Every event has its memories, but one event that had some unique memories was the Disaster Camporee, held out at Camp OhDaKoTa. It was arranged by so many people but two key people were Cari Hush and David Maack. Between the two of them, they were able to recruit A LOT of first responders to camp to help put on a great display of what they do. It was an awesome exposure for the Scouts to see all the options in this line of work, and learn a lot about First Aid and Emergencies in the morning, then in the afternoon, we did a mock disaster, using scouts as mock victims. I was recruited to help with makeup victims, working with someone who did this type of thing regularly for things just like this. I learned a lot and brought this skill back to the Troop and held MANY realistic First Aid Troop Meetings. At the event, after we had made up the bell was sounded all victims were put and place and the scouts had to help with rescue alongside the first responders. We even had Flight for Life fly in to demo a mock evacuation (son of one of the first responders and a scout). The problem was, we did such a great job with the makeup, he looked at a few scouts and passed out and could not be airlifted. But it was an outstanding event. Scouts talked about that for many years after, and many of the leaders that were there still talk about it. Here are just some pictures of the event, don’t pass out, some are graphic! You have been warned.
As district commissioner, I had the pleasure of visiting different Scout Troops at their meetings. T-161 troop meetings were always GREAT to attend. First aid meetings were always very impressive meetings to observe, as the Scout "victims" were made up with very realistic wounds. Did this true-to-life experience help some of T-161 Scouts later in life; if they came upon emergencies, and that the "blood and gore" of T-161 first aid training helped them cope with REAL disasters? In the teaching moment, it certainly reinforced to T-161 Scouts the seriousness of demonstrating what they were taught, by taking action to apply their first aid skills.
One of the main goals of Scouting is in learning life skills. Scouting DONE WELL…