Stosh

Pretty much my routine.

Yes, you can be sued under the Good Samaritan laws and as you have indicated, negligence is always floating up near the top of the lists lawyers like. Epi pens can be used only by the person who needs them. To train one's SPL how to use an epi pen sounds noble, but legally they can't give a controlled substance (prescription medicine) to another person. Add to that there is no doctor supervision and no parental consent. That's way too much thin ice for me. As a former EMT, do I know how epi pens work? Yep. have I been trained? That needs clarification, but legally the answer is no. If someone was going into shock and the pen is handy, would I do something, yes, I would help in the legal sense of the word. A school nurse can hand out prescription medication to students who have proper doctor supervision and control. Can they give out an aspirin or any other over-the-counter medications? Nope. Benadryl is an OTC drug which is being given without parental consent, I do believe that the only person that can treat a patient without parental consent is an ER doctor in order to do the minimal to keep a person alive. If a kid breaks an arm and is in extreme pain, they will just sit there until the parents approve treatment. Unless things have changed, sugar, syrup of ipecac and/or charcoal are the only "invasive" treatments a non-medical person can use.

There's nothing to say the Power Rangers don't qualify, but one must remember the integrity and sincerity of whatever power one believes in is important. We have a lot of Paper Eagles and Parlor Scouts out there that the 12th Law and the first part of their solemn oath is the least of their problems. Integrity and honor come from within, not something imposed on a person from the outside like rules and regulations. Saying you are Christian and yet not acting like it is no different than saying you're Jewish and yet not acting like it. What is a Power Ranger follower supposed to act like. Contrary to popular belief, most "religions" have already been established, it's just a matter of traditions that separate one variation to the next. Even the roots of atheism can be carried back to it's philosophical/theological origins. Isn't it rather strange that the Koran, Torah and Old Testament seem to be remarkably similar? So, in the midst of all that, how is the BSA supposed to define "religion"? Defining that which is validated by faith is not possible. I believe there is a God, others believe there isn't. But we both believe. BSA has chosen to go with any belief that there is a God/god that such belief is beneficial to the development of the scouting character and principles.

Hopefully things have changed since I took medical training. If you were not certified or trained in a technique, NOT DOING ANYTHING is the legal right answer. Medically and morally it sucked. Remember you can be sued either way. If you do something and you're untrained, you can be sued. If you don't do something and your're untrained, you're safe. If you do something and you're trained, you can be sued. You didn't do it right, fast enough, etc. If you don't do something and you're trained, YOU'RE SAFE unless you're getting paid for the medical service and that's what malpractice insurance is for. Just rely on your safety protocols and hope for the best. Legal stuff is fun, just ask any lawyer.

This boy was full uniform, marched in and saluted as well. The Board didn't know what to do with the salute so they gawked at each other for a while then told him to sit down. He had them on their heels within 5 seconds of walking into the room. After the boy came out, one of the Eagle committee people approached him and told him it was inappropriate to salute other people and that the salute was just for the flag. BEEP: Wrong answer! The boy whipped open his hand book and within seconds has the reference page and showed it to the gentleman who grunted and walked away. Like I said, teaching management is quite easy to do. Teaching leadership is a rush! Be Prepared, Be Confident, Be Yourself.

Since the 1970's (Vietnam Era) BSA has been trying desperately to dump the military image. Yet when the military came out with the muted insignia, well, the green/tan numerals and green loops appeared on the scene. Go figure. Even an idiot can figure that out. But the best reaction to the change came from one of the people in the scout shop. I went in to buy red loops and they said they don't sell them anymore. They have the red numerals for Cub Scouts, but only the blue loops. In my inquisitive nature, and playing dumb, I asked why this came about and the lady behind the counter told me that the red and white scared the animals and by toning down the colors it made it more conducive to nature. I think that is the only time in my life I was able to hold a straight face and yet keep from peeing my pants with laughter.

I for one have no idea who's going to be on the EBOR or even a regular BOR. Right now we are so small and new we have to call on others in the area to come and do them for us. With that being said, it is my responsibility to make sure my boys know what a BOR is meant to do, how it plays out, what the board can ask, what it can't and then I role play with the boy to make sure he has to gumption to speak up and call foul when it is appropriate to do so. If one is building confident leaders out of these boys, one had better walk them through the processes to accomplish this. Once I primed the pump with one of my buddies on a BOR for one of my TF boys. About half way through the Review, my buddy asked the boy if he could tie the square knot that was part of his advancement requirements. The boy shot back, "Yes, I can, and if don't and would like to learn, I would be happy to teach you." Afterwards my buddy told me he figured I had set him up rather than the boy. I have had boys remind the members of the BOR that certain questions are inappropriate and they refused to answer them. Buried deep in the back of the minds of all my boys is the knowledge that this is THEIR BOR, not the members of the board. As I have mentioned in other posts, I had an Eagle Candidate basically take over his EBOR and set the tone and shot up his hour by telling them all that was exciting about scouting since his first contact as a Tiger Cub. I think they got in 2 or 3 questions of their own, but it only sparked the boy to even greater detail about his scouting experience. I was surprised that when all was said and done and the dust settled, he was asked to be the speaker at the Golden Eagle Dinner the council puts on every year seeking the big donations. Be Prepared. Be Confident, Be yourself. You won't have to worry about a thing. Works every time.

