A 17-year-old Melbourne student has died after falling ill on the first day of a seven-day hiking trip in remote South Australia. The cause of death is unknown, and it is unclear whether the student had any pre-existing medical conditions. The Herald Sun reports that South Australian Police have stated that they are in the process of preparing a report for the coroner. The Year Eleven student attended an independent day and boarding school (the School) in Victoria.

The school camp

The incident occurred on the 22nd February during an annual hiking excursion for Year Eleven students. The camp has been run for 40 years. The trip is part of the School’s outdoor exploration program, and The Guardian reports that it was described by the School as an opportunity for students to experience the harsh realities of camping in the outback. The excursion is designed to break students into smaller groups, with a number of supervisors for each group.

The School’s Principal has stated that the School’s policy is to have a ratio of one supervisor to every three children, due to the risks associated with taking students to a remote outback location. There have only been a small number of incidents at the camp in its history, although The Age reports that some former students have criticised the camp for being too gruelling.

Tragic death 

The student is reported to have started feeling ill on the first full day of the camp during a hike near Manna Hill, 200 kilometres west of Broken Hill. Teachers looked after him, and then called paramedics when his condition rapidly deteriorated. Paramedics attended to the boy, but were unable to save him. A Royal Flying Doctor Service was also dispatched, but turned back after receiving news that the boy had died.

In a public statement, the Principal announced that the School would conduct a review into the camp and stated that the School community has been devastated by the death of the student. Although the Principal was wary of preempting the findings of the coroner, he raised the possibility of the student having an undiagnosed pre-existing medical condition. The School is offering counselling to students, teachers and member of the wider school community.

What this means for schools

While the details of the incident are currently unknown, this tragedy is a reminder for all schools that unexpected events can occur even when clearly established policies and procedures are followed. The circumstances also demonstrate the importance of undertaking sufficient training and risks assessments before undertaking any extra-curricular activity, particularly those associated with outdoor education and remote environments. Training will enable teachers to respond to unforeseen events and give them the skills and understanding necessary to manage critical incidents. See our previous article: School excursions: how to manage the risks.

Risk assessment in schools 

All schools should have in place a risk management procedure for excursions to assess the level of risk for each excursion based on the type of activities involved.

Risk assessment involves assessing the risk in terms of:

• the likelihood of an event occurring (e.g. the likelihood of a student suffering a health incident); and
• the potential consequences if the event was to occur (e.g. difficulty accessing medical treatment).

Through evaluating the possible occurrence based on these factors, schools can establish an overall risk rating (usually low, moderate, high or extreme). The degree of risk generally determines the strength of controls, or mitigation strategies that must be in place. Common risk mitigation strategies include student capabilities assessment, supervision and communications strategies as well as critical incident response strategies.

Importantly, the school does not have a duty to eliminate all risk, as this would be impossible. Although schools cannot avoid some incidents, they have a duty to respond to such incidents in such a way as to contain or mitigate the harm. In tragic circumstances such as the above, schools have ongoing duties to the school community to take measures such as providing counselling services and reviewing the processes in place to ensure that no lapses contributed to the serious outcome of the incident.