Shanghai Teen’s Death During Heat‑Wave Military Drill Spurs Nationwide Safety Outcry

After a midday chorus rehearsal, Ouyang returned to her dormitory. Surveillance footage captured her squatting on the path to the dorm and then becoming unresponsive. Fellow students called for help and teachers rushed her to the on‑site medical room around 2 p.m. According to Ouyang’s mother, Ms. Zhou, the medical staff placed her on a stretcher, supplied oxygen, and observed her for four minutes before calling emergency services. An automated external defibrillator (AED) sat at the room’s entrance but was never used.

The ambulance was dispatched at 2:01 p.m., arrived at 2:07, and left with Ouyang at 2:13. She reached the hospital at 2:30, where doctors fought to revive her for more than an hour. At 3:40 the team announced she was dead, citing “respiratory and cardiac arrest” and marking the cause of death as unknown pending an autopsy. A forensic report later noted the absence of any external injuries, consistent with sudden death.

Ms. Zhou, who described her daughter as an active, healthy teenager who played basketball and badminton, expressed shock at the circumstances. “She was in good shape, never had a health problem,” she said, adding that the delayed emergency response and the failure to employ the AED likely cost her daughter precious minutes of the so‑called “golden hour” for resuscitation. She also criticized the lack of communication from the Oriental Green Boat management, whose legal representative told the family they were waiting for the autopsy results—expected to take up to 30 working days—while offering no proactive updates.

The school has said it is cooperating with the Shanghai Education Commission, which has tasked the scenic area with handling the incident. Though school officials have spoken of a “good attitude,” Ms. Zhou contends that neither the school nor the training site has launched an internal investigation into the emergency procedures. She calls for full transparency and stronger safeguards for the thousands of students who attend similar training camps each year.

The tragedy has ignited a fierce debate on Chinese social media. On Weibo, users have questioned the necessity of intensive military drills for high‑schoolers, especially under sweltering conditions. Many argue that regular physical education would be safer than the concentrated, high‑intensity exercises that characterize these camps. Others defend the practice, noting that such training is legally mandated and designed to foster discipline and national defense awareness, a view echoed by outlets such as Dahe Daily.

Yet the most dominant sentiment centres on safety. Netizens have highlighted the apparent lapses: the four‑minute interval before 120 was called, the omission of the readily available AED, and the overall sluggishness of the medical response. Calls for accountability abound, with some demanding the cancellation of mandatory military training nationwide, while others press for reforms that would tighten health screenings, enforce stricter heat‑related work limits, and ensure that life‑saving equipment is both present and used.

As the autopsy proceeds, the family and the public await a definitive medical explanation. For now, Ouyang’s death stands as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities that can arise when rigorous physical programs intersect with inadequate emergency preparedness. Her loss has become a catalyst for a broader conversation about how China balances tradition, discipline, and the health of its youngest citizens.