Chick had band camp this week. Notice the past tense? With the heat index as high as it is in the southwest, even at higher elevations and locations that are normally pretty mild in the summer, the temperatures are soaring. The band camp is brutal. Lots and lots of marching (not a problem on a whole). Chick called me totally hysterical one night. Maybe that isn't the correct word, but very upset, crying, she was sick. They had spent 10+ hours outside in 90+ degree heat. Some of it working on their routine on a parking lot. They were told they it was mandatory for them to go to a social function and were not allowed to go back to the rooms to sleep until after 11:00. They had to be up by 6:00. These are teenagers who required 9 hours of sleep a night. She was exhausted, heat sick. I spent Tuesday trying to calm her down enough to get her to take a cool shower and hydrate herself. Two of the kids went home sick. She wanted to come home, I wanted her to stick it out. She spent the evening vomiting. The "nurse" on call went to check her and her friend (who was also sick). She told them she would bring them some crackers and gatorade and never came back to the room. She checked on them Wednesday morning (another night filled with sickness) and said it was their decision to call their parents. I had already been in contact with Chick and was heading up to pick her up. I got a call about an hour from the camp and was asked if I could bring her friend home as well. It is a 4 hour drive away from home. Two sick girls in the car, both slept most of the way. We stopped and got them something to drink and eat since they were both afraid to eat anything for almost 2 days. Better to have something in their stomachs. They ate and slept. Chick is feeling much better this morning. She now has to do a camp here in town. 100+ heat, but they do use air conditioned buildings for some of the events. And I am just down the road and will be checking in frequently.
I did some research. Did you know the military has a chart that shows how long you are allowed to make soldiers work outside? For moderate activity in the temperatures at the band camp, they should have been active for 20 minutes and rest, in the shade for 40 minutes. They were going for 2 hours with a 10 minute break at the end. I was told they are allowed to stop when they need to, etc. Chick did. But she was still overheated and got sick. The "nurse" told me they had a number of kids under the medical tent who were sick. When I called to talk to her the day before I went up, she couldn't even remember which one Chick was. When Chick went back to the room with the other sick kids, they were left alone, while all the other chaperones went out to the field. No one came to check on them. The girls had their cell phones and the "nurse" was just a phone call away, but it took them 10-15 minutes to get back to the rooms. Where was the adult with the sick kids? Granted they are teenagers (13-17), and are for the most part self-reliant, but they were sick, vomiting, dehydrated. For some of these kids (mine included) this was the first time they were that far away from their parents without an adult to "take care" of them.
I called the school, no answer. I called the superintendent, spoke to the admin person, and got the band director is wonderful, there have never been any problems before, blah blah. I am sure she is great. Chick said she never saw her. The BD was working with the band, not the colorguard. The "nurse" and other "chaperones" were too busy watching the marching, rather than taking care of the kids. The school finally called back and wanted to know if I had been in touch with Chick. Yup, I had been home from picking her up for an hour already. It was suggested I write a note to BD and principal to let them know my concerns. You bet they will be getting a letter. I know that this is not going to be an issue during the school year because of the nature of the schedule. That isn't the issue, the issue was the lack of supervision, the lack of concern for sick kids, I never got a phone call from an adult! They were more interested in getting the room keys back from the girls rather than asking how they were. No one had seen or talked to them for hours before I picked them up!
And how is this for causing more stress? Ric has been accused of robbing a bank in town. Someone saw the picture of the bank robber on tv and called the tip line saying it looked like Ric. Ric wasn't in town. We can prove it. The police showed up at my door at 11:30 on a Saturday night. Woke us up. Now they want a DNA test done. We have nothing to hide. He is willing to submit to one, but what we don't understand is do they actually have the DNA of the bank robber? Is this going to eliminate him or are they just trying to build case? We have a friend who is a criminal lawyer, but he is out of state for a couple of weeks. I have a cousin-in-law (is that even a word? the man married to my cousin) is a lawyer. Not a criminal lawyer, but my aunt suggested we talk to him for some advice. I have sent him an email and hopefully he will call either one of us. Ric hasn't even been in town since the end of June. He hasn't been west of El Paso.
The past couple of days have been very difficult. My heart is heavy. I am worried what this year is going to bring. Last year cancer, this year fighting for his freedom?