Even I as a former pastor think such antics are in very poor taste. I am forming a support process for a scout, not changing his mind about what he should believe. Forcing one's will on another, especially a minor ranks up there with abuse, and this opinion comes from a clergy person.

Small town west central Iowa. Same for eastern North Dakota.

I counsel my boys, "Be Prepared" when it comes to anything that one anticipates along these lines. It's not that a scout should have an answer for ever thing a EBOR might ask, but just be prepared for the unexpected and don't let it fluster you.

Americans have some really strange taboo's about death that don't make much sense. For kids the solution is either flush it down the toilet or bury it in the back yard. This works great until Grandpa dies......

Progression of Phone 1) Crank the handle to get the operator and then say the name of the person you want to talk to. 2) Pick up the phone and when operator answers give the 3 digit phone number. 3) Rotary phones, now you needed to give the 5 digits for local calls and the first two digits for the phone exchange, then the 5 digits. 4) Push button phones that used both clicks and tones. 5) Cell phones. (just like on Star Trek 6) Cell phones with texting so I don't have to actually talk to the person on the phone. 7) Voice and video communications, just like on Star Trek! Oooooo Ahhhhh! It was still in the mid 1980's that I still had to request a private line because of my business situation. Somewhere in the whole progression of things I seemed to have missed Max's shoe phone and haven't been able to get in touch with Control since.

Which is my point exactly. The Eagle Project is supposed to be a LEADERSHIP demonstration, not a Project Management demonstration. I did a computer programming project that ended up with 6,000 lines of custom coding and I did it without any help from anyone. Managed very well, lead nothing. It's the Scout's project, it's the scouts words, just sign it, you don't have to read it, the Eagle committee will do it on their own. Looking for missing ours is a management validation process. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with leadership. Stick with the requirement of the project and quit making up your own rules to mess with the scout!

Next thing you know BSA will start marketing a sheep-dip kit for troops.

I would think it a lot more exciting to side step this issue from Tenderfoot through Life that when he hits his EBOR and they ask and he has no answer, then they can handle the problem at that point. Or if one wishes the more mundane approach a chit chat here and there about each of the 12 Laws and different points of references to the Oath, the boy may have maybe 7 years to ponder these issues before he steps into this EBOR. If the Oath references God and the Law references reverent, we have a duty to work with the boy just like any other point of the Scout Law or Oath.

As I posted, my boys get their first lesson in fishing during their Tenderfoot years. When they get to the Eagle project, I expect them to have sufficient experience and skill to pull it off without adults hovering around making sure their seat belt is snug and all pointy objects are out of reach. I can assure you that my boys come home with dinner long before they start their Eagle projects. Management is an easy skill to teach and if started early in the boys scouting career, they can easily pull off Eagle projects at age 16 with no problem. That 4+ years of experience doing them. Summer camp last year and this year has been set up by the same scout. That includes scheduling, registering, signing up for MB's and organizing equipment needed, etc. He went as SPL last year and will be SPL for the camp this year. Oh, by the way. He just got his Tenderfoot badge.

Remember Mozartbrau, too much of a good thing is not acceptable in the BSA.

For me? 54 years old. Lets just say that when I was a kid I reached down next to the desk and ranked a little handle on a box down by the baseboard after lifting the receiver. When the lady answered, I said I wanted to talk to my mom. She said one minute please and the next thing my mom's on the phone. Nothing today can beat that kind of service!

My son had a severe food allergy for a period of time but the doctor "did feel it was necessary" for him to carry an epi pen. He said there was only a slim change the allergy could worsen and he could have a life threatening reaction. So we were not certified, we were not authorized, we didn't take any training, and didn't jump through any hoops to protect our child. Instead we both learned how to do a tracheotomy. According to the doctor there was only a slim chance we would have to do it. Neither of us was prepared to stand around and watch our son die waiting for an ambulance who at that time couldn't save him anyway. Have I ever had to use an epi pen? Nope. Have I been trained? Am I certified? Am I authorized? Nope, nope, nope. If I ever have to help someone will I do it anyway? Yep. They can sue me for saving their life afterwards. Would I do a tracheotomy on another parents child? Never been in a situation where I had to answer that question. Don't know what I would do. Oh, by the way, yes I have stood by and watched a person die from Anaphylactic shock as an ambulance attendant waiting for the train to clear a crossing. We were not authorized to administer drugs of any sort back then. Remember this is a legal issue, not a medical issue.

