10 infant deaths investigated at Fort Bragg

**Pete** · 09-01-2010, 05:36

10 infant deaths investigated at Fort Bragg

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/0...gation-083110/

This is making all the local news stations right now.

"......The probe began after investigators noted the deaths of two infants from different families in 2009 at the same address. The first child died in April of last year. Another family moved into the home after the death, and their infant died in July........"

Strange, very strange.

PedOncoDoc · 09-01-2010, 05:57

I'm sure they're checking the usual suspects - molds, fungus, and Radon. Prayers out to the families of the little ones. I hope they can find the cause and correct it.

Saoirse · 09-01-2010, 06:56

I hope they discover the culprit quickly. There has always been an issue with mold on base. I saw it bubbling up under the paint in our barracks and nobody did anything about it.
My prayers to the families for their losses of such precious, innocent lives.

greenberetTFS · 09-01-2010, 08:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by NORMAL550GIRL

how crazy and tragic, hope they find the source soon

N550G,

I agree..............

Big Teddy

craigepo · 09-01-2010, 09:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by PedOncoDoc

I'm sure they're checking the usual suspects - molds, fungus, and Radon.

Damn I hate hearing of this involving infants.

We are seeing more mold cases in this area. Stachybotrys is pretty bad stuff.

100 years ago, this environmental home stuff wasn't such a problem. Most homes were not so air-tight, and so there was always a flow of fresh air(whether desired or not), which kept occupants healthier.

Kind of an odd paradox, the tighter we build our homes, the less healthy we become.

18DWife · 09-01-2010, 09:09

Mold is the devil

**The Reaper** · 09-01-2010, 10:15

Well, pretty hard to keep mold down on a base which only changes the post-wide heating to air conditioning once per year, and vice versa once. The explanation I got was that it is too hard/expensive to change it more often than that.

Imagine how many hot days occur after the first cool evening, and how many cold days after the first heat wave.

When you get hot days in NC year round, and the heat is still on and cannot be turned off, like we had this spring, it sucks pretty bad.

I would guess a good number of the quarters here are more than 40 years old, some a lot older.

Cutting maintenance funds to pay for the war doesn't help either. A buddy who was the post commander for Bragg told me that he was funded at less than 30% of what was required to keep things in good repair.

TR

echoes · 09-01-2010, 16:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

A buddy who was the post commander for Bragg told me that he was funded at less than 30% of what was required to keep things in good repair.TR

Damnit, this above fact just makes my blood boil!!!

WTF is the current Administration doing about this? Do they even know? Is it cutting into His Tee-Time or something??? Why is THIS STORY not front and center, public 101 news???

This is truly tragic, as those little ones did not even have a chance, if this mold proves to to be the culprit!

Holly

Gypsy · 09-01-2010, 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

Well, pretty hard to keep mold down on a base which only changes the post-wide heating to air conditioning once per year, and vice versa once. The explanation I got was that it is too hard/expensive to change it more often than that.

Imagine how many hot days occur after the first cool evening, and how many cold days after the first heat wave.

When you get hot days in NC year round, and the heat is still on and cannot be turned off, like we had this spring, it sucks pretty bad.

Pardon me, TR, but I just ate some chocolate gelato and have brain freeze.

Are you saying you cannot turn off your furnaces in the summer...?

**The Reaper** · 09-01-2010, 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gypsy

Pardon me, TR, but I just ate some chocolate gelato and have brain freeze.

Are you saying you cannot turn off your furnaces in the summer...?

You can't really turn it on or off, the post decides when to make steam for heat and chill water for cooling, and they only change it twice per year.

So say, the heat is on and cooling is not available till after 1 May, then cooling is turned on and there is no heat till 1 Nov. If it is late April, and it is 95 degrees, there is no a/c and the heat is on. If it is late Oct, and it is 32 degrees, you have only a/c till the magic dates.

All you can do is to shut it off the best you can, if it is not what you need, or open the windows.

Some newer buildings actually have independent HVAC. But not the majority.

Centralized planning and execution. Welcome to Bragg.

TR

craigepo · 09-02-2010, 08:32

Army Probes Mysterious Baby Deaths at Fort Bragg

AOL News (Sept. 1) -- Army officials are investigating the sudden, mysterious deaths of 10 babies at the sprawling Fort Bragg installation in North Carolina, but some parents suspect they may already know the cause -- toxic Chinese drywall in their base housing.

Spc. Nathanael Duke and his wife, Krystyna, lost their 6-week-old son, Gabriel, in March. They say investigators removed chunks of drywall and carpeting and sent them to a lab.

"They told us the sample over Gabriel's bed tested positive for Chinese drywall," Krystyna Duke said in an interview with WTVD in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. The couple was told, "'Get out of the house, seek medical attention, do not wait,'" her husband said.

Fort Bragg officials said Tuesday the probe started about a month ago after base authorities learned that two baby cousins had died within three months of each other at the same house. The investigation ultimately spread to 10 unexplained deaths since 2007. All of the children were younger than 8 months.

''We're going to figure this out," said Brig. Gen. Michael Garrett, chief of staff of the 18th Airborne Corps, according to The Associated Press. "We cannot explain two deaths of children at one address, and that's really the problem we're trying to solve."

One death was attributed to sudden infant death syndrome, seven were ruled "undetermined" by military pathologists and two remain under investigation. The youngest child was 2 weeks old, the military said.

Base authorities said they would not release information about the parents or where they lived on the base.

But the parents are talking. On April 15, 2009, 2-month-old Jay'Vair Pollard stopped breathing. Three months later, his 7-month-old cousin, Ka'Mya Frey, died while taking a nap in the same housing unit, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"Unfortunately, our kids died before we had any idea what was going on with them," said Ka'Mya's mother, Bianca Outlaw. "I mean, there has to be something in that house that's causing healthy babies to get sick and die."

A third child who had stayed at the same address died in 2007. Authorities said that death occurred off the base.

According to WTVD, investigators said test results for the presence of Chinese drywall came back negative or within safe limits.

The overseas building material can emit high levels of sulfur gases, which act as a corrosive to wiring and fixtures. Unprecedented amounts were imported to help rebuild areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but complaints of foul odors and respiratory problems soon followed, trailed by class-action lawsuits.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has launched a federal investigation into the imported drywall and has received 3,482 complaints from across the country.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/articl..._lnk3%7C167876

Gypsy · 09-02-2010, 17:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Reaper

You can't really turn it on or off, the post decides when to make steam for heat and chill water for cooling, and they only change it twice per year.

TR

Ah now I understand. Not a good situation at all.

**Pete** · 09-09-2010, 05:46

Observer analysis: Baby deaths in military towns rise

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/...28509?sac=Home

"The rate of sudden and unexplained infant deaths in two major North Carolina military communities jumped to nearly twice the national average during the five years after the Iraq war began.................."

Now that's interesting.

18DWife · 09-09-2010, 06:35

Aww Man
How heartbreaking

**Pete** · 11-22-2010, 19:20

Army investigates another baby death at Fort Bragg

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/8670229/

"Fort Bragg, N.C. — Army investigators on Monday were looking into the death of an infant who lived in military housing at Fort Bragg – the 11th such death in less than four years.

A 5-month-old girl died Saturday at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Fort Bragg spokesman Tom McCollum said. The Army's Criminal Investigative Command is examining the circumstances of her death, he said..............."