# Is eight hours too long to go without being offered a drink of water? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 14, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130 "2018-12-14T17:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/1 "2018-12-14T17:51:25Z")
> **[7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Dies Of Dehydration And Shock In U.S. Border Patrol...](https://www.npr.org/2018/12/13/676622047/7-year-old-migrant-girl-dies-of-dehydration-and-shock-in-border-patrol-custody)** > > The girl's death underscores the crisis precipitated by large groups of families seeking asylum where there are inadequate facilities to detain them. > [@](#): > > A 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who crossed the southern border into the United States illegally earlier this month died of dehydration and shock after being apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in New Mexico… > > Eight hours after the girl and her father were taken into custody, she began having seizures and her body temperature was measured at 105.7 degrees by emergency medical technicians. > > The girl “had not eaten or had any water for several days,” Nick Miroff of The Post told NPR’s Morning Edition on Friday. > > The girl was flown by helicopter to a hospital in El Paso, Texas. She was revived after going into cardiac arrest but died less than 24 hours after being transported to the facility. > > “On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, our sincerest condolences go out to the family of the child,” the spokesperson said. “Border Patrol agents took every possible step to save the child’s life under the most trying of circumstances. As fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, we empathize with the loss of any child.” > [@https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/12/seven-year-old-girl-died-border-patrol-water.html](#): > > Authorities waited a week to admit a 7-year-old girl died in their care and still haven’t answered where she was held or if she was given food or water. White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley blamed “the needless death” on Democratic Congressmen. Yes, this 7 year-old child was a heinous criminal or terrorist, but shouldn’t she have been offered a glass of water? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/2 "2018-12-14T17:53:38Z")
Or intravenous fluids. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/3 "2018-12-14T17:59:33Z")
Are mean people attracted to this sort of job, or are they just very stupid? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/4 "2018-12-14T17:59:36Z")
\*\*Is eight hours too long to go without being offered a drink of water? \*\*Yes it is. I would expect that anyone with any sense at all would offer water rather immediately in such a case. Also, in any other case where someone was taken into custody at the border. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/5 "2018-12-14T18:00:24Z")
She was without food or water for several days. It should have been blindingly obvious to the most untrained person that she was in trouble. There’s no way her temp went from normal to almost 106 in eight hours. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/6 "2018-12-14T18:24:56Z")
In this particular case, it looks like a nearly dead child finished dying, and probably would have died no matter who picked them up. I’m no fan of Trump or his goons, but if you drag a child through the desert for several days with no food or water expecting a last-second miracle recovery, that death is on you. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/7 "2018-12-14T18:33:58Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/8 "2018-12-14T18:38:40Z")
It’s a tragedy that all of these Central Americans are risking so much just to come here. Are they being lied to about what’s waiting for them in the good ol’ USA? I was speaking to an immigrant from Germany recently. She came here (legally) when she was in her 20s I believe. She claims that she was always told that as soon as you arrived on American soil, you would instantly become rich. The mechanics of how this would happen, I didn’t ask, nor did she say. Do many people in other countries really believe that? This lady wasn’t lying, she really believed it. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/9 "2018-12-14T18:41:52Z")
Worse than that, people that actually LIVE in the US think that everyone who crosses the border illegal immediately gets tens of thousands of dollars and every service you can imagine provided to them by good ol’ American tax payers. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/10 "2018-12-14T18:43:30Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > Do many people in other countries really believe that? This lady wasn’t lying, she really believed it. Of course they don’t believe that, especially not in fucking Germany for gods sake, stop being stupid. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/11 "2018-12-14T18:45:27Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Of course they don’t believe that, especially not in fucking Germany for gods sake, stop being stupid. I’m being stupid? It’s what she told me. Maybe she’s stupid, but she wasn’t lying to me. Also, she came to the US back in the 60s or 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/12 "2018-12-14T18:46:24Z")
