How safe are Utah Scouts on outings?

[fgoodwin]

[despite the title, this article is really about training]

 

How safe are Utah Scouts on outings?

 

http://www2.standard.net/standard/news/58711/

 

Monday, August 8, 2005

 

By Lynze Wardle

Standard-Examiner staff

 

Leaders trained to teach boys skills properly

 

In 42 years with the Boy Scouts, Brent Cragun, 62, estimates he supervised nearly 100 Scouts on as many trips.

 

The Mountain Green resident said he has led Scouts on outdoor adventures ranging from kayaking the Green River to snow camping in the High Uintas, and he never had a participant seriously injured or lost.

 

"If you do it right and follow the rules, you're going to have a relatively small number of problems," Cragun said.

 

Like Cragun, most Boy Scouts leaders are well-prepared to take youth into the wilderness, said Kim Hardcastle, district director for Northern Utah's Trapper Trails Council of the Boy Scouts. Hardcastle said recent Scouting accidents, the latest of which occurred when a Salt Lake City Scout was killed by lightning last week, are not the result of inadequate leader training.

 

"We have a remarkable safety record, considering that we send 1 million Scouts into the field every summer," Hardcastle said.

 

Washington Terrace resident Quinn Seal, 15, seems to agree.

 

He said his Scout leaders held several preparation meetings before taking Seal and two other Scouts on a nine-mile hike into Zion's Subway canyon in June.

 

Together, boys and leaders discussed what to expect and what to pack for the trail, which would take them through narrow passageways and chest-high water. Seal said besides being a little sore from the hike, all members of Troop 587 returned home without incident.

 

"Our leaders took all the necessary steps to make sure that we were safe," he said. "I felt quite confident in their judgment."

 

All new Scouting leaders are encouraged to complete a series of three training exercises, Hardcastle said. The first is an hourlong "Fast Start" video, shown at training meetings or given to leaders to take home. The video teaches basic Boy Scouts philosophy, how to run a troop meeting, and how to plan events like the monthly outdoor activity, Hardcastle said.

 

Leaders must also complete Youth Protection Training, Hardcastle said, which teaches Scouting policies to help leaders and Scouts avoid verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

 

The third is basic training, which Hardcastle said averages eight hours and is usually split between two or three meetings. Two hours of the program is dedicated to outdoor-skill instruction, including planning and conducting activities, knot-tying and plant and animal identification. Safety is emphasized throughout all three training exercises, Hardcastle said.

 

"Safety is a constant thread in Scouting," he said. "For example, when they learn about packing for a trip, they learn that the first principal is to plan for everything, to be prepared."

 

Additional training is required before leaders can take troops rock climbing, rappelling or on any water-oriented activity, he said.

 

Leaders must complete all three trainings needed before they can apply for permits, required to take troops out of the troop's immediate neighborhood or to any official Boy Scouts of America activity. Hardcastle said most accidents occur when leaders bypass training and permits and take the boys on unauthorized trips.

 

"The issue is not the type or the amount of training available to the leaders, it is whether or not the leaders choose to comply with the rules," Hardcastle said.

 

The majority of leaders do complete the training exercises, Hardcastle said. Many recreation areas also are beginning to require that Scouting leaders show proof of training before troops can enter the area. The Bridger-Teton National Forest won't let troops backpack through the area unless their leader has obtained a BSA permit, he said.

 

Becky Richter, training chairwoman for the Mount Ogden Scouting District, said her district offers training exercises six times per year, all of which are well-attended. Richter said she does not hesitate to send her 13-year-old son, Corwin, on Scouting trips. She said that she does, however, review safety issues with Corwin beforehand, so that he is prepared, even if his Scout leaders aren't.

 

"Before they go out on a camp out, it's important to get the boys thinking," Richter said. "I sit Corwin down and grill him a little, and I would advise all parents to do the same."