Sick child rescued at sea

[lynnerself]

www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sick-child20140407,0,1918922.story?track=rss#axzz2yFLnA5Fe

The sick baby rescued from a crippled sailboat hundreds of miles at sea is in stable condition aboard the frigate Vandegrift, which is set to return to its home port here Wednesday, officials announced Monday afternoon.

The 1-year-old girl was suffering from a high fever and a severe rash when her parents made a distress call Thursday to the Coast Guard.

By Thursday night, four men from the California Air National Guard trained as paramedics had parachuted into the ocean and were aboard the sailboat.

Irresponsible?
Or living their dream?

[swamp]

Living their dream. 
But spending months on a boat with a toddler and a baby sounds like hell on earth to me. 

[sesfw]

The parents were living a dream and putting the whole family in danger. I read in the paper this morning that when the Coast Guard reached the sailboat and got the family off the decision was made to scuttle the boat. It was taking on water so impossible to save.  Being disabled and 900 miles out into the Pacific, they could have gone down and never been found.

A case of not thinking things through.  Having a dream is one thing, being stupid about it is another.

[zibazinski]

Hopefully, they charge the family for the rescue.

[The Captain]

You wanna live your dream?  Fine - just don't risk your kids' safety to do so.

When you are hundreds of miles from civilization and unreachable in a hurry except by helicopter you sure as hell are putting them at risk, then to top it off stay in Mexico for a bit and leave after the kid was gets salmonella poisening stating the doctors cleared her.  Brilliant (NOT!).

[The Captain]

Apr 8, 2014 13:05:44 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Hopefully, they charge the family for the rescue.

They won't.  Sea rescues are usually covered by international law.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

They are not going to charge the family for the rescue.

I think that this was an idiot thing to do. A child can go from not feeling well to crap in a heartbeat. Deciding to sail around the world (or even just across the Pacific) may have been their dream, but they put their child at risk.

If you make the decision to have children and be responsible for them, then THEIR needs to be put first, not YOUR dreams.

Dumbasses!

[lynnerself]

Apr 8, 2014 13:05:44 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Hopefully, they charge the family for the rescue.

No, it's already been stated that they won't.

"The Coast Guard does not charge for search and rescue operations," said Coast Guard Lt. Anna Dixon in a statement. "We don’t want people in trouble at sea to hesitate to call for help for fear they’ll be charged for assistance.

[jkapp]

Apr 8, 2014 13:42:54 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

Apr 8, 2014 13:05:44 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Hopefully, they charge the family for the rescue.

No, it's already been stated that they won't.

"The Coast Guard does not charge for search and rescue operations," said Coast Guard Lt. Anna Dixon in a statement. "We don’t want people in trouble at sea to hesitate to call for help for fear they’ll be charged for assistance.

Well, they DO charge for it...just not the actual people they rescued

And I'm all for people living their dreams...but not forcing their dreams on someone else.  Two toddlers, one only a year old, on a trip around the world?  How insanely selfish and egotistical of the parents...

From the article it even seems their family thought they were idiots (paraphrasing)

[Wisconsin Beth]

Raising a Child Dangerously: Adventure sailing with young children can be risky. It’s also the best way I know how to parent.

www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2014/04/rebel_heart_sailboat_rescue_eric_and_charlotte_kaufman_are_part_of_my_community.html

For the other view. 

ETA - I get seasick so there's no way in hell I'd do this personally.  

[Gardening Grandma]

We have some friends who lived aboard their sailboat for years and raised their two sons aboard.  The cruising world is pretty small and our friends met the Kaufmans in Mexico before the youngest child was born.

Our friends did take their sons cruising the South Pacific, but by then the sons were teenagers and old enough to help sail, stand watches, etc.  I asked them what they thought and they could not imagine the difficulty of a baby in diapers and a toddler on a rocking, moving boat with beach landings.

I think it's fine to follow a dream, but don't understand why they couldn't wait a few years u til the kids were older.