nm again ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/13 "2018-12-14T18:48:55Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Are mean people attracted to this sort of job, or are they just very stupid? Why the false dichotomy? 😃 But IME, there’s a fair bit of overlap when it comes to mean and very stupid. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/14 "2018-12-14T18:51:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > In this particular case, it looks like a nearly dead child finished dying, and probably would have died no matter who picked them up. I’m no fan of Trump or his goons, but if you drag a child through the desert for several days with no food or water expecting a last-second miracle recovery, that death is on you. I don’t see how you know this. She was alive when they got there, and she was hungry and dehydrated. How do you know that getting her fluids and then nutrition wouldn’t have saved her? I see no reason to assume things that in any way exonerate Trump. That they didn’t even try is still damning. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/15 "2018-12-14T18:52:41Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > In this particular case, it looks like a nearly dead child finished dying, and probably would have died no matter who picked them up. . Show me that this girl received significant first aid and was transferred to a hospital within an hour of being detained, and you know my outrage will evaporate. Show me that ICE shrugged their shoulders and said, “She’s gonna die anyway, whaddya gonna do?” and I’ll be even more pissed. What it looks like is incompetence fueled by racist hostility toward border crossers. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/16 "2018-12-14T18:52:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I’m no fan of Trump or his goons, but if you drag a child through the desert for several days with no food or water expecting a last-second miracle recovery, that death is on you. Maybe, but there’s a difference between offering some basic fucking human comfort to a dying person and kicking her when she’s down. Guess which one covers the failure to offer a drink of water for several hours? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/17 "2018-12-14T18:54:52Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > In this particular case, it looks like a nearly dead child finished dying, and probably would have died no matter who picked them up. I’m no fan of Trump or his goons, but if you drag a child through the desert for several days with no food or water expecting a last-second miracle recovery, that death is on you. If she was in as bad shape as you say, then why did the Immigration agents wait 8 hours to do anything? When coming across someone who hasn’t had food or water for days your response should be to get them food, water and medical attention ASAP, not “Well, they’ve been without food and water for a couple of days so what’s eight more hours?” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/18 "2018-12-14T18:56:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > In this particular case, it looks like a nearly dead child finished dying, and probably would have died no matter who picked them up. I’m no fan of Trump or his goons, but if you drag a child through the desert for several days with no food or water expecting a last-second miracle recovery, that death is on you. Thank you for your expert medical opinion. Nothing in the links actually verifies that that was the case. It’s impossible to determine the the exact facts of the case from the information in the links in the OP. But even if her caretaker was hadn’t taken proper care of her, once she was in custody the authorities bear some responsibility for her welfare. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/19 "2018-12-14T19:01:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > But even if her caretaker was hadn’t taken proper care of her, once she was in custody the authorities bear some responsibility for her welfare. Shit, they even feed guys on death row. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130/20 "2018-12-14T19:20:59Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > If she was in as bad shape as you say, then why did the Immigration agents wait 8 hours to do anything? When coming across someone who hasn’t had food or water for days your response should be to get them food, water and medical attention ASAP, not “Well, they’ve been without food and water for a couple of days so what’s eight more hours?” Based on the WaPo reporting I read, we don’t know if “Immigration agents waited hours to do anything.” We actually know next to nothing about the specifics of this girl’s death, and I’m not sure why anyone’s ready to lynch the ICE agents involved who had the unenviable task of processing and triaging 163 migrants with who knows how many health issues spread among them. Maybe an investigation will ultimately reveal they were pure evil, but until then… I think the anger in this case shouldn’t be directed toward ICE (yet), but towards US immigration policy that continues to push the downtrodden into increasingly dangerous situations. Border fencing and walls in populated areas and shutting down checkpoints has forced immigrants into making dangerous desert crossings. Thousands are estimated to have died, this 7 year old is just one more victim of cruel and heartless policies towards Hispanic immigrants. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-eight-hours-too-long-to-go-without-being-offered-a-drink-of-water/826130.md?page=2)