Discussion: West Point cadet dies during land nav exercise

Sad news...

Jacob D. Bower, 18, of Fairmont, W.Va. was found unresponsive Thursday in a wooded area while joining in a land-navigation exercise in the vicinity of Camp Buckner.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43856523/ns/us_news-li...

I wouldn't imagine they do an echo before admitting people to West Point, but probably require at least an ECG, right?

Nope. Possible if there was a past history of heart problems in either your family or your own medical records, but as part of the baseline medical assessment, no.

So negative even for an ECG? What about bloodwork for thyroid?

Not that I remember. The medical exam is incredibly basic - pretty much nothing exciting gets done unless you report a prior medical problem.

I believe they do some blood work as part of the entrance physical. The medical evaluation tends to be one of the longest processes for applying to West Point, but that is only because doctors must follow up on anything that looks slightly wrong on a normal physical. However, if nothing came up on the physical then he would be approved without too much being done.

Heat index that day was 109+ and West Point seriously emphasizes risk management. This is a terrible tragedy, unfortunate that it happened.

I agree... it's very sad.

The incidence of sudden death in lightly screened U.S. college-age athlete population is about 2.3/100k/year. More detailed screening can reduce this rate to about 0.4/100k/year. It is remarkable that those who are ruled out from participation in strenuous activities on the basis of screening typically don't die if they follow the recommendation (article p. 1600).

Based on what I know, everyone who plans to be involved in anything that raises the heart rate to above 60% of the max for sustained periods of time should undergo screening at least along the lines in the last article: family and personal history, physical examination, and 12-lead ECG; additional tests [...] only for those [...] who had positive findings at the initial evaluation.

This won't bring Jacob back, but hopefully others will be safe.

Very sad news, indeed.

@kevin/Keith - Based on your knowledge of 1st year training, was this an orienteering exercise in the manner that we know it?

It was not at all an orienteering exercise but was a land navigation exercise. Similar to a rogaine (1:25000/1:50000 map and score O style).

Ooph, that's awful. I'm really sorry to hear this. To my knowledge, we haven't lost anyone at Buckner in a long time.

I don't know if the DoD Medical Examination Review Board (DODMERB) has changed any, but 16 years ago I got an echo as a routine part of my exam. Tons of bloodwork to include thyroid. They've tested thyroid and done other blood work on every physical I've had, along with an extensive questionnaire on history. They have to check us out quite thoroughly to certify us as worldwide deployable, and you don't get to go to an Academy if you can't meet that criteria in the first place.

The military is also very careful about heat, and my experiences training at West Point always erred on the side of extreme caution. We had a similarly hot period when I was in Air Assault School the summer of '94. Class started with physical training at 3AM and ran until noon, at which point we took siestas in our non-air conditioned WWII barracks, then started up again around 4PM and went into the evening. As a faculty member training cadets in patrolling in 2008, we had to ensure a cooler loaded with iced sheets was on hand at all times in case we had to get someone's core temperature down in a hurry.

With today's operations taking place in some very hot places, handling heat is always a concern. It hit 125 degrees standing on the concrete at my location in southern Iraq last year, and I wasn't out humping around in full kit, either. But there are guys who do that, and we've learned a lot about how to prepare for such conditions and how to operate in them.

Sadly, none of this helps the current situation. It's tragic that the Class of 2015 will experience their first Taps Vigil before they are even formally accepted as members of the Corps, and that Jacob's family has lost him so soon after leaving home to follow his dreams.