Risk Management & Safety on ScoutmasterCG Archive

B.P's Blog - A Picture of Bad Scouting

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

During his lifetime Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, wrote many books and articles directed to Scouters. Here’s a selection from his writings.

I REMEMBER once seeing a picture in a public gallery on the Continent which attracted a great crowd of people round it, and so excited them that one heard frequent ejaculations from them such as “Shame!”, “The brutes!”, and so on.

I don’t think I have ever seen another picture have so direct an effect on those looking at it. The subject was a regiment of infantry marching along a hot, sunny road. One man had fallen dead by the way-side, his comrades were glancing at him with varying expressions of pity as they passed, one of them was placing a few flowers on his breast, while an officer strode by apparently unmoved. That was all: but just at that time there was a great outcry against the officers of the army of that country because of the large number of deaths from sunstroke which were occurring among the young soldiers at manoeuvres. The feeling was so strong that in numerous cases officers were stoned by the villagers as they passed. And, though an officer myself, I could not help sympathising with the feeling against them — because the deaths were largely the outcome of bad scouting. Bad scouting in two senses. In the first place, the officers at that time — I am speaking of a good many years ago, mind you — were very bad at map-reading: they would start out at early dawn with their troops to get to their destination before the heat of the day came on, but with no bump of locality and poor ability in reading maps they were, at high noon, still wandering about the country, utterly lost, with their men played out, struggling along under a pitiless sun. That was bad scouting in one sense, and they were also bad scouts in that they did not see to what extent their men were suffering until it was too late. They themselves marched at the head, trying to find their way — leading on at a hurried pace, unencumbered with much kit, and anxious to get home, while their young recruits struggled along behind them, loaded up with heavy accoutrements, crowded together in the dust, fagged and tired, literally, to death.

What is Wilderness First Aid Training?

Sun, 28 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

What is Wilderness First Aid?

Wilderness First Aid expands on basic first aid training with advanced emergency management and assessment techniques.

During a Wilderness First Aid course Scouters and youth members over age 14 learn how to assess, treat, and manage emergencies so they can safely take their adventures into areas beyond the reach of rapid emergency response. When is Wilderness First Aid Training Required? At this writing training is only specifically required for programs at BSA high adventure bases, but is highly recommended and encouraged in any situation where Scouts are travelling to areas where emergency response will be delayed. At best polices and requirements can only supplement common sense.

Troop Based High Adventure Programs | Part 4

Mon, 21 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Training and skill development is important to the success of a Troop based high adventure program.

Adult Advisor and Youth Crew Chief Training – All trip leaders should take advantage of online courses offered by the BSA .

Youth protection and Weather Hazards is a good idea for any trip as well as activity-specific courses: Trek Safely, Safe Swim Defense, Safety Afloat and Climb on Safely. The online training is only available to registered adult leaders the information can be shared with youth leadership and crew members.

Risk Management

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Scouting should be adventurous, challenging, exciting and safe. Risk is inherent in most challenging, exciting adventurous activities.

Scout-aged boys are developing impulse control and risk assessment strategies; a process compromised by inexperience, peer pressure and testosterone soaked brains.

Managing these risks is an important responsibility of leadership All too often inattention, ignorance, inexperience, bravado or denial on the part of Scouters results in entirely preventable accidents. Men and boys tend to equate risk-taking with masculinity and risk management with cowardice. Many Scouters see organizational limitations on our activties as being overly influenced by fear of legal liability. In reality good risk management is just good common sense. Risk management is not risk elimination, it preserves the elements of challenge and adventure but assures the participants are appropriately safe. Risk management is as important for Scout Troops that spend the vast majority of their time outdoors within easy reach of home and medical attention as it is for more ambitious high adventure tripping.

Choosing a Backpacking Route

Fri, 29 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Leading a good backpacking trip begins with tailoring the route to the ability of the group.

Mileage for mileage’s sake usually turns a good trip into an ordeal of endurance that Scouts may not want to repeat.

Better to have the Scouts eager to challenge a longer hike or a tougher trail than feel reluctant to try again.

Trail guides and maps for well-used trails are available from local equipment dealers, state agencies and libraries.

Preparedness is Awareness

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Being prepared is not only knowing what to do or having the right gear.

Skill and gear absent awareness of surroundings it is of little use.

Awareness is a contextual understanding of the relationships between environment, action and resources.

Awareness is taking it all in, seeing the whole picture before acting.

Scouting hones the skills of observation and inquiry; What is the result of this course of action? How does the context of the situation affect the action?

The Better Part of Valor

Sun, 24 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

is discretion.

Bravery (valor) is important but it may be that it is more important to avoid some situations rather than brave them. If, for some unlikely reason, I should find myself in the middle of the road I will not panic but bravely manage the situation as best I can.

I will not, however, step into the middle of the road simply to prove my bravado. Our Council Camporee was planned for last weekend.

High Adventure and Wilderness First Aid Training

Sat, 23 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I lead an annual high adventure trip to Algonquin Provincial Park .

I maintain a CPR, safety afloat and safe swim certification.

