I do not have case information but I do know NOLS has had other incidents and deaths on their courses. The problem comes from taking young people with little to no outdoor experience and putting them on a dangerous mountain or in sea kayaks in rough ocean conditions. I do know they have had fatalities at both those endeavors in the past.
There needs to be more control and licensing to operate this sort of school, especially when minors are involved. Wilderness First Aid Cert is not enough to ensure student safety and oversee proper curriculum.
Widget:
Every outdoors related sport has injuries and deaths every year and the same goes for high schools that teenagers attend every year.
According to the
National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research Twentieth Annual Report: From 1982-2002, the total numbers of direct and indirect fatalities among high school athletes were:
Baseball — 17
Basketball — 88
Cheerleading — 21
Cross Country — 14
Football — 22
Soccer — 31
Track & Field — 47
Wrestling — 16
In 2001, the number of sport-related injuries for each sport are as follows:
Gymnastics — 99,722
Basketball — 680,307
Baseball — 170,902
Softball — 118,354
Football — 413,620
Soccer — 163,003
Volleyball — 55,860
Track & Field — 15,113
Hockey — 63,945
Granted there is a lot more kids in high school then participating in NOLS, however rest assured that this bear attack incident will radically change how NOLS operates in the future and for the good. If I lived in the US, I would not hesitate to send my kid to NOLS if he/she wanted to attend...
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