‘Avoid at all costs': Laos poisoning survivor's message to travellers
In November 2024, six people died after drinking alcohol suspected to be contaminated with methanol at the Nana Backpacker Hostel in Vang Vieng Laos. Two of those were 19-year old Australians Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles.
Bethany Clarke, from the UK but now living in Brisbane, was one of the lucky survivors of the poisoning; however, childhood best friend Simone White – whom Ms Clarke was travelling with at the time – was not so fortunate.
Ms White's mother was faced with the tragic decision to turn off her life support after she suffered irreversible brain damage resulting from the poisoning.
Speaking to NewsWire, Ms Clarke said the shortcomings of Laotian infrastructure meant travellers should carefully consider whether a visit was worth the risk.
'We can't be enticing people to go to Laos, far from it. I think our message would really be to avoid it at all costs because they can't run a thorough investigation,' she said.
'If you happen to die in Laos, there's no way that you'd get a legitimate medical evaluation and those Danish girls (Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21), they didn't even have a post-mortem because they were told that they couldn't do one because of the embalming procedure.'
Ms Coyman and Ms Sorensen were found dead in their hostel room after they had reportedly been vomiting blood for 13 hours.
'We were diagnosed with food poisoning, which is completely incorrect,' Ms Clarke said.
'We weren't even displaying symptoms in relation (to that). I wasn't displaying symptoms like nausea or diarrhoea or vomiting, so I don't even know how you'd come to that conclusion.
'It's just that doctors are not trained (properly).'
Ms Clarke said the severity of the incident was compounded by the victims' own inability to think and function as the effects of methanol made its way through their bodies.
'I think because my brain wasn't working, there were little red flags during that following day, but it's only afterwards that I've sort of been able to realise that I should have listened more to those. I just wasn't thinking. I wasn't able to think straight,' Ms Clarke said.
'At the kayaking experience when we were just having to lay down, we weren't able to sit up straight and paddle. That definitely should have been a red flag because that's never happened to me before, an inability to sort of move my body.
'Just really, really fatigued. And then later on, when Simone stopped breathing normally and wasn't able to look at me properly, that was also when I knew that there was a huge problem.
'I just felt completely powerless because I couldn't even think straight myself.'
Now Ms Clarke is campaigning for greater awareness, education and preventive measures against similar incidents.
As part of the campaigning, Ms Clarke has started a petition proposing airports display clearly visible signs, distribute leaflets and have mandatory guidance counters with information on methanol poisoning.
'I think the depth of knowledge will only really come with the formal education in schools and that's why we're trying to think of how we can do that in a way that's going to act as a scare tactic for young people,' she said.
'Whether it's some kind of video, where we can re-enact what happened in Laos and how quickly things started to deteriorate, some of the other shocking things that happened, like the Danish girls who were vomiting blood and various things like that, which no one would ever really imagine could happen after drinking shots at a hostel bar.
'I think people may even think, 'Oh, well, it won't happen to me', but if you're shown the facts and we've got pictures of those drinks and what we drank, you see it's easy to get into these situations unless you know why you shouldn't do something.'
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News.com.au
10 hours ago
- News.com.au
Health Minister Mark Butler admits new childcare legislation too little, too late
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ABC News
17 hours ago
- ABC News
Australian army said to not be doing enough to protect troops from blast overpressure
Sergeant Andrew Jennings thinks the first warning sign that something was terribly wrong inside his brain was more than a decade ago. But it was not until 2021 that he made a potentially lethal mistake that could have ended his career. He was instructing young soldiers at a rifle range but forgot one of the most critical safety steps: to officially open the range before soldiers started firing. "Anyone could have walked onto the range and been shot," Sergeant Jennings told 7.30. He was disciplined at the time and put it down to a memory lapse. Now, he thinks it was the beginning of severe cognitive decline caused by repeated exposure to blasts over 17 years of service. He is speaking out now because he is worried that it is no longer safe for him to lead and mentor the soldiers below him. "I am unable to function at the level that would be required for my rank," he said. Plagued by crippling headaches, memory loss, and persistent suicidal ideation, he fears that he will place himself or his colleagues at risk while performing his duties. "I am getting completely disorientated. I'm forgetting where I am … I can get lost driving to work," he told 7.30. Lately, he said, there have been several occasions he has not recognised his own wife. Sergeant Jennings is a man who likes order, policies and strictly sticking to the rules, but he is breaking ranks because he is so concerned that Australian soldiers are being put at risk every day from the blast overpressure coming from their own weapons during training. "I'm expecting a lot of pushback on this," he said. "But it's an issue that is affecting huge numbers of defence members. "It's affecting me. It's affecting my wife. It's affecting my peers. It's affecting those people that are coming through below me. "We are placing our soldiers at risk." The Australian Army has been grappling with how to manage blast exposure for well over a decade and has been criticised for failing to move swiftly enough to prevent ongoing injury to soldiers. Every