Please read.....

[supernavymommy(PIR MAY 04/04/811]

Recruits normally get a cough or a cold while in ANY boot camp, Air Force, Army, Navy or Marines. But most of them will not go to a Doctor in fear of being recycled BUT we must encourage them to go when they are running a fever.

I don't want to scare anyone but all of our children are precious to us so we/them need to be informed

I found this on the Navy for dads website.

PLEASE PLEASE keep these families in your prayers as they have lost a child.

PLEASE KEEP THESE IN MEMORY OF SAILORS WHO DID THEIR BEST,

UPDATED 01/12/12 8:56 a.m.

NAVAL STATION GREAT LAKES, Ill. (CBS) — A 19-year-old U.S. Navy recruit has died during boot camp training at the Great Lakes Naval base.

Seaman Recruit Christopher Walker, 19, of Kittaning, Pa., died Wednesday morning at Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes, according to a release from the Naval Service Training Command.

Walker was participating in a standard physical fitness assessment, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2ND Recruit dies at Great Lakes RTC

A naval recruit who aspired to be a military police officer died Friday of causes related topneumonia, marking the second recruit death in a month at Naval Station Great Lakes.

Navy officials said it is not clear when Elizabeth Richardson, 19, of Zimmerman, Minn., contracted her illness, but that there was no sign others in her battalion had been stricken.

Richardson arrived at the base Jan. 30, and 10 days later went to the nearby Lovell Federal Health Care Center with a fever and a rapid heartbeat, said Navy spokesman Mike Miller. She died the next day, the first time in memory that a recruit had died of pneumonia, Miller said.

[supernavymommy(PIR MAY 04/04/811]

"She died the next day, the first time in memory that a recruit had died of pneumonia, Miller said."

First time in memory??? Don't they have keep records?? They are the military for goodness sake. I just have a problem that as "clean" they like to keep everything that when everyone is a walking cough that they would look into it a little more. No reason for recruits or others to be so sick while they are there. If it is just a cough ok but when they are running fever then time to do something about it. 

[Anti M]

The problem is when you pile in a load of young folks from all over the US, half of them are walking around with the crud for a week or two.  As a recruit, you learn not to cough too much in formation, and it is easy to hide a fever. You'd be amazed how much those young people suck it up in order not to be sent to sickcall.  Not at all easy to spot, either.  The RDCs are dedicated, but they don't pat their recruits' foreheads very often.   You pretty much have to throw up or pass out to draw attention to yourself.  

That's what the peanut butter shot is for, to boost their immune systems to fight all those strange new germs.  

I had the crud in boot camp, we all did.  No way around it.  I got the crud when I transferred to Japan.  I got San Diego crud, and Diego Garcia crud.  Sailors come to expect a brief illness each time they PCS and deal with new germs.

[CaptainFatso]

I'm going to take issue with this. You're being critical without a factual basis.

According the THIS SITE, a "A 20-year-old U.S. woman has a 1 in 2,000 (or 0.05 percent) chance of dying in the next year."

Great Lakes pumps out about 40,000 sailors a year. CITE HERE  Each recruit spends about two months there. That puts the average population at about 6,666.00 sailors. There have been two deaths in the last 12 months, thus boot camp annual death rate is about 1 in 3333 (or 0.03 percent).

However, that's not the whole story. The past 12 months were uncharacteristically bad for the Navy. To be a little more fair, lets broaden this out a bit. Lets average this for, the last six years. If we do that, boot camp annual death rate is about 1 in 20,000 (or .005 percent).

To my way of thinking, 1 in 20,000 is a hell of a lot better than 1 in 2000.

Maybe the real question is what is the Navy doing right?

Oh and by the way, the ONLY other recorded Navy Boot Camp death I could find was in 1977.

[greatlakes25]

HEY CAPTAIN YOU HAVE THE INFO FOR SHIP 12 DIVISON 098

[BR549]

It's probably just me, but I raised my kids that if you got a fever it was your body fighting infection and IF the fever persists for more than 5 days we went to the Doctor, I can only think of 1 instance we went and his fever broke while in the Doctors office.  This is not true for everyone but it was for my family. 

[Denise-- Seabee Mom]

you can have a cold or flu for days to a couple weeks before the symptoms even appear. People carry things all the time and don't even know it. Its a fact of life. No ones fault. Just the way it is. I for one hate doctors. they charge a whole lot of money for very little results.

My son has a very high tolerance to things. He gets very ill before I ever knew he was sick. God knows how many germs he passed around.My daughter on the other had seemed to catch a bug all the time.

Angie I am sure that the numbers are low on how many find something they have that they didn't know. Seems the most common is asthma and heart murmurs. At least that is what I have seen since being on N4M's.

  Suppernavy...maybe he said that cause at the time they did the interview he didnt look it up.

And no matter how clean you keep things there is still the air. People are gonna get sick

 

[greatlakes25]

OMG MY SON TOLD ME BOUGHT THE GIRL PASSING I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE SECOND SR. WHATS SCARY FOR ME IS THAT MY SON HAD BEEN SICK WITH A COLD. IM PANIKING EVEN MORE NOW THAN I HAD BEEN. ARE THEY GIVING RECRUITS COMPLETE PHYSICALS XRAYS. HOW DID THEY NOT KNOW 2 SR'S HAD PNEUMONIA

THIS IS ALL SO DISTURBING I JUST WANT MY SON HOME I DONT CARE AT THIS POINT PASS OR NOT.

VERY EMOTIONAL RIGHT NOW PRAYERS TO THIS FAMILY. IM CALLING RED CROSS I HAVE TO SPEAK WITH MY SON THIS IS THE ONLY WAY I KNOW THIS IS SERIOUS.

 

                                                                                                                  SO EMOTIONAL MOTHER

[lemonelephant]

greatlakes25, first of all, quit shouting--typing in all caps. Second, the Red Cross cannot help with that. You contact them if there is a family emergency and a panicking mom is not an emergency. Your SR will call early next week to let you know that he is a Sailor and you will see him next Friday. There have been enough posts about your son's division that you should know the day to expect the call. If not, befriend someone with a recruit in the same division from the PIR group and ask in a private message. In about a week and a half your SR will be in A School and will be able to call using his cell phone (if you take it to him). Use this time to prepare for next week.  Your son made the decision to join the Navy and now you must put him in the best hands of all--those of God and the US Navy--and know that nothing bad has happened to your son or he would have called you for "No news is good news."  Next week, you will see one very changed and extremely proud Sailor.

[CaptainFatso]

Your son is a man and will soon be capped as a Sailor in the United States Navy.

Elizabeth Richardson died on February 10th. I think she was still in her P-Days. Irregardless, she is not your son.

[Denise-- Seabee Mom]

The red cross isnt going to put anyone's son on the phone so you can hear his voice. Lord really??? YOu missing his is NOT a emergency. WE parents really need to grow up here already

This psot shouldnt even be here. Even the RTC on facebook didnt allow the information. I get tired of people that keep bringing these things up. Let these kids rest. And let their parents heal.

If Anything AT ALL is wrong with YOUR child, YOU will get a call!!!

[supernavymommy(PIR MAY 04/04/811]

Actually I found it on the site for dads so I thought parents have a right to know about what has happened. I didn't post this to be ugly just for information and ALSO for prayers for the families that are still hurting.

There is nothing wrong with the post. I told my son that if he ever runs a fever it is better to check it out and be recycled than something worse happens. Also others need to see that the crude is in all bases for ALL branches. My husband caught it in the Air Force 6 years ago and lived as I pray most will.

There is nothing wrong with information for new recruits.