Six Flags Great America sued over delay in medical treatment.

Gosh...this whole thing is just awful.  Just imagine being in that much pain for that long waiting for someone to get ahold of your parents....

*shudder*

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Father Lucifer, you never looked so sane. You did always did prefer the drizzle to the rain

While it sounds cruel, the park is required by law to do this since the girl was under 18 years old. It wasnt a life threatening injury so I can see where the park is coming from. If they would have had her takin to a hospital without parent or guardian permission, they could have been sued over that.
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"The Peoples Elbow" or "The Spinaroonie?. Cant decide which is the most electrifying move in sports entertainment!!! LOL

In the real world, parents have to sign a release authorizing children in school to take an asprin...so while it's unfortunate, it's no surprise this happened.

And like ChiTown said, if they admitted her to a hospital at all--even if nothing went wrong at the hospital--without the parent's permission, they could have been sued anyway.

Danged if you do, danged if you don't.

-'Playa

(hey...it's a family message board)

Right, they are pretty much damned either way. I know I can't even help my volleyball girls off the floor without a release, and this situation isn't all that different. I personally hope that it goes to court so we can see how it plays out.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

You have to get parental perimission for Medical Treatment.  Calling a ambulance is not Mediacal Treatment, it should be a responsibility of the park.

They could have called the ambulance, but what good would that have done if they couldn't put the girl in it.  In a life threatening situation, yes, they could have done it, but this is an ankle fracture.  Now, I can't imagine being in that much pain for 6 hours (if that's how long it actually took).  Sometimes, these claims can be inflated.  SFGAm has a staff of on-duty EMT's (they actually are trained, and I believe work with the Gurnee Rescue Department.)  They also have members of the Gurnee Police department helping with security (SFGAm pays their overtime).  All this to say, SFGAm made a well-informed decision in this case.  (I'm not judging the correctness of the decision, but the informedness of the decision).  It stinks that this park keeps getting slammed.  When we go to parks, we all take knowing risks.  Yes, there is a certain danger factor involved.  Things happen.  What really stinks is that SFGAm would probably have gotten sued if they took the kid to the hospital.  That really says something about these people suing.  It says to me that they aren't concerned about making a difference, or making parks safer.  They're concerned about getting 50 grand into their pockets.

Exactly Jeff. I am curious also. I hope to that Six Flags doesnt settle out of court since its such a small amount(lawsuit dollar wise).

If this does go to court and the family of the girl wins, I fear the inevitable. You will go to a park and be greeted by a big sign that says, "NO ONE UNDER 18 ALLOWED WITHOUT PARENT OR GUARDIAN"!!!

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"The Peoples Elbow" or "The Spinaroonie?. Cant decide which is the most electrifying move in sports entertainment!!! LOL

For people saying that an ambulance should have been called-what if the girl had been a Christian Scientist, or something else similar? Can you imagine?

 

The park did the right thing. It's a shame that our climate is so litigious that things such as this even have to be considered, but that's the way it is.

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Doesn't it seem as though morons always have the caps lock on?

SFGAm was not at fault. What is it with people that can't get enough of my home park's money? I have suffered from trauma ever since they removed Tidal Wave, and you don't see me begging them for $$.

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Don't.....look.....back! The Headless Horseman awaits you in 2002!
Model coasters and rides

Frankly actually an ambulance is considered medical treatment and if the insurance of the patient decided not to cover the cost of it then the family would have sued then.  It is a shame we live in a sue happy society.  Some of them are actually getting downright stupid.
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If thats the law, then let the courts decide. If that is what the books say, then there is no reason why the judge should not rule in favor of the park. You know that the park's attorneys will ride that law all the way, because there was nothing that they could do. The girls parents should have realized that this was a no way out deal. They just want to get into the parks pockets because of what happend with the Cajun Cliffhanger incident.
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Welcome to Six Flags Great America. The land where we work on the non- working coasters!

This just doesn't make any sense at all.  I can understand that the parents are angry and all parents would have reacted differently but $50,000.00!!!  I mean for a cast and the "medical treatment" costs without insurance couldn't add up to more than $3,000.00  and maybe the pain suffering at max would be $1,000.00  and it would be painful initially, but if you hold it still, I know because my sister has experienced it, the pain will subside.  So basically the family is getting probably over a $46,000.00 profit so they can buy their Mercedes Benz.  It comes back down to taking advantage of the size of the company.

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There isn't a problem that can't be solved.

Suicide is NOT a solution!

Send me an Aol instant message, my sn is unXplanible.

They could have called an ambulance to treat the person at the park, and when the parents arrived/were informed they could take the person to the hospital.
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Out of the coasters i've ridden here is wat i rank them overall:(ive been to canobie lake and SFNE)
1. S:RoS 2. Yankee Cannonball 3. Riverside Cyclone 4. Canobie Corkscrew 5. Thunderbolt 6. Galaxy 7. Mind Eraser 8. Dragon coaster 9. poison ivy's tangled

In my opinion, it wuz just a fractured ankle, and it's not like she completely broke it. It does sound unfair that she was waiting for 6 hours, but the fact is that her injury could have been worse, and for suing $50,000 is just outragous! If I had a kid and that happened, heck I'd probably sue for less...or alot less.

Chitown hit it dead on the toe! 

(No I'm not gonna sue him for this)

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It's his turn to feast, when you ride the Son of Beast.

What you seemed to miss were 2 surgeries. While I agree that treatment of a minor requires a parent's permission, most municipalities provide paramedics through the local fire or police department. No parental permission would be required to contact such an entity. Also, municiple services are generally provided at tax payer's expense. Depending upon other information, not provided in the article, SF's err was not trying the aunt sooner. Also, in today's litigeous society, $50,000 is nothing. After lawyers get their chunk and hospital bills are paid (health insurance will not cover this if they win) the family will have little or nothing left of the original judgement.

I also hope that this goes to court, simply to make/clarify the law, and assist everyone involved.

First of all, the park couldn''t give her aid because they needed permission from her parents. It probably took awhile to get in contact with her parents.

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"Duff Man Says... Ohhh Yeah!"
Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Dueling Dragons (Ice)

Why weren't the parents in the park with her? Did they drop her off and leave? Didn't Kennywood say they don't offer all day passes for anyone under 18 because they "don't want to be the city's babysitter" ? Sounds pretty smart to me. *

*Not trying to be mean, but really, did her family expect the park to keep control of her?

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I can't figure out from the story how the injury occurred.  Anyone know?