day at training ranges around the country, soldiers are being exposed to invisible blast waves which scientists have now discovered cause new kinds of visible physical brain injury, inflammation and scarring. The debilitating symptoms of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can look a lot like PTSD and other psychological conditions experienced by many veterans, making diagnosis and treatment challenging. Soldiers like Sergeant Jennings never forget the feeling of firing weapons like the Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle, known as the 84. "You can feel the pressure wave, going through all your sinus cavities." The weapon is so infamous for making soldiers feel physically sick from the gut-punching blast wave it emits that its manufacturer, Saab, even notes it has been nicknamed the "Charlie guts ache" by Australian soldiers on its website. The shoulder-fired heavy weapon is so powerful it can launch a rocket capable of destroying tanks, bunkers or buildings hundreds of metres away. First introduced around the Vietnam War, it has been fired by generations of Australian soldiers. During training, two soldiers and a safety supervisor must be in close proximity when it is fired, exposing all of them to high levels of blast overpressure. For more than a decade, the Australian Army has placed limits on how many rounds can be fired in a 24-hour period because of concerns about the amount of blast overpressure it exposes soldiers to. To demonstrate the safety protocols in place to protect soldiers, the Australian Army gave 7.30 vision of infantry soldiers training with the weapon behind three-walled concrete firing bays, designed to protect soldiers if a rocket detonates short of its target. A 2021 US Marine Corps technical operator manual seen by 7.30 instructs marines firing the same weapon to do so from an open firing point to reduce the risk of the concrete barriers amplifying the blast overpressure back onto soldiers. Uniformed Services University researcher Joshua Whitty from the US-based CONQUER blast monitoring project said the Australian Army had "inadvertently created a very real hazard that affects everyone in those firing points" by using the concrete barriers. The vision provided by the Australian Army shows soldiers writing down their exposure to blast overpressure and calculating the overall exposure to ensure it is within a daily limit. According to range documents seen by the ABC, depending on the kind of round fired, soldiers can only fire between four and seven rounds on a Carl Gustaf 84 in a 24-hour period. That includes the second operator and safety supervisor standing next to them. Sgt Jennings was in the safety supervising role for years and says he ensured he stuck to the rules for his trainees. But due to staff shortages and pressure to get soldiers trained, he says was regularly exposed above daily limits, including, on one occasion, to 46 rounds in 36 hours. Firing well over the limits occurred when staffing was short, there was pressure to finish training, or when ammunition expired, according to more than half-a-dozen veterans the ABC spoke to. Two former soldiers described how in the years before safety limits were introduced, there were occasions of soldiers firing more than 100 rounds in a day to get rid of excess or out-of-date ammunition. Former Special Forces officer Paul Scanlan said that according to his own experience and surveys he has conducted, that is not uncommon. "That's probably one of the high-risk groups that are often ignored in this, are those people supervising in training." Mr Scanlan now runs Vigil Australia, a social enterprise dedicated to research and raising awareness of blast exposure and its links to mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). "That's the inconsistency … leadership is saying you can only fire seven. That's not what's happening on the ground," he said. "100 per cent they're not doing enough. They're too slow. It's a leadership issue. You could do something tomorrow. "I respect that they are trying to do something and I get that feedback from people inside the army, but it's way too slow. "Cognitive baseline those in the high-risk groups … and put gauges on them. Capture the data now." Last year, the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide noted that "traumatic brain injury from blast exposure is common in active-duty military personnel" and that brain injuries are associated with a heightened risk of death by suicide. It recommended the establishment of a brain injury program to look at the impact of repetitive low-level blast exposure on the brain and to treat those affected. The responsibility to make that happen sits with the Chief of Army Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, who told 7.30 he was pleased to have a "very clear direction to focus time, effort and resources on this matter". General Stuart said he has no doubt that blast overpressure can cause damage to the brain. "I've always accepted that, I think that's a fact … that we've learned more about over time. We've been following it and learning more about it since 2010," he said. The Royal Commission directed that the ADF's Brain Injury program monitor and assess exposure to blast overpressure, record members' exposure to brain injury in medical records and establish a neurocognitive program suitable for serving and ex-serving members. General Stuart says work is going on behind the scenes to ensure the research is done properly, adding that the first step is creating an effective cognitive baseline test to give soldiers on enlistment to track changes over time. "I want it to happen as soon as possible," he said, before adding that he has enlisted an expert advisory panel including "16 of Australia's most prominent neurosurgeons, neuroscientists, traumatic brain injury specialists, rehabilitation specialists" to assist with better understanding and mitigating the risk. "Then where we do know that people have been exposed to a level of risk, we can quickly divert them into the right medical care," he said. General Stuart was part of some of the army's earliest research efforts, wearing a blast gauge while deployed