[Sum Dum Gai]

Maybe they wanted to finish their world cruise before the older one started school. What they tried to do is unconventional. If they pulled the kids out of school and did it when they were older they'd still be getting a lot of flak.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Apr 11, 2014 10:18:49 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Maybe they wanted to finish their world cruise before the older one started school. What they tried to do is unconventional. If they pulled the kids out of school and did it when they were older they'd still be getting a lot of flak.

As long as they were being schooled while on the boat, I don't see any difference from home schooling so likely not as much as you think.

The problem with very young children is that at that age, they can get very sick, very quickly.  At those ages, you don't really have all the defenses that you need to fight off disease.  That doesn't occur until kids hit 12ish.

[Sum Dum Gai]

As long as they were being schooled while on the boat, I don't see any difference from home schooling so likely not as much as you think.

If you don't think home schoolers catch a lot of flak I don't know what to tell you.

[Sam_2.0]

I wouldn't take little ones that can't swim well that far out anyway. I grew up around boats (always on the lake, so never far from shore), but it still would worry me to go out so far you can't see land with babies that can't swim. Jackets will keep a body up but won't necessarily keep a kid from drowning.

That said, kids can get sick at the drop of a hat. If they took the baby out KNOWING it was sick, that's one thing (looks like that may have been the case). If the kid caught something along the way, that's another.

Shaun - rich home schoolers don't get flak. They "tutor" their kids with expensive private instructors, not home school. As a poor hs kid growing up, we always heard about the difference.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Shaun - rich home schoolers don't get flak. They "tutor" their kids with expensive private instructors, not home school. As a poor hs kid growing up, we always heard about the difference.

My only experience with homeschoolers was one of the dental faculty was homeschooling his 4 kids. He came into the lab asking me if I could help him with some simple experiments/equipment. He covered the math and sciences, his wife did the liberal arts as these were her strengths. There is no doubt in my mind that those parents were sufficiently educated to teach all their kids.....and not have to hire it out.

I'm not saying that all homeschoolers have the same advantages as these kids did. And I seriously doubt that they received flak for their decision to homeschool.

[The Captain]

Just say this today as a follow up to the prior discussion:

gma.yahoo.com/parents-rescued-navy-warship-plan-file-lawsuit-144843401--abc-news-parenting.html

"The parents who were stranded at sea with their two young daughters and had to be rescued by a U.S. Navy warship say they plan to sue their satellite phone carrier and hope any monetary winnings will allow them to help repay the government's cost of their rescue."

I couldn't defend these people before.

Now I just want to (portion deleted because it violated the board's CoC) them.

Seriously, don't people take any personal responsibility for their actions anymore?

[zibazinski]

Selfish people? Absolutely not.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

This makes me think of Verizon "Can you hear me now?"


At least they are going to use the money to pay back the rescuers. I'm trying to put a positive spin on stupidity and failing.

[Tennesseer]

Would this stupid couple have received help any quicker by use of their satellite phone carrier than they did by using their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB)?  Probably not.

Either way, they were going to have to be saved by the U.S. Navy or some other foreign navy and transported to a U.S. ship that far from land.  Pay your stupid bills.

These people were idiots to take young children on this trip.  Heck the littlest one, the one who got sick, won't remember anything about the trip so why even take him along? 

[Deleted]

Put me in with the group that says "live out all the dreams that you want... but NOT with little kids in tow"

If you just HAVE to do that sailboat cruise around the world NOW... leave the little ones with Grandma & Grandpa... or an Aunt... or an Uncle... someone.

Kids under the age of 10 have no business being out on a tiny sail boat. Not even for a couple of hours, much less over night or (heaven forbid) a long term cruise.

[swamp]

Jul 10, 2014 18:41:02 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

Put me in with the group that says "live out all the dreams that you want... but NOT with little kids in tow"

If you just HAVE to do that sailboat cruise around the world NOW... leave the little ones with Grandma & Grandpa... or an Aunt... or an Uncle... someone.

Kids under the age of 10 have no business being out on a tiny sail boat. Not even for a couple of hours, much less over night or (heaven forbid) a long term cruise.

