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Topic: Death By Popcorn

Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)

Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 08-17-2004 09:21 AM

Tot chokes at Movies www.NYPost.com

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Mike Olpin
Chop Chop!

Posts: 1852
From: Dallas, TX
Registered: Jan 2002

posted 08-17-2004 09:39 AM

So very sad. [Frown]

I'll bet theatres will have to start putting warning lables on popcorn containers. "Choking Hazard: Not intended for small children."

Boy, 3, chokes to death on popcorn at movie

quote:
VALLEY STREAM, New York (AP) -- A 3-year-old boy choked to death while eating popcorn at a movie theater.

Deontea Riley, of New York City, was at the Sunrise Multiplex Cinemas in Long Island's Valley Stream watching "Alien vs. Predator" with his parents and older brother when he began to choke shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, Nassau County police said.

The family all had been eating from a small tub of popcorn when Elaine McIntosh, the boy's mother, saw that her youngest son was choking.

His parents rushed him out of the theater where they performed the Heimlich maneuver without success.

"I was trying everything," his father, Eddie Riley, told the Daily News in Tuesday's editions. "I was trying to put my finger down his throat. I didn't feel anything."

Police arrived shortly afterward and tried to clear the boy's mouth and perform CPR, but he was pronounced dead at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre.

His body was taken to the Nassau University Medical Center morgue pending a medical examiner's report

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Jeremy Fuentes
Mmmm, Dr. Pepper!

Posts: 1168
From: Corpus Christi, TX United States
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 08-17-2004 09:54 AM

Very sad indeed. [Frown]

My 3 year old cant get enough popcorn. Luckily my wife knows CPR. [Frown]

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 08-17-2004 01:14 PM

Let's see if they sue.

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Dick Vaughan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1032
From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 08-17-2004 02:11 PM

A 3 year old watching Alien V Predator??!!

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Ray Faultless
Film Handler

Posts: 96
From: Amington, Tamworth, England
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 08-17-2004 04:31 PM

This is the same cinema that had deaths after a shootout one Christmas evening on opening day of Godfather 3.

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John T. Hendrickson, Jr
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 889
From: Freehold, NJ, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-17-2004 05:57 PM

Steve Kraus wrote:

"Let's see if they sue."

No laughing matter, and I'm sure Steve did not intend it that way. The repercussions could be enormous. Think about what it would do to insurance premiums for theatre owners if one were to be held liable.

Perhaps the best thing that theatre could do would be to settle and have all parties agree not to disclose the terms of the settlement.

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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 08-17-2004 07:39 PM

I'm sure that tort laws and implied laws of merchantibility will be grossly overlooked upon any judgement rendered.

Damn "free giving' judicial system. "denotes the use of alternate word of much disliked political party'.

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Gerard S. Cohen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 975
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 08-18-2004 02:24 PM

The Heimlich maneuver can be very effective if applied immediately and correctly. Perhaps the delay in administering it, or the father's lack of skill was at fault here.

In New York City all places serving food are required to display a choking hazard first-aid poster showing ways of administering the maneuver. I've seen it even in Chinese take-out shops.

I believe such information should also be posted at movie theatre concessions, and that a reliable person trained and qualified to administer CPR be scheduled on each shift of theatre personnel. It shouldn't be hard to find employees also knowledgeable in general first aid, since courses are routinely taught in high schools, Y's, etc.

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

posted 08-18-2004 02:53 PM

Right. Definitely not a laughing matter. There is a general attitude that when something bad happens someone must pay up. Whether by settlement or suit any money changing hands in this case may set a bad precedent.

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Andrew Shingleton
Film Handler

Posts: 63
From: Richmond, Victoria, Australia
Registered: Feb 2004

posted 08-18-2004 05:19 PM

As sad and unfortunate as this is, I see no grounds for legal action. Virtually every theatre sells popcorn, and I highly doubt the popcorn that choked the child was a specific product of this theatre - specific to the point that it can be proved that it wouldn't have happened with another theatre's popcorn. Same can most likely be said for the brand of popcorn - I'm sure it's sold in a bunch of places that haven't choked anyone. Now, if there were a string of a few chokings in a short period of time then that's another matter, but this looks like an isolated freak incident devoid of any negligance on the part of the theatre or product manufacturer.

But I don't mean to be heartless - I feel great sympathy for the child's family, and I'm merely being hypothetical as they haven't actually taken legal action.

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Carl Martin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1424
From: Oakland, CA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 08-19-2004 02:35 AM

quote: Gerard S. Cohen
a reliable person trained and qualified to administer CPR be scheduled on each shift of theatre personnel.

and paid accordingly? not likely. most theaters don't have a trained and qualified person to deal with routine presentation problems, and that's the business they're in.

carl

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Gracia L. Babbidge
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 709
From: Bowdoin, Maine
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 08-19-2004 10:09 AM

All tragedy aside....

[Confused]

Why indeed bring a 3 year old to Alien Vs. Predator?!?!

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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays

Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 08-22-2004 04:08 PM

Gracia and Dick both expressed my first thought. What the hell's a 3 yr. old doing in a PG-13 rated movie?! And brought in by the parents!! My God, this is what the world's coming to!

The movie probably scared him and that's why he choked.

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Dennis Benjamin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1445
From: Denton, MD
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 08-22-2004 06:33 PM

Seeing thousands of people come through the doors a week.. Little ones (under 5) being brought in to "PG-13" and "R" films have become a common occurance, especially in Urban Theatre locations. If the theatre company doesn't have a policy in place about this - they bring them into the midnight shows too!!

What has the world come to... Indeed......

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