You're on one of those amusement park rides that simulates white-water rafting or a fast ride down a log chute. Then the improbable happens -- the boat tips or someone stands and topples out.

When people wind up in the water, it's highly unlikely that anyone running the ride will have medical training, access to a lifeguard or even a simple flotation device ready to toss.Instead, employees will probably shut down the ride, keep visitors (and themselves) out of the water and wait for park paramedics.

That was the response at Six Flags Over Texas on Sunday when a raft carrying a dozen people flipped, leaving one woman dead and 10 others hospitalized. Several bystanders described jumping into the 4-foot-deep water as park employees stayed on the side and ordered them to keep out.

"There was confusion and chaos. People running the ride didn't appear to have a procedure or a plan," said Wendy Crown, a dive instructor who tried to resuscitate the 28-year-old Arkansas woman who later died. "Waiting for a paramedic? That's not a plan. You don't have the luxury of time in a drowning incident."

Paramedics stationed at the Arlington, Texas, park came within minutes, officials said. They are the only ones Six Flags requires to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation -- something not even the state mandates.

Six Flags is still investigating the incident, including what caused the boat to tip, the park's response and whether having a lifeguard on hand would have helped.

In the meantime, inspectors, safety consultants and industry groups say Six Flags' response was appropriate, standard and legal. They also say that serious problems on the rides are unheard of.

The accident was the first time someone wound up in the water since the ride opened in 1983, and several industry veterans said they couldn't remember a similar incident anywhere else.

An official at O.D. Hopkins Inc., one of the biggest makers of the approximately 100 river-rapid rides in parks worldwide, said he knew of less than 10 incidents in company history when someone had fallen into the water. No one was seriously injured, he said.

"Would a lifeguard have helped? I can't speculate. That's like saying if airplane passengers had parachutes, would it help," said Jim Glover, a salesman at the company based in Penacook, N.H.

John Dodson, an Ohio ride inspector and vice president of the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials, said he doesn't think it's essential to have someone with water safety training operate rides just because there's water involved.

"I've been doing this for 14 years, and we've really had no trouble like this, but I guess there are always unforeseen things that can happen," he said.

Unlike wave pools, slides or "slow river" rides where people float along a lazy channel of water, parkgoers aren't expected during raft or flume rides to be in the water or even get very wet.

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Park-based paramedics can get to the scene relatively quickly during such rare events, Dodson said, and it's not safe for bystanders or employees to jump in.

"The employees didn't know what caused the thing to flip. And maybe there was electricity in the water. Then you have a bunch of electrocuted people," he said.

Amusement park rides are certified by the state, and certification requirements vary. Most states do not require a lifeguard for such "secondary water contact" rides or that someone in the park have water safety training, consultants said. Texas does not require safety training of any kind, but parks must have $1 million worth of insurance on each ride.

Legal requirements aside, some in the industry speculate that the Six Flags incident may result in more parks hiring lifeguards, or at least warning visitors that no lifeguards are on duty.

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