathon some years ago, lots of runners had to drop out because of overheating. You really need to learn heat survival like you do cold survival, even on the everyday stand at a ceremony level, and at least some of the scouts at jamboree won't have faced this challenge at 34°C ever. Our overnight lows in South Texas are the daily highs for my Swedish relatives.

[satl8]

About 93 F in Freedom units

[InquisitiveScouter]

On deployment to the sandbox, one day we recorded 50 C (122 F), and that was the ambient air temperature... And we were on the tarmack loading and launching aircraft... the soles of our boots got squishy...  You could only work for about 20 minutes, and then had to go cool off and hydrate for 30-40.  Black flag days are wonderful 😜 

Some of our planes were grounded because their performance charts were not graphed, nor their flight computers programmed to go that high.  (Engineers... sheesh...)

I still use the heat index info to limit Scouting activities... check it out...

https://www.hprc-online.org/physical-fitness/environmental-extremes/military-heat-flag-conditions-explained

 

[T2Eagle]

I couldn't find it on a quick search, but I'm curious what the humidity and actual temperature at the time (10:30PM) were.

I wasn't there, but several of my friends were working a medical tent during the 2005 BSA Jambo heat disaster. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna87052

Heat exhaustion adds to Scout Jamboree woes
About 300 Boy Scouts were treated for heat exhaustion Wednesday after waiting for President Bush to arrive at a memorial service for four Scout leaders who were killed while pitching a tent beneath a power line. Bush will appear on Thursday instead.

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

1 hour ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

Some of our planes were grounded because their performance charts were not graphed, nor their flight computers programmed to go that high. 

That's because 50°C is too hot for human habitation and so no planes will need to fly in that kind of heat. ☠️😳 

Actually, just operation of certain electronics starts really suffering whether people live there or not. I worked on a project to ensure even performance both at high and low temperatures, and 50°C was off our chart because it would have been very, very, very hard to find a material to do the whole range from -20°C to +50°C. We stopped at +30°C. In that sense it doesn't surprise me, especially since any older planes would have been engineered at a different time when the max temperatures one could routinely expect were noticably lower.

My impression is that the Middle East is only still habitable thanks to A/C, and this story isn't changing my mind. (I'm guessing "the sandbox" is Iraq? Or Kuwait?)

[MattR]

Heat exhaustion at 93F is most likely from ignoring all the advice to drink enough fluids. It could also be from getting the wrong advice about salty foods and not getting enough electrolytes. It could also be not recognizing the symptoms. In the summer. If a scout starts complaining about having an upset stomach it's a huge red flag to get them out of the heat, sipping water and either eating salty stuff or drinking something with electrolytes. It takes a few hours before they start feeling better but the good news is they typically learn a lesson. Some kids don't like to drink water and they learn it's not a bad thing. In all honesty, 80 scouts out of many thousands is not a surprise to me. Our camp, with  250-300 scouts per week, would have one or two a day dealing with dehydration.

[SSScout]

11 hours ago, T2Eagle said:

I couldn't find it on a quick search, but I'm curious what the humidity and actual temperature at the time (10:30PM) were.

I wasn't there, but several of my friends were working a medical tent during the 2005 BSA Jambo heat disaster. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna87052

Heat exhaustion adds to Scout Jamboree woes
About 300 Boy Scouts were treated for heat exhaustion Wednesday after waiting for President Bush to arrive at a memorial service for four Scout leaders who were killed while pitching a tent beneath a power line. Bush will appear on Thursday instead.

Yep, I remember that. Chaplain, "Relationships" pavilion.  We had to deal/help with the accident/deaths/heat.   We stood by the road, handing out water, and sprinkling the Scouts with a hose as they went by, and garnering complaints from folks who didn't want their CAMERAS to get wet. 

[InquisitiveScouter]

18 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

That's because 50°C is too hot for human habitation and so no planes will need to fly in that kind of heat. ☠️😳 

The enemy voted, and you lost that argument.

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

5 hours ago, InquisitiveScouter said:

The enemy voted, and you lost that argument.

I feel like they should reconsider. Even better, perhaps it could be a chess game with A/C, or if it must be more physical, the World Cup. ⚽ 

All joking aside, though, that really is pretty extreme. In terms of what you have to do to adapt, it's Siberia extreme.

[OaklandAndy]

8 hours ago, AwakeEnergyScouter said:

it's Siberia extreme.

I'm not sure any of the attendees from outside that area even thought about acclimating to the environment. Word is...temperatures differ around the world. 

[RememberSchiff]

The British group of more than 4,000, the largest in attendance, is moving to hotels amid 35C temperatures, the Scout Association confirmed.

The South Korean government said it is sending water and medics to the site.

A statement from the UK's largest scouting organisation said its group will be moved into hotels "over the next two days" in a bid to "alleviate the pressure on the site overall".

More at source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-66407392

Edited August 4, 2023 by RememberSchiff

[RememberSchiff]

Great, timely speech. IMHO I think Bear and 40,000+ scouts could use a dip in the neighborhood pool.

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by RememberSchiff

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

2 hours ago, OaklandAndy said:

I'm not sure any of the attendees from outside that area even thought about acclimating to the environment. Word is...temperatures differ around the world. 

Yes, of course, this was the original idea I posted. A lot of attendees have never camped in constant 30°C heat, let alone 34-35°C heat, and when your constant camping problem is cold you don't even realize you need to prepare differently for heat. I can tell you a few stories myself.

But Siberia extreme wasn't referring to 35°C at Jamboree in Korea, it was to 50°C somewhere in the Middle East where the US was conducting combat operations, I assume Iraq, and where soldiers could only stay outside for 20 minutes at a time and asphalt was melty, see above. InquisitiveScouter's story sounds like the inverse of "your spit freezes before it hits the ground" to me. Hence the joke.

[RememberSchiff]

Foreign embassies in Korea are on high alert as tens of thousands of young participants at the World Scout Jamboree ― taking place on the reclaimed (treeless) tidal flat of Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province ― are grappling with an unrelenting heat wave and poor facility management.

According to event organizers, 28 participants have tested positive for the Covid virus as of Thursday.

About 700 American Boy Scouts have traveled to South Korea for the Jamboree. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul said it is in close communication with the event's organizers, Boy Scouts of America Leadership and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to ensure the safety of the U.S. contingent.

On request from the Jamboree planning committee, the U.S. group arrived one day later and spent their first night at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, a U.S. Army Garrison.

The news from the site, in Korea’s southwest, is a jolt for a nation renowned for organizing international events — including a previous World Scout Jamboree in 1991 which also had its bad weather problems.

More at Sources:

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/08/120_356384.html

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/aug/4/south-korea-scrambles-world-scout-jamboree-gatheri/

https://www.voanews.com/a/south-korea-scrambles-to-aid-scout-jamboree-amid-august-swelter/7210532.html

Edited August 5, 2023 by RememberSchiff

[AwakeEnergyScouter]

Interestingly, the Finnish contingent is doing fine, and thinks the organizers have been very thoughtful in taking care of everyone. Apparently breakfast is at 5 AM in part to beat the heat. 

The Swedes are also staying, and mention additional cooling resources the organizing committee has provided such as buses with AC. Sounds like the organizers doing really well, actually. The Swedes' top complaints are special diet food availability and bathroom cleanliness, not related to the heat at all.

https://www-hs-fi.translate.goog/kotimaa/art-2000009761311.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true

https://www-scouterna-se.translate.goog/aktuellt/wsj23/uppdatering-om-uk-scouts-deltagande-pa-jamboreen/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true

Edited August 4, 2023 by AwakeEnergyScouter