Sorry, EVERYTHING is a "personal" matter. Only those who feel the need to segregate out certain elements seem to find a difference. Is duty to Country sometimes referred to as a sacred honor? Sacred = belonging to God. For the narcissistic attitudes of today wouldn't one feel that asking about "helping other people at all times" an intrusion into their personal space? And as the boys spend hours upon hours in front of the TV and/or computer letting their muscles atrophy and brains go to whatever the crime du jour is on TV, are questions related to physical strength, mental alertness and moral attitudes an intrusion? Yes, the national focus is to preserve the program as it has for 100+ years and with the fickleness of social attitudes today, maybe a bump in the right direction is what they are after. People today single out religion as something one is not supposed to talk about. Well, as one of the 12 Scout Laws, one would ask, what is the motivation to ignore one of the guiding principles of the program? If one has a problem with supporting all 12 of the Scout Laws, maybe one ought to be asking oneself these questions and not just the boys. So lets not start with A Scout is Reverent, lets start with A Scout is Brave and work from there.

With a boy-led program, every boy that gets to the Life to Eagle part of their scouting career have done multiple service projects with the troop as the sole leader/coordinator. They know how to put them together, they know how to plan, they know what it takes and their Eagle projects are just another walk through. My signing by not reading HIS PROPOSAL doesn't mean anything except for paperwork filing. I know what the boy's project is. The majority of times it is something I have suggested. It's up to him to flesh it out and make it work. He doesn't need my "approval" to do that, just my signature. No one's throwing anyone to the wolves here. These boys are experienced in these things. If I wait until the last minute to teach these boys how to put together their Eagle Project, I might as well do it for them. This should not be something new for them. Unfortunately a lot of adult-run, adult-mentored, adult-guided, adult-directed troop never allows the boys to take the lead on projects so that yes, this might be the very first time they have ever had to put together a service project. In my troop that is NEVER the case. I have boys that from day one can take the lead on a service project and start getting ready for the Eagle Project. They can screw up. They can fail. And yes, they can learn, too. Each time they try, they get better and no adult is there to lecture them or correct their grammar or sentence structure. No project is too big or too small. We don't count hours or evaluate it's significance in the scope of the world view on service projects. The very first service project for a Tenderfoot scout might be nothing more than pairing up buddies and determining which side of the road they will be assigned to pick up garbage, but it will be THEIR project to learn on. I have seen Eagle candidates pull off a project that could easily be broken down into 2-3 different sub-projects that the council would readily accept as valid on their own, and the boy had it so well organized it was completed in one Saturday. It cost no money so there weren't any fund needed to be raise, and every boy that showed up was given a specific task to do. The project needed trees to be felled, he had fully equipped adults that were capable to doing just that and were assigned to drop specific trees. This boy even had a fully staffed luncheon tent sent up to serve lunch to all the workers. Yes, I signed off on this project without reading it. I trust my boys and if I read the proposal I would miss out on the excitement of seeing the whole thing play itself out. I never want to read the last chapter of the book first. So jump my case all you want. I have a scrapbook of newspaper articles that work very well for me in the long run. And my style might be a bit unorthodox, but with the number of mentor pins I have it really doesn't matter at all to me.

You promised to do your best for God and Country. How's that going for you? You promised to help other people at all times. How's that going for you? You promised to keep yourself strong, alert and morally straight, How's that going for you? How is the God part any different than any of the others except some people's shorts bundle up when someone brings up the subject? Having a boy explain any of these does not necessitate any judgement on my part. I'm giving a SMC, not a one-on-one BOR. Either the boy says he's been doing some stuff for God and Country or he hasn't. Either he's been helping others or he hasn't, etc. It's not that big of a deal to ask how he's doing on the Scout Oath unless one makes it so.

Contrary to modern mythology one can still have a land-line and can reliably call it a "good" number for contact. Hook that baby up to an answering machine and voila! you have the world at your fingertips. Just put your finger in the hole where the number is that you want to call and spin clockwise until it stops, let go and do it for all the numbers and the next thing you know, you're talking to your buddy.

The members of a unit do not need to be in the same district or council as the unit. My council has 3 districts. At one point I lived in one district, had a scout troop in the second and a Venturing crew in the third. My Venturing crew had members from 4 different councils in 3 different states. It all worked out, no problems. My current troop is going to go to it's first council activity ever for the spring camporee. Up until now all their activities have been out of council because they sounded better than what the council offered. Summer camp in June will be back to out of council.

My Radio Shack Coco kinda crapped out on 12/31/1999, but it still works. AAAND it has a 5.25" floppy drive so I don't have to rely on cassette tapes to store stuff. I learned to program on this machine as did my daughter so still plays with it on a regular basis. She's a bit like her old man, came to me the other day and wants to set up an old machine to Linux so she can hook up her TV full time and stream movies and TV programs. And who said the old stuff isn't any good anymore!