I note that this year(2008): “Philmont requires that a least one person, preferably two, (either an advisor or a youth participant) in each crew be currently certified in American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid or the equivalent* and CPR from the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross or the equivalent. The American Red Cross Wilderness First Aid is a sixteen-hour course designed to help in situations when help is not readily available.

The Overprotected Kid

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The author’s 5-year-old son, Gideon, playing at the Land playground in North Wales. (Hanna Rosin) In her Atlantic Monthly article, The Overprotected Kid , Hanna Rosin writes: It’s hard to absorb how much childhood norms have shifted in just one generation.

Actions that would have been considered paranoid in the ’70s—walking third-graders to school, forbidding your kid to play ball in the street, going down the slide with your child in your lap—are now routine. In fact, they are the markers of good, responsible parenting. One very thorough study of “children’s independent mobility,” conducted in urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods in the U.K., shows that in 1971, 80 percent of third-graders walked to school alone. By 1990, that measure had dropped to 9 percent, and now it’s even lower. When you ask parents why they are more protective than their parents were, they might answer that the world is more dangerous than it was when they were growing up. But this isn’t true, or at least not in the way that we think. For example, parents now routinely tell their children never to talk to strangers, even though all available evidence suggests that children have about the same (very slim) chance of being abducted by a stranger as they did a generation ago.

Biting Off More than the Crew Can Chew

Sun, 06 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The first couple of times we went canoeing in Algonquin up in Ontario we bit off a little more than we could chew. My first trip I started out looking at really ambitious route but the outfitter waved me off of that (it was 60 miles or more and involved some complex travel that they warned me against).

I settled on another route that taxed our crew to the max, we had a wonderful time in retrospect, but it was very difficult and unpleasant for a couple of days. The result was that none of the Scouts or adults (other than me) who did that trip ever returned to try another. The next year we went back and it was somewhat better, but still pretty hard going for a day or two, harder than it should have been. Last summer was our ninth year in Algonquin with three crews (27 people total), hard lessons learned:

What Causes Wilderness Emergencies?

Sun, 06 Jul 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Wilderness emergencies caused by sudden, unpredictable changes in conditions may be unavoidable BUT: Ignorance, inattentiveness, bravado , and lack of preparedness cause more wilderness emergencies than sudden changes in conditions. IGNORANCE of terrain, climate, skill level or physical health of groups and individuals. IGNORANCE of skills required to conduct the activity safely. IGNORANCE of risks inherent in the activity. KNOW where you are going, who is going, and what you need to stay safe. INATTENTIVENESS to changes in conditions. INATTENTIVENESS to a participant’s state of mind and physical condition. INATTENTIVENESS to the risks inherent in the activity. PAY ATTENTION to participants, conditions, and risks. BRAVADO that blinds us to our own limitations. BRAVADO of a group that obscures the obvious risk. BRAVADO of trying to impress others. RESPECT LIMITATIONS don’t be foolish. LACK OF PREPAREDNESS not having the proper gear for the activity. LACK OF PREPAREDNESS failing to study and understand risks. LACK OF PREPAREDNESS not assessing suitability and limitations of participants. BE PREPARED bring the gear, knowledge and skills required to assure safety.

Preventing Abuse

Sat, 12 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Working in Scouting has its rewards, challenges, and responsibilities.

Every Scouter should be well versed in recognizing, reporting and, most importantly, preventing abuse.

Abuse is a difficult reality in society; it can and will find its way into Scouting.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a good opportunity for all of us to review our organizational policies and individual preparedness.

Excellent abuse prevention, recognition and reporting training is available from the BSA: Youth Protection & Adult Leadership And from Prevent Child Abuse America : Recognizing Child Abuse: What You Should Know (PDF) An Approach to Preventing Child Abuse (PDF) Ten Ways to Help Prevent Child Abuse (PDF) Emotional Child Abuse (PDF) My darkest days as a Scouter have been spent dealing with incidents of abuse.

The Accident Prone Outdoorsman

Fri, 11 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Author and Instructor Peter Kummerfeldt conducts outdoor safety skills seminars for his company OutdoorSafe . he writes: The tendency to hold optimistic opinions of our ability seems to be a part of human nature. No one wants to be “average,” we want to believe that we are “better than average.” The belief that “I will never find myself in a survival situation” compounds the problem… we read the reports, see the mistakes, and increasingly believe that accidents only happen to the foolhardy, the incompetent, and the accident prone – the other guy! Is it possible that all of those that people who get in trouble in the outdoors are fool hardy, incompetent and accident prone?

Ten Causes of Scouting Disasters in the Wild

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A wall cloud like this is never good news. (The storm that followed caused tornadoes, thankfully a good distance from where we hunkered down!) Scouting disasters in the wild loom when things start to get sketchy, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, you get that feeling that something is not quite right. It’s time to stop, sit down and think.

