Paddle Craft Safety

[elitts]

I've got people in my troop making noise about how Paddle Craft Safety is required for an adult to take scouts canoeing. When I look at the language I can find on the course, it seems to indicate that a adultvis required to have the certificate, but I don't see anything in the G2SS requiring anything besides Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat.

Now, obviously those two classes don't actually teach you how to canoe, so I can see the Paddle Craft class being a good skills course for inexperienced paddlers in order to be sure they are providing Qualified Supervision, but if you already have skilled adult paddlers on the trip, is a patch/card actually required?

Edited August 5, 2021 by elitts

[yknot]

1 hour ago, elitts said:

I've got people in my troop making noise about how Paddle Craft Safety is required for an adult to take scouts canoeing. When I look at the language I can find on the course, it seems to indicate that a adultvis required to have the certificate, but I don't see anything in the G2SS requiring anything besides Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat.

Now, obviously those two classes don't actually teach you how to canoe, so I can see the Paddle Craft class being a good skills course for inexperienced paddlers in order to be sure they are providing Qualified Supervision, but if you already have skilled adult paddlers on the trip, is a patch/card actually required?

 The wording here is that Paddle Craft is strongly recommended:

https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss02/#b

Edit: The other reason to have this training is to protect yourself from liability in the event something happens. 

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by yknot

[elitts]

Thank you for pointing it out.  The section further down that discusses it was rather incoherent and looks like someone dropped the text in accidentally,  but at least it's very clearly not a requirement.

[Eagle94-A1]

As @yknot said, it is recommended, not required at this time. 

When I first took the Aquatics Supervision training courses several years ago, we were told that there is a push by some at the national level to require the Aquatics Supervision Swimming and/or Aquatics Supervision Paddle Sports in order for troops to do aquatic activities. But that has not been implemented. 

Personally those two courses are better for troops than BSA Lifeguard. BSA Lifeguard is more of a pool certification now than waterfront. 

[elitts]

1 hour ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

As @yknot said, it is recommended, not required at this time. 

When I first took the Aquatics Supervision training courses several years ago, we were told that there is a push by some at the national level to require the Aquatics Supervision Swimming and/or Aquatics Supervision Paddle Sports in order for troops to do aquatic activities. But that has not been implemented. 

Personally those two courses are better for troops than BSA Lifeguard. BSA Lifeguard is more of a pool certification now than waterfront. 

I wouldn't actually object to it being required, as long as it was permanent and offered all summer long at summer camps.  But there's absolutely no reason to make a basic skills class on canoeing need to be retaken ever 2-3 years.  I mean, it's essentially just the requirements of the Canoeing Merit Badge, plus a test over Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat.

[Eagledad]

37 minutes ago, elitts said:

I wouldn't actually object to it being required, as long as it was permanent and offered all summer long at summer camps.  But there's absolutely no reason to make a basic skills class on canoeing need to be retaken ever 2-3 years.  I mean, it's essentially just the requirements of the Canoeing Merit Badge, plus a test over Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat.

This is a a good point. There came a point when I was SM that I quit taking these types of classes because the refreshers were taking too much of my time. Also, I realized I needed to stop being the go-to person for every activity, but the continued training was a pain. 

Barry

[RichardB]

On 8/4/2021 at 9:44 PM, elitts said:

I've got people in my troop making noise about how Paddle Craft Safety is required for an adult to take scouts canoeing. When I look at the language I can find on the course, it seems to indicate that a adultvis required to have the certificate, but I don't see anything in the G2SS requiring anything besides Safe Swim Defense and Safety Afloat.

Now, obviously those two classes don't actually teach you how to canoe, so I can see the Paddle Craft class being a good skills course for inexperienced paddlers in order to be sure they are providing Qualified Supervision, but if you already have skilled adult paddlers on the trip, is a patch/card actually required?

https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss02/#j if you reviewed Safety Afloat - #1 and #6 you will find the recommendation and the required skills training that this course could assist a leader in providing to the youth PRIOR to the float trip.

[elitts]

4 hours ago, RichardB said:

https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss02/#j if you reviewed Safety Afloat - #1 and #6 you will find the recommendation and the required skills training that this course could assist a leader in providing to the youth PRIOR to the float trip.

The course clearly would give an inexperienced adult the basic skills required to lead a canoe trip and it's surely useful for folks that are new to canoeing.  The only reason I'm even concerned about it is that I have some adults that think we can't go on a canoe trip because no one has a current certificate and we can't find the class being offered anywhere.  On the other hand, I think if it's not actually required and we have adults who possess the skills and knowledge, if not the piece of paper, there's no reason to pass up a canoe trip.

 

On a related note.  Anyone else think these two paragraphs in the text may have gotten written out of order?:

Quote

Content of training exercises should be appropriate for the age, size, and experience of the participants, and should cover basic skills on calm water of limited extent before proceeding to advanced skills involving current, waves, high winds, or extended distance. At a minimum, instructors for canoes and kayaks should be able to demonstrate the handling and rescue skills required for BSA Aquatics Supervision: Paddle Craft Safety. All instructors must have at least one assistant who can recognize and respond appropriately if the instructor’s safety is compromised.

Anyone engaged in recreational boating using human-powered craft on flatwater ponds or controlled lake areas free of conflicting activities should be instructed in basic safety procedures prior to launch, and allowed to proceed after they have demonstrated the ability to control the boat adequately to return to shore at will.