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Injured Crown Member


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As the parent of a current fifth year veteran of Carolina Crown, I think it is inflammatory and irresponsible of people to accuse the Crown organization and DCI of not competently handling injury situations. Unless you personally interact with the corps, and are around the corps enough to see how they handle injury situations, how are you qualified to comment, much less evaluate the situation??? Crown had an athletic trainer on staff full-time this summer. She served as a medic and dispensed much wisdom and caring. I found her to be very knowledgeable, and extremely competent. The Crown staff is also excellent about having warm-ups so that the members don't run out on the field cold and injure themselves. I'm a pharmacist and I also love my son and care about his health, and would not let him go on tour with an organization that I didn't completely trust to take excellent care of him. I PARTICULARLY would not have let him march years 2,3,4, and 5 if I had ANY DOUBTS WHATSOEVER about the staff's ability and desire to safeguard his health as much as possible.

That being said, marching drumcorps has its hazzards. My son may end up having aching joints and other aches and pains for the rest of his life from marching drumcorps. This is a risk you take when participate in any kind of repetitive motion type activity- particularly as much as you do when marching drumcorps. If my son and I both did not think the rewards outweighed the risks, then he would not be marching. It is just like any kind of athletic endeavor-- you know that there are serious risks before you undertake the activity. Nobody is forcing you to march. You make a DECISION to march, and even pay money for the privilege.

I was at Indianapolis and was sitting exactly in front of where the injury occured. And I didn't see that it had happened until the show was finished-- which was very soon after the injury happened. How can you expect the Crown and DCI staffs to have their eyes on all 150 members at the same time so that they could see any injury that occured??!! Perhaps if it had occured closer to the middle of the field, more staff members would have seen the incident when it happened. Accusing the staff of incompetently handling the situation is lucicrous! The injured marcher was running on adrenaline and probably didn't have a conscious THOUGHT in his head- just an instinct to get off the field. The bus driver and judge who helped him were also running on adrenaline- which is what happens when non-emergency personnel immediately respond to such an event. Nobody is thinking "now I should make him lie still so he doesn't injure himself further" !! They were trying to get him off the field!! Correct response-- hands down.

It is very heartening to see the drumcorps community come together to wish Ryan well. :thumbup: The discussion of how DCI and the corps handle injuries need to be left out of this discussion.

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The third alternative would be to stop the show so no one gets hurt. Don't see a problem in doing this/

Seriously, you don't see the problem with this? Let me break it down for you.

The problem is that by the time people see what is happening, get the attention of the DM and get the corps stopped he could have been run over 10 times and done a lot more injury, both to himself and the other members. Stopping a corps in the middle of the performance when they aren't expecting it is not just a 2 second thing. Even if they see the DM trying to flag them down (not easy at the speed they are moving) they are more than likely not going to register what is happening and will just continue for fear of stopping and hurting others.

Even trying to stop a corps in the middle of a performance can get people hurt. Some stop, others don't know about the stop yet, contras and drums and all kinds of things clobber members. It would be mass hysteria and multiple injuries.

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It's not something you want to see. I was there last night.

For those who were their last night, the guy that broke his ankle helping, "the bus driver", was that the guy that fell helping him off, near the end zone?

It was just like the Joe Theisman football injury. but instead of once he kept getting up and going down. 4 times.

very rough to watch.

determination :sad::thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

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Seriously, you don't see the problem with this? Let me break it down for you.

The problem is that by the time people see what is happening, get the attention of the DM and get the corps stopped he could have been run over 10 times and done a lot more injury, both to himself and the other members. Stopping a corps in the middle of the performance when they aren't expecting it is not just a 2 second thing. Even if they see the DM trying to flag them down (not easy at the speed they are moving) they are more than likely not going to register what is happening and will just continue for fear of stopping and hurting others.

Even trying to stop a corps in the middle of a performance can get people hurt. Some stop, others don't know about the stop yet, contras and drums and all kinds of things clobber members. It would be mass hysteria and multiple injuries.

Jeez, you don't have to be dramatic :sad:

It happens all the time. DM stops conducting, we stop moving. No one loses their mind and the world keeps spinning.

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I'm just coming alive after arriving home late last night. (I stopped to spend several hours with friends in the Indy area.) Sunday morning, I had received an e-mail from Crown director Jim Coates, forwarded from Dan Acheson. Jim mentioned that Ryan was comfortable and was somewhat [honked off] that he would miss the corps' banquet.

I had to laugh when I read that, because it said so much about the spirit of these kids. Ryan was lying in the hospital with a broken/fractured tibia, and he was upset he would miss the banquet. Now that is true dedication to one's corps, to want more than anything to be with them one more time after all he had been through.

I think that's awesome.

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Thank you for the mailing address to send cards. It is great to have the opportunity to send good wishes.

As for talking about what we saw and hashing out options why is that off topic? Why is trying to figure out how to make a situation like this one better off topic? Isn't improving an organization a good thing?