Bravely pushing ahead against all obstacles, having the grit and determination to keep on going, not giving in are all qualities we’d like to see in our Scouts. But there are times those qualities will get you killed. Read that last sentence again. It’s not intended to be gratuitously shocking or dramatic, it’s the absolute truth. We ought to be prepared to withstand some discomfort, but we don’t want to put ourselves or our Scouts in danger needlessly.

The Island Will be There Tommorrow

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Several years ago a local Scout Troop ( I swear it wasn’t us) suffered through a period of infamy they flipped several canoes while paddling in some heavy weather and had to be rescued. On this year’s trip to Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.

Eighteen Scouts and leaders in two crews chose a route to match the abilities of our most inexperienced paddlers.

During our third day of paddling we portaged into one of Algonquin’s larger lakes, Big Trout. The big lakes can kick up some good sized swells that make paddling difficult and dangerous. We entered Big Trout from a creek with the wind blowing towards us (some veterans of several canoe trips swear we always have the wind in our teeth no matter what our direction.) The rough conditions were clearly above the abilities of the paddlers. We headed immediately for the shelter of an island to regroup and consider our options. The first crew on the lake was an hour or so ahead. By radio we learned they had encountered very difficult paddling and swamped one canoe . They had wisely holed up in the nearest campsite about 3/4 of a mile away from us. As we sheltered on the island a storm front came running down on us from the northwest. We set up our tarp, sat on our PFD’s (to insulate us from a possible lightening strike) and waited out a violent thunderstorm. As soon as the storm abated we made the brief paddle to the other crew and joined them in their campsite.

Tug-of-War

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Whether an athletic competition, ritual practice, or casual the tug-of-war tradition is many centuries old. The United States Tug of War Association web page features an interesting history of the sport, an official event in early Olympic Games. We are fortunate to own a 30 foot length of nylon rope that was once used on a tug boat that is three or four inches in diameter.

Using anything weaker would increase the danger of the rope breaking.

Developing Good Safety Habits

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The long history of the “buddy system” in Scouting has shown that it is always best to have at least one other person with you and aware at all times of your circumstances and what you are doing in any outdoor or strenuous activity – Guide to Safe Scouting “Where’s your buddy?” is a pretty common question when we are out camping. (more likely to be directed at a patrol leader or senior patrol leader -“where is that Scout’s buddy?”).

Ineligible Volunteer Files Released

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As the contents of the ineligible volunteer files released recently come to light Scouting volunteers and the families that they serve will be justifiably upset and unsettled. They will ask questions. They will want to know that their children are safe. The files record reports of incidents of abuse and served as a database of people deemed ineligible for volunteer positions. They plainly and horrifically reveal that a number of cases were handled internally and some officials at the time seemed more interested in protecting the reputations of abusers and of the organization than the children they served. As demoralizing and infuriating the revelation of these past practices may be they are not indicative of how the B.S.A. handles reporting abuse today. Most of you reading this have become volunteers within the past decade ( I know many of you have served longer) you may not be familiar with the history and development of youth protection in the B.S.A. (here’s a timeline ). The ‘two deep leadership’ policy mandating that two adult volunteers must be involved in every activity first appeared in the early 1980′s.

Wilderness Communications

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

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 and relatively easy to use but they are only backups to standard preparations and practices: Wilderness travelers today have a wide range of communications technology options available to them.

Understanding Risky Behavior in Scouts Part Two

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Management 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. What seems rational and well reasoned to us does not have the same effect on them.

Understanding Risky Behavior in Scouts Part One

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Management 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? No matter how many times you have heard it repeated teenagers do not perceive themselves to be invulnerable.

What is the Heat Index ?

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Management 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.

Be Safe

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

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. 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. 19 Scouts and four adult leaders take a wrong turn and spend an unplanned night in the woods . Two Scouts lost overnight at camp .

Can Scouts Use Power Tools?

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Assistant Scoutmaster Michael from Troop 2000 in Brockton Mass. asks: Can Scouts use power tools? I’m confused because I’ve been told they can’t yet the BSA guidelines say they can. My other problem is that these guidelines are completely void of any specific information as to which tools are allowed and which ones are not. We can find the answer to this perennial question in the Guide to Safe Scouting ; specifically in this chart. As you note anyone registered as a Boy Scout (10 1/2 years old and older) or Venture is permitted to use power tools and Webelos and Cub Scouts are not. This isn’t my opinion – it is BSA policy in black and white. UPDATE 5/2011- The 2011 version of the Guide to Safe Scouting no longer mentions power tools. This change does not alter my advice (the guide doesn’t mention ladders either).

Managing Risk - Maintaining Program Integrity

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

At the end of a portage last summer I met a party of canoe trippers who were beating a hasty retreat. One of them wore a bloody bandage around his right ankle owing to an accident with an axe. This sent a shiver down my spine as I silently congratulated myself on the ’no axe or hatchet’ policy for our crews. Our decision not to carry axes or hatchets was not based on fear but the calculated management of risk. As a rule pushing a saw is quicker than swinging an axe, the saw is lighter than the axe and the saw is safer than the axe. The increased risk of the axe would not be offset by its utility. In a situation where we could be many hours of travel from medical attention managing risks like these is no small matter.