Rochester PE Class Accident: 16-Year-Old Student Died After Collapsing At Edison Career and Technology High School In Rochester During Gym Class
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK (November 19, 2019) – A 16-year-old student at Edison Career and Technology High School has tragically died after collapsing during PE class.
Rochester school officials are saying that the boy collapsed and staff members rushed to help him and call 911. Edison Career and Technology High School officials are still trying to determine what may have caused the student to collapse.
Paramedics were called to the scene in order to help the student. He was taken to the Strong Memorial Hospital in an ambulance.
Despite life-saving measures, the 10th grade student died at the hospital.
Superintendent Terry Dade released the following statement after the tragic incident:
“It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you of the passing of a member of our school family. A student at Edison Tech High School has passed away. He was attending a physical education class today where he collapsed for unknown reasons. He was then taken to the hospital where he tragically passed away. The District’s crisis team has responded to the school, and will be helping to support students and staff as they process their grief. This support will continue as long as necessary. I ask that you keep this student’s family in your thoughts and prayers. There is no greater tragedy than the loss of a child, and I know that our entire community joins me in expressing condolences.”
An investigation into the accident remains ongoing at this point.
Liability In Accidents At High Schools
According to Stanford Children’s Health, “In the U.S., about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of organized sports, and more than 3.5 million injuries each year, which cause some loss of time of participation, are experienced by the participants. Almost one-third of all injuries incurred in childhood are sports-related injuries.” There are a number of steps that schools can take to help keep students safe including:
- Inspecting all areas for hazards
- Inspecting equipment used for various activities
- Making sure that staff are adequately trained
- Making sure that a student’s medical files are kept on record
- Schools should distribute an emergency treatment plan to staff
Students collapsing during PE may seem like a freak occurrence, but it is actually fairly common. Depending on the facts of any case there could be numerous sources of liability for a school accident. For example:
- A school could be liable for failing to provide students with inhalers, water or not letting them take breaks when they feel ill.
- A school could be liable for taking insufficient life-saving measures after an incident. A number of schools have AED defibrillators to revive students. But staff aren’t always properly trained with how to use them. It’s also important that PE teachers known proper CPR techniques.
The family of any child that dies while at a high school may have legal recourse through a wrongful death claim. Damages in a civil claim can help cover lost wages, medical bills, funeral expenses and pain and suffering. Unfortunately, school districts will often stonewall parents and try everything possible to deny liability. A premises liability attorney can investigate your case free of cost and get to the bottom of what happened.
Investigating A High School Gym Accident
We at Pulvers, Pulvers & Thompson extend our deepest condolences to the family of the Edison Career and Technology High School student that died. Any person that may have seen what happened should reach out to the Rochester police department at (585) 428-6720. As personal injury attorneys and consumer safety advocates it is our sincere hope that measures are put in place to prevent similar tragedies. There needs to be a thorough investigation for the sake of all of those affected.
