Question about lightning - need your opinion

[King Ding Dong]

Dinning hall was a pavilion. Instructions were stay were you were and wait it out. I know climbers coil their rope and sit on it.

I think your best bet is to climb to the top of the climbing tower and scream "Bring it On !" the whole storm. As long a you make it the rest of the camp will never look at you the same way again. A good half of them will follow you anywhere and the other half will stay very far away from you.

[JoeBob]

This is the camp policy they publish in their leaders guide.

 

LIGHTNING OR SEVERE STORM

The Aquatics Area, COPE Area, and fishing docks close immediately. Scouts remain in their program area or

campsite unless otherwise instructed by the camp staff. Further instructions will be sent out from the Camp

Administration

 

My real problem is we never get told to move to the Dining Hall until after the storm is over top of the camp, and it's usually after dark. Then my dilemma is to heard 25 people across an open space to get them to the safety of the Dining Hall. In the past I have refused and gotten all my scouts out of their bunks and under our own camp sites Pavilion. This does not endear me to the camp staff, who by the way are all just college kids including the camp director (also, they are all of the opinion that all Scoutmasters are idiots). With all the reports of injuries from lightning strikes lately I seem to be second guessing my own decisions. I don't want to see anyone get hurt sitting under a Pavilion or crossing an open parking lot trying to get to safety.

More Details: Pavilion on the side of a mountain surrounded by tall live trees. Other than a shower house full of water-filled pipes, there is no enclosed shelter short of the dining hall 3/4 of a mile away through obstacles listed above.

Sometimes you just have to understand the physics of electricity and do the best you can. Do NOT count on camp staff, following the generic instructions from national, to evaluate your situation and babysit your boys.

[blw2]

The camp in question should be the best source for their emergency procedure and a discussion about what kind of warnings are available. If a safe structure is a 5 min walk away and you can get a decent approach warning then that 5 min. walk would be a good idea. I would suggest that your cars may actually be the alternative not considered for lightning if you walk thru a parking lot to get to the structure.

 

You should also review the material in the GTSS: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/GSS/gss03.aspx#g Links to NOAA can be found there. Note that there are several techniques to minimize but not eliminate the risk included.

 

 

Finally, if you have cell service most of the major carriers have activiated emergency alerts, your phone can now be a source of info / warnings. You may have to make sure your carrier has pushed upgrades, for example: AT&T just added the capability to the iPhones within the last month or so.

Rat trail, but

there has been at least one iphone app that would do it for several years...... not that it matters. Admittedly it was a bit buggy though.

Still, this is one of the areas where android is really outshining the iphone. They are gonna have to step up their game soon for sure.

[blw2]

Dinning hall was a pavilion. Instructions were stay were you were and wait it out. I know climbers coil their rope and sit on it.

hey, a win win!