Talk about a killer course! You might want to cross this off your list of possible summer camps:
BOULDER, Utah - A man died of thirst during a wilderness-survival exercise designed to test his physical and mental toughness, even though guides had water. They didn’t offer him any because they did not want to spoil the character-building experience.
By Day 2 in the blazing Utah desert, Dave Buschow was in bad shape. Pale, wracked by cramps, his speech slurred, the 29-year-old New Jersey man was desperate for water and hallucinating so badly he mistook a tree for a person.
the 28-day course costs over $3,000 and is offered by a company run by Josh Bernstein, who hosts The History Channel’s “Digging for the Truth.”
Just a few days into the “adventure,” Buschow appeared to be in trouble:
“We were all desperate for water,” a camper wrote. “Every time (Buschow) would fall or lie down, it took a huge amount of effort to pick him back up. His speech was thick and his mouth swollen.”
“Every time he continued, he’d rush ahead, often in the wrong direction and so exhausting himself even more,” the camper wrote.
Some people vomited that day, including a man who got sick three times — a typical misery on the rigorous course, according to BOSS. Buschow was suffering from leg cramps about 2:30 p.m. and said he was feeling “bad.”
During a break, he mistook a tree for a person and said, “There she is.”
Just 200 feet short of a known water supply, Buschow tried to call Uncle, but the staff would have none of it:
By 7 p.m., as the sun descended and temperatures cooled a bit, the group approached a cave in Cottonwood Canyon, known to BOSS guides as a reliable source of water.
Buschow’s companions were carrying his possessions for him. Within earshot of people exhilarated about the pool of water, he collapsed for the last time.
“He said he could not go on,” staff member Shawn O’Neal wrote two days later in a statement ordered by the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office. “I felt that he could make it this short distance and told him he could do it as I have seen many students sore, dehydrated and saying ‘can’t’ do something only to find that they have strength beyond their conceived limits.”
O’Neal didn’t inform Buschow about his emergency water.
Authories concluded nothing criminal had occurred:
Noting Buschow signed liability waivers, the school said: “Mr. Buschow expressly assumed the risk of serious injury or death prior to participating.”
Garfield County authorities declined to file charges, saying there was insufficient evidence the school acted with criminal negligence. The prosecutor said participants knew they were taking a risk.
It was, after all, the dead guy’s own fault:
While regretting the tragedy, the school, known as BOSS, has denied any negligence and instead blamed Buschow, saying the security officer and former Air Force airman did not read course materials, may have withheld health information and may have eaten too heavily before leaving River Vale, N.J., for the grueling course.
. . .
In a Feb. 27 letter to the Forest Service, Bernstein said Buschow may not have trained properly, pointing to comments he made to another camper about drinking a gallon of water a day and eating cheesesteaks to bulk up before the expedition.His brother, Rob Buschow, said: “It’s sickening when they blame the victim.”
Moral of the story: Lay off the cheesesteaks before your next death march.
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What’s this - someone being held accountable for his own behavior? That can never stand.
The way they let this man die is completely criminal. Every person that denied this man water should at least be charged with criminal negligent homicide and let a jury hear the case.
The school should be sued within an inch of its life. Even if Buschow signed a waiver and knew of the risks, he clearly asked for water and communicated that he couldn’t go further. Couple this with the fact that he was showing clear signs of advanced dehydration, and the fact that he was in the custody and care of the school, and you have a slam-dunk lawsuit.
I understand that pushing people to the “limit” is the purpose of this school, but if its people aren’t trained to identify signs of severe dehydration, then their negligence was the prodominant cause of this man’s death regardless of what he said on his application.
…And if they were trained to identify signs of dehydration, I’d say you have you criminal negligence right there. In that case, they knew he was nearly dead but thought they could push him just a little further — which was reckless and wrong.
I guess he found out who the real BOSS was.
I think he was nuts for taking the course to begin with. If he signed a waiver and understood the danger……
Well, this course certainly was realistic? What a bunch of morons. I had a friend, Larry Dean Olsen, who used to run an outback camp for troubled youngsters thru Brigham Young University. They went out with the clothes on their back for a month, and they lived off the land. Safety was always first, and the kids came back entirely different. But nobody was ever starved or died of thirst. Larry was also the technical director for the movie Jeremiah Johnson. I don’t know what the point was for this exercise, but it’s up to the trainers to ensure that A, their students are up to it, and B, that they are closely monitored for health and well being. Sometimes in the Marine Corps we did have men that died when training in extreme environments. But as much care and monitoring as possible takes place to ensure this is a rare event.
3 & 4. Owen has nailed it. Throw in reckless endangerment with the rest of the charges for good measure. That the deceased signed a waiver does not cover BOSS’s rear end, jointly or severally.
Would love to be on that jury….
Waivers mean nothing. The family of this man has a hell of a lawsuit.
Can’t wait till they take the course to the Phillipines next year:
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/maps/photo/8-Bataan.jpg
Have you ever parked in a public parking lot? The ticket says they are not responsible for damage. People who have their automobiles damaged will just say, “well, they aren’t responsible.” BS they are responsible, but that ticket just scares off most people. Same for other waivers.
Neocon,
Exactly. Many waivers are simply designed to prevent people from trying to bring suit, even though they are legally ineffective. There are pretty strict rules about waiving liability.
Thanks, Owen,
For proving my point. They (waivers) are legally ineffective. Torts are torts. They happen in everyday society. Our laws regulate them. To not go forward in this claim is a mischariage of justice. IMO.
OK, so I guess I was wrong. We aren’t responsible for our own actions.
So death is the ultimate character-building experience?
