Accident waivers

[SMT376Richmond KY]

A committee member sent me the following email today. "We want to know if you are getting accident waivers or are required to get them for the outings and if you have them on file for the last day-hike?"

I had a parent permission slip as the council office said I did not need a local tour permit since we would not be leaving the county. Any one ever come across issues like this? Aren't the boys covered by the Scout insurance that council has us pay for at registration?

[dsteele]

Does an accident waiver get people out of accidents?

 

I don't know what they meant by "accident waiver." I think they may have meant "permission to treat." The health form that serves as the back of the application has a built in permission to treat. If one of your Scouts is injured and needs medical treatment, the hospital won't treat unless the parents have given permission. That's why the tour leader should have those forms when on an outing. Otherwise, you could find yourself sitting around a hospital waiting room while someone looks for the parents. I had that happen to me once at a camporee. The Scoutmaster didn't have the form and the parents had left town for the weekend. Not a lot of fun.

 

You are correct that the kids are covered by the accident insurance, if the council or unit has purchased it.

 

DS

[nldscout]

Sounds like they are talking about waiver of Liability in case of accident. Mostly not wort the paper its printed on.

 

The Hospital's around our area won't take anything less than a notorized permisssion to treat, so the local form is not much good either.

[eisely]

I agree with the prior posts on this subject. If a "waiver of liability" is what is being talked about, it is generally worthless and not worth the trouble. The best protection against personal liability is not paper, but proper training and reasonable conduct.

 

"Permission to treat a minor" forms should be on hand for every outing. The form will vary with local law and practice. You should be sure that you know what is required and have those properly executed and available.

 

I am puzzled though by the statement in the original poost that a tour permit was not required by the local council for the activity in question. This has come up in other threads and I get the impression that local councils vary a great deal in their policies regarding when a permit is required and when it is not. I tell all my volunteer colleagues to err on the side of caution and always get a permit. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable on the tour permit question can shed some more light on this.

[dsteele]

The way I was taught to interpret the tour permit --- and I'm one of those who have to approve them -- is that one is needed anytime a unit leaves it's normal meeting place, except for council and district activities.

Even the except for council and district activities has been different in all three councils I have served.

 

I agree that the best bet is to err on the side of caution. If you think you might need a tour permit, then file one. It doesn't contain any information you shouldn't need or have.

 

DS

[mschwartz]

All the den leaders in our Pack have been told that if we take our dens (or the Pack for that matter) on an outing outside of the town we live in, unless it is a specific Council/District activity organized by the Council/District, we absolutely need to file a tour permit. I don't think we've ever gotten the "accident waivers" (permission to treat, etc.) though.