Nan Is Not Happy

Coming from a small town and a small school, I have always worried about sending my kids to Danville High. I always wondered how could they possibly know what kids were up to? How could they possibly keep my child safe? I know there are much larger schools and kids do fine, but I still wonder how do they manage not to get lost in the system? I just told myself that everything would be fine and decided to let him go to DHS. After all he would be entrusted to a well educated, caring individual who would over see everything. Right? Boy was I ever wrong. I now know just how naive I actually am.

My son soon to start his freshman year started marching band camp today. With heat indexes greater then 100 degrees I was concerned, but knew that surely the well educated, caring director would make sure the kids were doing alright. I asked John to call me on his break this morning to let me know how it was going and fortuntaly he did. Imagine my horror when he called today and I asked how things were going and he replied "Not too good, I collapsed twice." Collapsed? "Everything got real bright and I couldn't control my legs, I just went down. My hands and knees are pretty skinned up. I feel a little better now though." Now I'm thinking this happened twice and no one called me? Was the band director aware? "Yeah he knew. Some of the kids helped me get up and I sat for awhile." You've got to be kidding me, my kid has collapsed twice from heat and know one notifies me. Just when did heat exhaustion possibly leading towards a probably heat stroke not become an emergency? I am understandbly shaken and angry. Furious. So I called my mom and she said she would go to check on him. So mom arrives to find John layed out in the grass, in the hot sun while the band practices on and the director tells her "He's been like that most of the morning" What? She asks if maybe she should get him checked and his response "Probably, I'm not a doctor. He can come back tomorrow or whenever if he's ok." Wow the concern is overwhelming. So mom decides to bring him to me, so I can check it out. By this time, John's legs are so weak, he can't walk, he's dizzy, and light headed. Asking for a little help getting him to the car, the director motioned at some kids to help her, never offering a hand or even showing a bit of concern. Fortunately for her, the two drum majors assisted her and they managed to get him to the car, but it was not an easy feat. I told her to take him straight to the emergency room and thats where we met. By this time he had cooled off and was doing better, but was still a little wobbly. The emergency room staff were a bit surprised that no one had bothered to call, but made me feel that we had done the right thing by bringing him in. When all the tests had been run and everything was within normal limits, it was decided that he had suffered from heat exhaustion and would be fine.

I now am left to wonder, had Mom not picked him up, what would have happened? I know what could have happened and that's what scares me. Would that director have let him lie there in the sun and have a heat stroke?
Does no one read the stories every summer about kids dropping dead on football fields from the extreme heat?

I am absolutely dumbfounded and furious about the lack of concern, and the lack of common sense by a so called educated professional.