to Afghanistan during a 2012 trial known as Project Cerebro. It concluded personnel are exposed to potentially harmful blast effects in both combat and training and was followed by more blast gauge trials in 2016, 2019 and 2024. "We're probably up to our fifth or sixth blast gauge trial in 13 years," said Mr Scanlan, who before leaving the ADF, became the acting Director of Diggerworks, an ADF department that looks at technological innovations in 2019. By then, he had seen enough data to become seriously concerned that soldiers were being harmed by blast waves. Six years later, he is regularly contacted by veterans with blast exposure who are suffering, suicidal and frustrated by a lack of action. "I've had calls where people have essentially indicated they are committing suicide, and I've had to call the police to go and intervene," Mr Scanlan said. "They don't feel heard. They don't feel looked after. "For me, this is where it comes back to leadership and accountability. "You've captured the data, we know the effects it's having and something needs to be done about it." Finding the right medical care has been a years-long struggle for Sergeant Jennings. He has had a battery of tests including multiple MRIs, CT scans, PET scans, lumbar puncture and everything has come back normal. Neuropsychological testing found his memory recall and processing speed were unusually low. Sergeant Jennings is in the process of medically separating from the defence force and last week was placed on a 28-day medical restriction as he is unfit for duty. He said he feels let down by a system that has not been designed to protect soldiers. "There's been a lot of talk about this for a long time. It's been a problem that defence has been aware of at least in my experience since 2013 and I don't think Defence is doing enough," he said. He said many of his peers with repeated blast exposure had similar problems but were not seeking help. "It becomes an issue for them to progress in their rank, but it also becomes an issue for them potentially to perform their roles and duties properly." General Stuart said he has encouraged current and former soldiers to speak out about their experiences with brain injury. "I think the issue that they've felt let down about is probably two-fold," he told 7.30. "One, we haven't moved fast enough. I'm doing everything I can to shift that along, but I want to make sure we're doing the right things. "Secondly, it's been very difficult for them to be able to get a diagnosis and to link that to their service. General Stuart said he wants soldiers and veterans to know there is help available. "My message is, thanks for what you've done, I'm sorry you've been affected by your service that way. But let's get you the help that you need," he said. Sergeant Jennings said slow action on blast injuries isn't just a personal workplace health and safety issue but is also having an impact on Australia's defence capabilities. "We are losing huge amounts of corporate knowledge because they're getting injured, they're getting broken, they're having memory issues and they're having cognitive issues," he said. "We are losing our edge because we are not protecting our soldiers. Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV
ABC News
18 hours ago
- ABC News
Childcare workers still don't have to take sleep safety training
Despite repeated warnings from experts and a formal recommendation from the NSW coroner more than three years ago, safe sleep training isn't mandatory for childcare workers. In December 2021, the NSW Coroner, following an inquest into the death of a seven month old baby at a family daycare service, recommended that the NSW Government in consultation with governments of other jurisdictions amend the law to require all family day care educators undertake mandatory safe sleep training. Red Nose Australia, the country's leading authority on infant sleep safety, is urging governments to urgently adopt the Coroner's recommendation — and go further by extending mandatory, accredited safe sleep training to all early childhood educators, not just those in family day care. The training, it says, must be updated regularly. "Just like CPR and First Aid training are mandatory and require regular updates to maintain currency and safety, safe sleep training should be evidence based, compulsory and updated annually for all ongoing for Early Childhood Educators caring for babies and toddlers," Red Nose boss Amy Cooper said. Since the coroner's recommendations, Red Nose said at least three infants had died during sleep or rest time or suspected to be during sleep and rest time, noting that the causes of death were still under investigation. "There is no shortage of evidence or urgency, yet we are still seeing avoidable risks in early childhood settings," Cooper said. "Safe sleep and rest practices must not be left to chance. Every educator, in every service, must be trained to the same evidence-based standard — because little lives depend on it." Under current national regulations, services must have a safe sleep policy and conduct regular risk assessments but there is no requirement for educators to undergo accredited training, nor any obligation for refresher courses like those required for CPR or First Aid. The calls for action come amid growing scrutiny of systemic failures in the $20 billion childcare sector following a series of investigations by the ABC which uncovered shocking cases of child abuse, neglect and injury highlighting gaps in childcare safety and accountability. The sector is under pressure over fast-tracked educator qualifications, for-profit operators cutting corners, and widespread failures in Working With Children Checks. That focus intensified after the arrest of a 26-year-old male educator charged with more than 70 counts of child sexual abuse at a Melbourne childcare centre. The Victorian man facing charges, Joshua Dale Brown, worked at an estimated 20 childcare centres over eight years, all of them owned by private operators including private equity-owned Affinity Education, listed ASX giant G8 Education and United States-owned Only About Children. A cache of NSW regulatory documents obtained by the