12 yr old Scout dies in log rolling accident during campout

[RememberSchiff]

Very tragic story. His father and 14yr old brother were also attending this campout.

 

"On Saturday morning four of the scouts went exploring away from camp and found a large log (2 ft diameter) laying on a sloping boulder field, according to Joe Nole, Jefferson County Sheriff Office chief criminal deputy.

 

The boys began to roll the log down the slope and into the lake when it became attached to the 12-year-old victim's jacket. The log rolled over the victim, and he died at the scene,"

 

http://www.ptleader.com/news/kitsap-...a4bcf6878.html

 

Scout salute and farewell.

[Tampa Turtle]

What a terrible story...poor lad. I can see that happening. I can only imagine the frustration of trying to get a signal as well for the adult, I do not know what you can do for a crush injury. 12 years old (sigh).

[qwazse]

The kind of sorrow that follows for years ...

Prayers for all involved.

[King Ding Dong]

This is really sad. What went wrong here ? Isn't this what we take them into to the woods for ?

[Gone]

Wonder how many had WRFA training and if that would have mattered?

[TAHAWK]

Wonder how many had WRFA training and if that would have mattered?

 

It seems the boy's skull was crushed.

 

​Shows the point someone else made: adults present means adults present, not necessarily safety. Rolling logs is dangerous business.

[dedkad]

Not the kind of thing I wanted to read 4 days before sending my son out on his first backpacking trip with his troop.

[Gone]

Not the kind of thing I wanted to read 4 days before sending my son out on his first backpacking trip with his troop.

 

He's more likely to get injured crossing the street by his school with the way people drive these days. As long as adults and Scout exercise good judgement and caution we can attempt to limit such tragedies.

[RememberSchiff]

Some thoughts from my experiences

 

Group safety among youth is a misnomer as overall safety is a function of the least safety-minded member, not the group size. And yes we train them in the buddy system, look out for each other, safety, leadership but still they are youth. Before they go off on an "adventure", I remind them that safety is everyone's job and the scout leaders that it is their job to make sure everyone does that job, but still they are youth.

 

Potential unsafe situations seem to draw boys like moths to a flame:

staff-sized sticks (if they bring a walking staff usually no problem, it they find one it is suddenly Robin Hood/Little John time)

a Tarzan swing over a water, slope, or ground opening (good for a broken collarbone)

a boulder, long, anything that will role (abandoned car) on top of a hill

any remote building or car they might encounter

a gun, bow, sword, knife or other found weapon. (How a hunter could leave behind a loaded firearm...)

a ladder

step-stone rocks across a stream, (any activity where a slip could cause a head hitting something hard)

water-filled quarry

knives

fires

My $0.02,

[mashmaster]

RIP

[TAHAWK]

Some thoughts from my experiences

 

Group safety among youth is a misnomer as overall safety is a function of the least safety-minded member, not the group size. And yes we train them in the buddy system, look out for each other, safety, leadership but still they are youth. Before they go off on an "adventure", I remind them that safety is everyone's job and the scout leaders that it is their job to make sure everyone does that job, but still they are youth.

 

Potential unsafe situations seem to draw boys like moths to a flame:

staff-sized sticks (if they bring a walking staff usually no problem, it they find one it is suddenly Robin Hood/Little John time)

a tarzan swing over a water, slope, or ground opening (good for a broken collarbone)

a boulder, long, anything that will role (abandoned car) on top on a hil

any remote building or car they might encounter

a gun, bow, sword, knife or other found weapon. (How a hunter could leave behind a loaded firearm...)

a ladder

step-stone rocks across a stream, (any activity where a slip could cause a head hitting something hard)

water-filled quarry

knives

fires

My $0.02,

 

Sit on top fence rail.

Hook toes back under middle fence rail for a jaunty aspect

Fall over backwards.

Break ankle

 

Try to put on backpack.

Drop same.

Break toe.

 

Endless.

 

 

[packsaddle]

Dedkad, I think that we all confront your anxiety, probably many times for our children, not just for sons either. You can't love your child and not feel that way when they're about to head out into the world. Your son will be fine. He'll come home and want to tell you all about it and you'll listen as if you just did it yourself for the first time in your life. And some day, he may even want you along, lol.

 

This was tragic and there's probably no way anyone could have foreseen or prevented this loss. Sometimes real accidents, the ones that you can't foresee or control, just happen. That doesn't make it better. It just is what it is.

[DeanRx]

Not the kind of thing I wanted to read 4 days before sending my son out on his first backpacking trip with his troop.

 

I understand your concern, but in reality the largest risk ANY of us takes on ANY outing is getting in the car and driving to our destination.

[Gone]

I had a bunch of parents with similar anxiety when we had our pre-Philmont talk. When we mentioned bear protocol literally half the moms wanted to pull their kids. Don't know what their expectation was about being in the backcountry wilderness of Philmont, but they seemed genuinely surprised Philmont was not surrounded by a ten foot border fence keeping all bad things out. We then discussed mountain lions, rattle snakes, copperheads, etc., and noted we faces these on EVERY camp out. I had to chuckle that they were still aghast at the amount of "danger" they were sending their kids to every month. What do some parents think camping is? Freak stuff can happen.

[Old_OX_Eagle83]

This is very , and I feel for the young man's family and friends. However, before getting carried away here, this does not necessarily point to a program failure. Also, to keep things in perspective, consider how many injuries and deaths occur in unsupervised, and undisciplined outdoor activities. The reason these type of tragic events at scout outing are such big news is the rarity of the occurrence. I'm not excusing, or minimizing this, it is tragic; just keep things in perspective.