The deceased asked for help, his physical condition indicated severe dehydration, water was available. The reasonable man would have given water and aid long before death was imminent. The standard of what the reasonable man would do under the circumstances measures liability in torts; the farther the action or inaction deviates from that standard, the greater the negligence.
This was a heartless act performed by every person who refused water to the man. I have been in a similar position once in the Palo Duro Canyon and it was the kindness of strangers that saved my life. He put himself in those circumstances. He was responsible. It was the heartlessness of others that killed him. Perhaps people are not very friendly in that part of the world. I will certainly remember this event and act accordingly. The so-called guides who were present on this trip are in major trouble no matter their cocky sounding words. I would certainly love the opportunity to take them for a walk with me. I do non-stop twenty mile strolls…
The fact that these people pay that much money to do something that is basically free is a sign of the intelligence of their clients too.
I’m disappointed in how the media spins things. I have done a BOSS course and it was a great experience. They are a very caring group and genuinely interested in providing a good and educational course.
BOSS has been leading Wilderness Survival courses I think since 1969 — This is the first death that has occurred during a course.
You know when you sign up that you are not signing up for your typical vacation. A full phyisical is required. Guidelines for how to physically prepare are sent out and a physical running test at elevation is administered before you start the course.
These are all things they do to try to ensure that the people that have signed up are healthy and capable of participating.
Most of the instructors (if not all) are Wilderness First Responders and are trained to recognize signs and symptoms of dehydration. Of course in a desert survival situatioin, there is always going to be a certain amount of dehydration and had the instructors seen anything they considered beyond normal behavior they would have re-acted.
It’s unfortunate for sure that in this case, the assessment was wrong and that Keith was worse off than instructors thought. It’s not negligent though.
davehiker,
Buschow was slurring his speech and hallucinating. His mouth was swollen. He collapsed repeatedly and could not get back up on his own.
The assessment wasn’t just wrong, it was stupid. These were clear signs of advanced dehydration. The negligence is blantantly obvious.
In response to Ratsass comment about being responsible for our own actions, Mr. Buschow tried to carry water from the first watering hole, but was forbidden. He was then instructed to hike in 100 degree (F) dry desert conditions for the following 10 hours. Would he, or anyone who had the means to carry water from a site neglect to? Without the means to carry water, would anyone leave the site? Any negligence, and responsibility for Dave’s death is clearly on the part of the BOSS, and their highly questionable agenda.
Owen, I’m not the expert and I wasn’t out there doing the assessment. There was a partial quote used in the story that you’re basing your analysis on. It’s incomplete and could be out of context.
As the story also reports, the officials found no negligence.
I’m sure that they took statements from everyone including the instructor making the assessment to make their determination, not just a partial quote printed in an obviously slanted news story.
I’m more inclined to go with the official findings which indicate no negligence ‘blatant’ or not.
joatmon, that story kind of leaves out things. Hikers weren’t allowed to use water bottles; however, everyone carried metal camping type of cups (like a metal coffee cup) that could be filled and carried.
davehiker, thanks for the input. I have personally read every statement that was taken. Dave had a water bottle filtration unit. He was hassled for using it, and told he could not carry water from the creek they found in the morning. You would know that if you read the instructor’s account that accompanies many of the new articles.
BOSS expected to find water along the way that day, but they didn’t. Anyone with any sense would think that if they didn’t find the water in their “Well planned hike”, they would give some out to be safe. It’s a school for which students pay over $3000 to learn survival skills, not to be tortured to death.
joatmon, I did read those accounts. yes, he was hassled for using non-approved equipment. i know from experience of participating in several BOSS courses that while water bottles, water filtration devices are not allowed during the first part of the course, the metal cups are standard and are allowed.
It’s interesting the viewpoint on this. People sign up and spend more than $50K to climb mt everest and die every year. It’s accepted because people know the risk before hand.
How is this so different. Students paid to learn about and experience a wilderness survival situation. BOSS does their best to try to provide a controlled situation while still giving the exposure and experience to what was sought out and asked for by the students.
As hard as they try to make it safe by taking precautions such as the Doctor’s physical, suggested workout preparation and fitness test after you arrive, there is always risk.
37 years and this is the first death during a course. I’d say that’s pretty good record considering again the risks involved.
I’ve taken some hard training myself as a military vet. That includes in the Ethiopian and Somali deserts. Any instructor who withheld water from a man who exhibited the signs this man did would get a Court Martial….and deserve years at hard labor in a military prison.
Steve, a look at the military’s record. From 1977 to 2001, there were 276 deaths during basic training in the military. 139 were exercise related, 33% of these were heat related. I’m sure in the military, they also try very hard to protect people and I’m sure that in those cases, someone had to make an assessment based on experience and judgement.
Even so, assessments aren’t always right and unfortunate accidents do occur.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15026099&dopt=Abstract
It is possible for the first outward sign of heat injury to be falling over dead. Usually there are clear signs first.
Instructors have been Court Martialed for failing to see clear signs and react properly to them.
The Guide O’Neil saw the signs and failed to react properly.
At 2:30 PM Buschow had leg cramps. That is a clear sign of electrolyte imbalance. After that the injury progressed in the normal manner with normal signs until his death at about 7 PM.
Buschow’s last words were to ask O’Neil for water, that was refused. A few minutes later Buschow was dead.
Again, you are referencing partial quotes from a camper’s re-count. We don’t know the full circumstances. Did the camper know he was cramping and the instructor not? Did the instructor do an assessment (check pulse, skin, etc) and feel that the situation was ok.
I’m not going to speculate.
The pertinent quote is from those who did a full study of the incident and they concluded:
“Authories concluded nothing criminal had occurred:”
How bad can a society be when people pay thousands of dollars to toughen up or prove how tough they are? Can’t this be done on your own?