Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Irresponsible news reporting

Straits Times

A NETIZEN has alleged that a lifeguard at the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort was not able to perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on a little girl after she was pulled out of the infinity pool on Sunday evening.

In a post on citizen journalism site Stomp on Monday, 'Eric' posted a picture of a girl clad in a pink swimsuit lying on her side, with a lifeguard beside her.

He said he had been at the SkyPark, near the pool, when the girl encountered difficulty in the water and the lifeguard came to her aid.

The netizen said that one of the hotel guests - a doctor - came forward and performed CPR on the girl.'Although the girl was successfully pulled out of water, the lifeguard on duty didn't seem to be able to perform CPR,' he wrote.

Officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived at the scene around 6pm.


Marina Bay Sands' response

When contacted, the Marina Bay Sands insisted that all its lifeguards are trained and certified to perform CPR. There are always between three and five lifeguards on duty when the pool is in operation, it said.'

It is regrettable that the incident occurred and we hope that the child is recovering well...Safety is our No. 1 priority,' said a spokesman.




TriathlonChef's Respond...

Let's start with the netizen respond. I assume that netizen is a guy ("Eric").

Every able-bodied Singapore men who went through normal National Service will go through Lifesaver course and/or First Aid course (Unless is someone with medical condition or able bodied chao keng go non combat vocation). In case of emergency, all able bodied singapore men should know how to respond to such situation.

CPR, the A-B-C rule, all should be in the back of our mind. Airway, breathing, Circulation. Only if anyone of the area is blocked then can perform CPR. and also performing on minor must take extra care as their bones are much more fragile and can easily break and puncher lungs. If performing CPR, it should be continuously done before the paramedic arrive or until the person is revived and place in a recovery position while waiting for paramedic to arrive. BUT... Not all situation require CPR. If there is still heart beat and breathing doing CPR could actually cause more harm(cause irregular heartbeat)! But if a trained doctor think it is required i won't doubt his decision.

Anyway i wonder what an arsehole is that "Eric" guy who took photo of a drowning girl and just stand and watch as bystander. If that netizen "Eric" knows what to do, why didn't he step in? Does he have any RESPECT for that girl? And why the hell did Straits Time publish the photo? It is a show for amusement or is it entertaining? Do you take photo of your love one who almost died and post online? What if that girl is your daughter?

From MBS respond and the photo, it is clear that people are not giving enough space (for air circulation and for paramedic easy access) for the lifeguard and i assume the life guard did not place the girl in a proper recovery position. (lie sideway, head resting on one arm elevating the head to ensure airway is parallel to the ground and to ensure no blockage to the airway, and one leg bend to ensure stability of the position)

When MBS said their lifeguard is trained and certified to perform CPR, is the certification expired? i'm not sure how long the certification last but lifesaver certification valid for 2 years only. Even if the certification is not expired, if the lifeguards have not real lifesaving experience, they might just froze (Just like soldiers who train so much but fighting a real war is different) and not really sure what to do. We can't really blame them can we? If they wrongly administered something wouldn't it be worst?

There is no proper/accurate report on any facts. And with an idiotic netizen remark the newspaper just publish something. So many comment on the incident but how many of them actually know the whole story? Irresponsible news reporting.

If i'm the girl's parent or from MBS, i'll probably sue the shit out of this "Eric" guy.

For god sake "Eric", take up Paramedic course if you think u can be of assistance in such situation. And if you already know, u should be really ashamed of yourself taking photo and doing nothing,

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