As I said previously, God bless the bus driver! Wish others had helped him. It seems odd to me that thousands of spectators couldn't take their eyes off of this accident, but no on on the Crown Staff galnced back?

An usher told me that it takes three minutes for the medics to get on the field. Three minutes from when someone calls them that is.

Why is there not somone who is to watch for problems. Sucks you don't get to watch the show that go through, but your job is to watch for issues? Why is there not a DCI ref who watches for issues and informs the DM to stop for dangers? As a long time figure skating fan, this is the job of the ref...not to watch the show but maintain a safe field.

I understand the idea of getting off the field before you cause more problems and get others hurt. It makes sense until the corp member simply can't get off the field. Then what? If the corp member CAN'T get off the field then others will get hurt including the injured corp member if nothing can be done. What happens if the person passes out? Nobody goes out there to protect the corp member or the other marchers? Why is it wrong to think about this possibility and try and figure out a plan?

My point in all of this, again, is that I hope that Crown, other corps and DCI review the ER policy. Hearing that someone died back in 2005 makes me wonder why no policy was in place from that event. Why is it wrong for DCI do some thinking, planning and educating!?

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Regarding Bluecoats attempting to set up during the drama on the field.

The followed instructions from DCI officials on how to work around it, doing exactly what they were told. This affected how the entered the field and how they had to wait to proceed. At a time when adrenaline is running high, to have a monkey wrench thrown into the routine has got to be distracting in the least. But the corps' members were apparently taught to expect the unexpected and they handled the situation with grace and dignity. Can you imagine how wondering what's going on right before your most important show of the season—the one where you hope to finally get a medal for your corps—must have played with their minds.

Kudos to Bluecoats for rolling with the punches and then putting on the show of their lives.

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Why is there not somone who is to watch for problems. Sucks you don't get to watch the show that go through, but your job is to watch for issues? Why is there not a DCI ref who watches for issues and informs the DM to stop for dangers? As a long time figure skating fan, this is the job of the ref...not to watch the show but maintain a safe field.

I understand the idea of getting off the field before you cause more problems and get others hurt. It makes sense until the corp member simply can't get off the field. Then what? If the corp member CAN'T get off the field then others will get hurt including the injured corp member if nothing can be done. What happens if the person passes out? Nobody goes out there to protect the corp member or the other marchers? Why is it wrong to think about this possibility and try and figure out a plan?

My point in all of this, again, is that I hope that Crown, other corps and DCI review the ER policy. Hearing that someone died back in 2005 makes me wonder why no policy was in place from that event. Why is it wrong for DCI do some thinking, planning and educating!?

Wait, someone died in 2005?! I remember someone from Santa Clara not making it back onto the field for retreat, but that's all I've heard. What happened?

As for injuries, I agree they can be serious, but if I were an injured member the LAST thing I would want would be for the show to stop so I could get off the field. I'll figure my own way off the field, and if someone helps me, cool, but I feel like if the show needs to stop for me for any reason, I've let my corps down. Personally, I don't even like stopping a show for lightning. Once that first step is taken, NOTHING should stop a show until it's over.

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Hearing that someone died back in 2005 makes me wonder why no policy was in place from that event.

That happened at DCA, so DCI has nothing to do with it.

Edited by ScoutMello
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...It seems odd to me that thousands of spectators couldn't take their eyes off of this accident, but no on on the Crown Staff glanced back?

Us thousands of spectators had a vantage point of being above the action. The Crown staff members were gathered at the center of the field. Mere split seconds after the member fell, the field of view from the perspective of the staff members would have put him behind the advancing line or members in the front. They would have blocked sight of him from the center front where the staff members were. Even if they were looking down the line right at him, they wouldn't have seen him through the advancing line of the company front. I sure can't fault them for not having an aerial view.

An usher told me that it takes three minutes for the medics to get on the field. Three minutes from when someone calls them that is.

Why is there not somone who is to watch for problems. Sucks you don't get to watch the show that go through, but your job is to watch for issues? Why is there not a DCI ref who watches for issues and informs the DM to stop for dangers? As a long time figure skating fan, this is the job of the ref...not to watch the show but maintain a safe field.

I'm not sure if ushers are necessarily the final authority on how long it takes medics to get on the scene. And there was a DCI person watching out for such issues, and he did his job when he became aware what was going on. As a long-time figure skating fan and someone who interviewed several dozen skaters for a now defunct skating publication and had a book published on the subject, I'm not sure we can parallel what's going on in one activity with the other. A skating official has at most just two people to look out for. A drum corps official has 150.

...

My point in all of this, again, is that I hope that Crown, other corps and DCI review the ER policy. Hearing that someone died back in 2005 makes me wonder why no policy was in place from that event. Why is it wrong for DCI do some thinking, planning and educating!?

It's always a good idea to always review all policies, and I'm sure that is being done. As for someone dying in 2005, am I getting senile or did I miss that press release?

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