ABC reveals dozens of childcare centres where educators were unaware of safe sleep policies or failed to follow them. Inspectors recorded cases of babies placed face down, wrapped unsafely, covered with pillows or blankets, and one incident where a child was put to sleep with a dummy chain that became wrapped around their neck. At a family day care centre in Western Sydney in 2022, an educator was caught placing an infant in a bouncer with a bottle and the child fell asleep. "I placed the child into the cot while the child was still wearing a hooded jacket. The hood of the jacket sat around the back of her head and neck. Authorised officers discussed the dangers of the hooded jacket and asked her to remove it from the child…." It said the bouncer had mould on the material lining. There were cases of a child found asleep with a soft toy with a blanket attached and it was covering the side and back of the child's head. In another part of the centre children were found laying on their beds drinking bottles of milk. In one centre a regulator observed a baby asleep, lying on their stomach underneath a blanket on a stretcher bed. "The authorised officer did not observe any staff member conduct a safe sleep check, or sit near the child to check their breathing or skin colour for 20 minutes." Red Nose recommends checks every 10 to 15 minutes. Lynette Rieck, an early childhood trainer and assessor of 35 years, said every child had the right to a safe sleep environment that is guaranteed by the provision of annual, standardised and mandatory training for all educators working in the sector. She said the Certificate III in childcare covers safe sleep practices in several units, but it is only covered indirectly and inconsistently. She is calling for it to be embedded across all mandatory training — Certificate III, First Aid, annual CPR refresher courses — and enshrined in national law and quality standards. Early childhood consultant and advocate Lisa Bryant said the delays around mandatory safe sleep training are hard to justify, particularly when lives are at stake. "When we know better in regards to children's safety we should always do better," she said. Bryant said educators shouldn't be expected to know everything but when properly trained, they generally follow best practice. "We know that once they have received high quality training on something, they are usually good at adhering to it. Why wouldn't we give them this basic training then? Children's lives may well depend upon it." Jozef Maragol lost his 16-month old daughter Arianna on August 24, 2018, shortly after she was found unresponsive at a Sydney childcare centre and taken to hospital. He said he was shocked when he discovered safe sleep training isn't mandatory, nor is physical checking. CCTV footage showed Arianna had been left alone for an extended period, with sleep checks carried out via a CCTV screen and an audio monitor rather than in person. He later learned that the centre's sleep practices had been flagged in 2014 by a regulatory inspector visiting the centre, who noted an educator was doing sleep checks via a screen. Despite expert advice that physical checks are more reliable, allowing educators to observe critical signs like skin colour or breathing, they are not mandatory in childcare centres. States, territories and the federal government were asked if they were considering introducing mandatory accredited safe sleep training. Jess Walsh, Minister for Early Childhood Education, didn't answer the question but said in a statement that every child deserved to be safe in early learning, and every parent deserved to know their children were safe. She said all early learning services were required to have sleep and settling policies and procedures in place, "and we expect them to be delivered." The NSW acting education minister, Courtney Houssos, said some progress had been made to improve sleep safety but conceded the introduction of a mandatory safe sleep course had been too slow and NSW would move independently if a national agreement wasn't reached soon. "Though all educators receive initial educator training in safe sleep practices, as with a number of other changes to the national law, the introduction of a mandatory safe sleep course has been too slow and provides another example where NSW will forge ahead independently to make changes in the wake of the Wheeler Review should a national consensus not be reached imminently," she said. Northern Territory Minister Jo Hersey said in a statement if there were any changes to the national law and regulations, particularly relating to the supervision and safety of children, they would be implemented accordingly. A spokesperson for the ACT government said centres were required to have policies and procedures in place that include induction, training and knowledge of staff in relation to best practice for children's sleep and rest. "These policies and procedures must be consistent with current health guidelines on best practices from recognised authorities (such as Red Nose Australia)," the spokesperson said, noting that the upcoming education ministers meeting in August would consider further measures to strengthen quality and safety in our early education and care sector. South Australian Minister for Education Blair Boyer said family day care educators in SA were "required" to have completed safe sleep training in the past two years to be registered and operate with the department of education. It said it offered safe sleep training to 200 educators in 2025. "We would welcome a nationally consistent approach to sleep safe training, but will not accept changes that lower the standard we have already set here in South Australia," he said. "She was healthy. She passed away," Maragol says. "Six months later Jack Loh passed away. How many more will it take before authorities stop sitting behind their towers? Is anyone accountable in this whole sector?" Maragol and his family have spent the past seven years searching for answers. An inquest has been scheduled for October this year. "I couldn't save my own child but I hope I can help others," he said. "They are voiceless, they are vulnerable, this is what we know."
