Hiker Dies Of Thirst With Water All Around

By Day 2 in the blazing Utah desert, Dave Buschow was in bad shape.

Pale, wracked by cramps, his speech slurred, the 29-year-old New Jersey man was desperate for water and hallucinating so badly he mistook a tree for a person.

After going roughly 10 hours without a drink in the 100-degree heat, he finally dropped dead of thirst, face down in the dirt, less than 100 yards from the goal: a cave with a pool of water.

But Buschow was no solitary soul, lost and alone in the desert. He and 11 other hikers from various walks of life were being led by expert guides on a wilderness-survival adventure designed to test their physical and mental toughness.

And the guides, it turned out, were carrying emergency water on that torrid summer day.

Buschow wasn't told that, and he wasn't offered any. The guides did not want him to fail the $3,175 course. They wanted him to dig deep, push himself beyond his known limits, and make it to the cave on his own.

Nearly a year later, documents obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act reveal those and other previously undisclosed details of what turned out to be a death march for Buschow. They also raise questions about the judgments and priorities of the guides at the Boulder Outdoor Survival School. What matters more: the customer's welfare or his quest?

"It was so needless. What a shame. It didn't have to happen," said Ray Gardner, the Garfield County sheriff's deputy who hiked six miles to recover Buschow's body. "They had emergency water right there. I would have given him a drink."

Family members are angry.

"Down in those canyons it's like a furnace," said Rob Buschow of Glen Spey, N.Y. "I don't have my brother anymore because no one would give him water."

While regretting the tragedy, the school, known as BOSS, has denied any negligence and instead blamed Buschow, saying the security officer and former Air Force airman did not read course materials, may have withheld health information and may have eaten too heavily before leaving River Vale, N.J., for the grueling course.

Noting Buschow signed liability waivers, the school said: "Mr. Buschow expressly assumed the risk of serious injury or death prior to participating."

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[T-Prop]

This is, unfortunately, why lawyers are still needed.
You have to sue companies to get them to do the ethical thing.

[illcountryboy]

"I didn't want to have the fear of the desert instilled in me because of this incident," DeTar said.
The problem is that you should fear the desert and act accordingly - ot it will kill you. I'm not saying to stay out of the desert - I love the desert - but treat it and all nature with due respect. One doesn't go up and slap a bear either.

[margroks]

Appalling. I remember Bernstein and he should have more sense than this. While I agree it's stupid for people to pay big bucks to be harrassed and essentially abused unders such conditions, Berstein and his company and his subordinates should be held liable for this man's death. I can't belieev the locals declined to prosecute this case and charge these people with something.

[down-ndirty]

From the BOSS website: "If you want to learn a softer path through the wilderness, a path that teaches how to create a positive impact on the land around you, please consider joining us at BOSS."

That's BS!! I taught wilderness basics for six years and the instructors and students did NOT leave the safety of their vehicles WITHOUT the TEN essentials. The top two essentials are FOOD and WATER for the duration of the trip. The only time we didn't carry sufficient water was when we absolutely knew there would be sufficient water along the trip. And 24-hours between watering holes is NOT sufficient water.

But then BOSS is not a survival course; they cater to the people who want to push their limits to the cusp of death to get that ultimate "rush." Sometimes you "pass" and sometimes you "fail."

Death is not the only failure; permanent damage to internal organs could also be the result of denying the body proper nutrition and hydration.

To leave a "safe" area and hike into the desert, summer or winter, with only the clothes on your back and no water, borders on suicidal.

To deny aid to someone in need is inhumane; if you are the "leader" then you are required to give aid.

[joatmonjf]

Afranco: It's not just that. As soon as the Attorney General of Garfield County, Utah, (where, by the way, according to my research, there are less than 2 people per square mile) made a judgment call that there was "insufficient evidence of criminal negligence" to prosecute with a returned conviction, BOSS quickly filed a lawsuit petitioning their absolution in the case of Dave's death.
The part that gets me the worst is that with Dave's dying breaths as he lay face down in the dirt, unable to move, not 100 feet from a watering hole, he begged his instructor to get water for him. The instructor's reply was that he wouldn't leave Dave, when all he had to do was to reach into his pack for a water bottle.
There is a definitive line when you have to stop following the directives of your employer, and use your head, your heart, and your soul. On July 17, 2006 that line was crossed by BOSS instructors hours before Dave's obscenely horrible death.

[joatmonjf]

Afranco: It's not just that. As soon as the Attorney General of Garfield County, Utah, (where, by the way, according to my research, there are less than 2 people per square mile) made a judgment call that there was "insufficient evidence of criminal negligence" to prosecute with a returned conviction, BOSS quickly filed a lawsuit petitioning their absolution in the case of Dave's death.
The part that gets me the worst is that with Dave's dying breaths as he lay face down in the dirt, unable to move, not 100 feet from a watering hole, he begged his instructor to get water for him. The instructor's reply was that he wouldn't leave Dave, when all he had to do was to reach into his pack for a water bottle.
There is a definitive line when you have to stop following the directives of your employer, and use your head, your heart, and your soul. On July 17, 2006 that line was crossed by BOSS instructors hours before Dave's obscenely horrible death.

[ralan40]

Let's change it around, shall we? Let's say this guy was swimming and started to go under when he was close to land. If the guides had life-rings and didn't attempt to rescue the drowning man, they would have charges filed against them. Considering there was no Doctor present, I would say these guides were in no position to withhold water from this man. It is neglegent homicide pure and simple.
I don't understand where the joy is in creating hazerdous life threatening conditions. If you want to push yourself, physically, build a school in the jungles of Brazil or something, at least you'll get water if you ask for it.

[nowhiteguilt]

WHAT A WASTE OF $3,175.00, THAT WOULD OF PAID FOR MY
AUTO AND H.O.I FOR THE YEAR! WHAT A DUMMY!

[themartyred]

the 'guides of death' will spend their life in prison testing THEIR endurance if justice gets to prevail in this life.
www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

[tuckerndfw]

tuckerndfw: You should have read the article carefully before insulting the dead. It says that he took a water bottle for the trip but was warned by BOSS staff not to fill it; so obviously he knew he would need water and had a certain level of belief that could get it for himself!

Posted by cbsvisitor1 at 01:38 AM : May 04, 2007

In other words, he overestimated his ability and willingly attempted to cross a desert without water.

Which is exactly what I said.

They call them deserts because there is little or no available water.

Human beings require regular intakes of water (or other liquids) in order to survive. Most people learn that by the time they are three days old. And is a lesson never forgotten.

Except by stupid people.

Anyone who willingly attempts to cross a desert without taking water is stupid. What someone told him is irrelevant. Paying someone to subject you to risk dying of thirst or starvation further demonstrates stupidity.

Period.

As an aside, he could have paid me $5 and I would have locked him in a closet for a few days so he could test his endurance. He was REALLY stupid for forking over thousands of dollars for something he could have gotten for free or at a lot less cost.