It was a 36' boat, that's not too small. 

We take our kids out on boats and jet skis all the time, and have since they were little.   No over nights, though. 

[Deleted]

Jul 10, 2014 18:49:43 GMT -5 swamp said:

Jul 10, 2014 18:41:02 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

Put me in with the group that says "live out all the dreams that you want... but NOT with little kids in tow"

If you just HAVE to do that sailboat cruise around the world NOW... leave the little ones with Grandma & Grandpa... or an Aunt... or an Uncle... someone.

Kids under the age of 10 have no business being out on a tiny sail boat. Not even for a couple of hours, much less over night or (heaven forbid) a long term cruise.

It was a 36' boat, that's not too small. 

We take our kids out on boats and jet skis all the time, and have since they were little.   No over nights, though. 

In/on the Pacific Ocean, a 36 footer is tiny. (out on the lake/river, different story, I should have specified "ocean voyages")

[workpublic]

I wasnt allowed to go on a cruise that my grandmother took my parents, my much older brother and cousins on because I was too young. I was 7. Boy how the irresponsible have grown since 1967. :-)

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2014 13:13:21 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

They are not going to charge the family for the rescue.

I think that this was an idiot thing to do. A child can go from not feeling well to crap in a heartbeat. Deciding to sail around the world (or even just across the Pacific) may have been their dream, but they put their child at risk.

If you make the decision to have children and be responsible for them, then THEIR needs to be put first, not YOUR dreams.

Dumbasses!

so does that mean nobody should ever go anywhere more than 20 miles from a hospital?  so all the people on this board that live an hour away from a trauma hospital are irresponsible and putting their children at risk?  where exactly is the line drawn?

[The Captain]

where exactly is the line drawn

I would suggest the line is drawn when you decide it is acceptable for your hobbies to take your children far away from access to aid if needed.  Especially when one of the was very recently severly ill.

I would feel the same about someone who takes an infant/child on a cross country hiking trip, mountain climbing, or cave diving.

However, I would not feel the same way about someone who lives on a farm dozens of miles from a hospital, that is how they are supporting their family.

There is also a huge difference between 20 miles from a hospital on land and hundreds of miles from anyone at sea. 

But that's just my opinion, YMMV.

   

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jul 11, 2014 8:50:49 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Apr 8, 2014 13:13:21 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

They are not going to charge the family for the rescue.

I think that this was an idiot thing to do. A child can go from not feeling well to crap in a heartbeat. Deciding to sail around the world (or even just across the Pacific) may have been their dream, but they put their child at risk.

If you make the decision to have children and be responsible for them, then THEIR needs to be put first, not YOUR dreams.

Dumbasses!

so does that mean nobody should ever go anywhere more than 20 miles from a hospital?  so all the people on this board that live an hour away from a trauma hospital are irresponsible and putting their children at risk?  where exactly is the line drawn?

I think this ties into the thread FB started a month or so ago about parents who leave kids in the car for a rush in/rush out trip (under 5 minutes.)  We all have different ideas, standards and practices for what's risky and what's not for our kids. 

ETA - I'm not a sailor so I'm not up on the risks of sailing vs. rewards. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jul 11, 2014 8:50:49 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Apr 8, 2014 13:13:21 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

They are not going to charge the family for the rescue.

I think that this was an idiot thing to do. A child can go from not feeling well to crap in a heartbeat. Deciding to sail around the world (or even just across the Pacific) may have been their dream, but they put their child at risk.

If you make the decision to have children and be responsible for them, then THEIR needs to be put first, not YOUR dreams.

Dumbasses!

so does that mean nobody should ever go anywhere more than 20 miles from a hospital?  so all the people on this board that live an hour away from a trauma hospital are irresponsible and putting their children at risk?  where exactly is the line drawn?

No, but it doesn't mean that you find yourself in a position where you are 3 DAYS from the closest medical facility.  That's how far they were away and the distance was too far for even a rescue helicopter.