Safe Scouting

An article from Wilderness & Environmental Medicine Journal examines the retention of skills for those trained in wilderness first aid and concludes: Without additional training, regular use of the course content, or efforts to refresh thinking on key topics, the ability of WFA students to effectively apply their learning will likely decrease as time from training increases. With respect to these WFA courses, student scores on written tests did not accurately reflect competence in performing practical skills related to a medical scenario....

We camp in the kingdom of the timber rattler and the copperhead so I keep up on current best first aid practices for treating venomous snake bites in the field. Dr. Paul Auerbach, author of Medicine for the Outdoors, recently published an article about venomous snake bites: read the full article here. Dr. Auerbach observes; “Most bites, even by venomous snakes, do not result in medically significant envenomations.” “The most important aspect of therapy is to get the victim to an appropriate medical facility as quickly as possible....

The first two parts of this discussion deal with why Scouts make poor decisions and how we can help them decide well. **How do we react to bad decisions?**If we understand the way our Scout’s brains are working we know that reactive punishment is going to have little effect on their future ability to make better decisions. Anger or the punishments we employ may make them even more recalcitrant and drive them towards even more risky behavior....

Yesterday we looked at why otherwise intelligent Scouts sometimes make incredibly bad decisions. We understand that this has a lot to do with their developing brains. How do we help them? Asking adolescents to contemplate trade-offs between risks and benefits is ineffective because their decision making capabilities are underdeveloped. Stating the facts not only won’t help but may make them even less able to make good decisions because their decision making is skewed towards overestimating the benefits of an action....

Every once in a while a Scout does something so stunningly foolish and reckless we stop and ask; “He’s such an intelligent kid, why did he do something so stupid?” Emerging brain development research explains the sometimes stunningly bad choices adolescents make. Understanding how the developing adolescent brain works will help us help our Scouts avoid risky behavior and address the consequences of bad choices when they occur. **Why do they act this way?...

I had a few concerns over 911 calls being made by Scouts. I spoke with Eric Parry, a Emergency Response Specialist with MIsson Critical Partners: We travel and camp in some reasonably remote areas. How can we know if there is 911 coverage? To check and see if the area you will be traveling has 911 service use the coverage map at the NENA (National Emergency Number Association) website. Remember 911 coverage doesn’t mean that you’ll have cell phone service, you’ll have to check with your cell provider for that....

Thin ice and cold water boating accidents result in cold water immersion – a serious danger of winter in the out doors. Dr Gordon Giesbrecht coined the phrase 1-10-1 to describe the three critical phases of cold water immersion: 1 – Cold ShockAn initial deep and sudden Gasp followed by hyperventilation that can be as much as 600-1000% greater than normal breathing. You must keep your airway clear or run the risk of drowning....

Podcast Episode (00:26:36): Listen on Apple Podcasts Safety on a Scout led camping trip. Sweet Sixteen of BSA Safety Safe Scouting at Scouting.org Risk management at Scoutmastercg.com Subscribe to the Scoutmaster NewsletterCall and leave a voice mail comment or question at (484) 734-0002 Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes

The Wilderness Medical Society published an article concerning Wilderness Communications authored by Gordon H. Worley. The article explains the technology behind wilderness communications, emergency communication, radio communications, satellite communications, casualty evacuation and helicopter evacuations. Anyone venturing past reliable cell phone range would do well to read the article and gain some understanding of current technology and its proper application. Satellite phones, personal locator beacons, and other devices are inexpensive to rent...

A hurricane of historic proportions passed through our community and the way people responded is an interesting study of human nature assessing and managing risk. A friend of ours is a officer for a local township. On the day before the hurricane was forecast to hit our area he was called to a nearby grocery store to respond to to a fight. When he arrived the fight was still verbal but it was of an intensity that alerted the store’s employees to send for help....

Most of our Scouts will leave the relative comfort of an air-conditioned house for a week in the out doors. Keeping cool can be a monumental challenge, or a physical impossibility. We perspire to dissipate heat through evaporation. Increased humidity (more moisture in the air) decreases the rate of evaporation and our ability to keep cool. R. G. Steadman’s 1979 paper titled “The Assessment of Sultriness,” factors 20 different variables to describe how heat feels....

A reader (who wishes to remain anonymous) asks; My son recently joined a Scout troop who, to my horror, burns almost all their trash in the campfire. Most leaders that do this either don’t think it’s a problem, or have just learned to be indifferent. As a cub leader we didn’t let the youth put anything other than paper in the campfire and taught them what Styrofoam or plastic can do to the environment or their bodies when burned at low temperatures....

Outdoor leadership is different. Good administrative skills go just so far when leading a group in an extended outdoor experience. What works at a Troop meeting or in the boardroom does not always translate well on a week-long backpacking or canoeing trip. Scouting offers great administrative training and valuable supplemental training in outdoor skills and safety. What we don’t have is a comprehensive training course in the group dynamics of long-term outdoor trips....

Years ago I tuned into the new ‘reality’ show Survivor thinking that it would offer some kind of practical advice on the subject, or at least provide an honest depiction of what happens in a true survival situation. Boy was I disappointed. Survival soon became a hot commodity for television shows. Most of them were predictably shallow, sensationalized and, in some cases, downright silly. All but one; Les Stroud’s Survivorman series; an honest depiction of how a skilled outdoorsman reacts to some pretty grim situations....

Medicine for the Outdoors Paul S. Auerbach MD There is nothing in this book that you don’t need to know. I don’t think you have to memorize this book but I would encourage you to know what’s in it and how to find it quickly. Our first duty as Scout leaders is the safety and well being of our Scouts at an age when they are poor judges of risk and have a propensity to overestimate their capacities....

A fairly recent development in first aid the emergency bandage combines a sterile dressing, elastic wrap, pressure bar and closure that maintains direct pressure on bleeding wounds. Originally developed by the Israelis for military use it comes highly recommended from military medics and civilian paramedics: I was first introduced to the Israeli emergency bandage several years ago as a medic in Iraq… The Israeli emergency bandage was the first of a new generation of bandages that made a difference when it really counts....

Mike Malone asks; … we’ve been informed that, for safety reasons, Scouts are now not allowed to be on any handmade structure more than 3-4 feet off the ground. Is that the current rule? I checked the Guide to Safe Scouting and found two statements that may be applicable: An approved climbing helmet must be worn during all BSA climbing/rappelling activities when the participant’s feet are more than shoulder height above ground level....

Leading scouts in the out doors is an exciting challenge and a serious responsibility. It is difficult yet vitally important to read about incidents like the one below. If the account below is accurate the adults involved compromised the Sweet 16 of BSA Safety with tragic results. We are all vulenerable to making the same mistakes. I study incidents like this in an attempt to understand what happened and to inform my own actions....

I have mentioned before that I read outdoor accident reports and studies in the interest of continuing to appreciate the importance of managing risk. Bad things happen to good people in the outdoors. Sometimes because they find them selves in extreme conditions that they could not anticipate nor control and sometimes because they failed to apply sound risk management to the situation. The Sweet Sixteen of BSA Safety is an example of risk management practices that can and should be applied to all of our activities....

We are Scouts, we hike, camp, climb, build fires, swim, canoe, rappel, sail, ski and take on any one of a hundred challenging activities. There will be accidents, there will be injuries. I am not an alarmist, I am not worried about being sued, I am not obsessed with fear of accident or injury. But I am very, very careful to practice safe Scouting. This post at Scoutmaster Musings reminds us of the importance of actually applying the health and safety measures in the light of several recent incidents....