Re: Guts Merit Badge (was Don't lose your textbook)

At 04:28 PM 1/30/96, Jess Olonoff wrote:

>As far as rescues at sea or in whitewater I believe you must do the >best
you can with the program we have. That is why Swimming and >Lifesaving and
First Aid were required items. They give the boys the >basic tools for
various types of emergencies. As to making the >decision to jump in and
help or run for help, we can hardly train for >that. There is no "Guts"
merit badge to my knowledge. We can try to >build character in the kids and
self-esteem but bravery must come from >within each of us.

I agree with you on this, Jeff.

Last Saturday evening, we at the Yosemite Area Council celebrated our 75th
Anniversary at our annual Council Dinner. The highlight of the evening was
when two scouts from our council were presented their "Guts" merit badges.

David Chituras was presented the Heroism Award for saving a life. A youth
fell into a pool, sustaining a neck injury which temporarily paralyzed him.
When another small child at the scene summoned David from inside the house,
he rushed outside and saw the injured youth at the bottom of the pool. He
dove in, retrieved the boy, and was able to revive him with CPR. The
statement made was without this quick action, the victim would have died.

The Honor Medal with Crossed Palms (usually awarded posthumously) was
presented to Joe Terry. This scout observed two young children playing on
the railroad tracks in the path of an oncoming train. With no mission but
to save these kids, Joe ran across a busy city street, dodging traffic,
knocked one of the kids out of the way, and picked up the second, managing
to get out of the way as the locomotive grazed his back. The engineer
stopped the train, calling 911, believing that he had hit a family.

While training and equipment can help in these situations, The need for
quick action often precludes doing it by the numbers. My daughter, only six
at the time, while playing in a creek near our home, with adults and older
children nearby, saw her 4-year-old friend slip into a hole and go under.
After calling out once for help from the nearby adults and not getting an
immediate response, turned and jumped in after the little girl, grabbed her
and got her head up out of the water and managed to hold onto her with one
hand while hanging on to the bank with the other while she called for and
got help. She could not even swim well at this time, but knew that
something had to be done quickly, and she was the one that would have to do it.

I know that oftentimes, the time spent in getting hold of some piece of
equipment to effect a rescue is time well spent. But in some cases, the
time spent could cost the life of the victim, only managing to enable the
safe recovery of a body. How can one teach a boy how to make this call? My
limited experience (I've only pulled one kid out of a pool and a couple out
of car wrecks) tells me that it is pure action, with the situation
assessment coming as the act is in progress.

We certainly don't want an attempted rescue to turn into a multiple tragedy,
as so often happens around here, with all the river activities in the area,
but often, emotions can take over and send us in over our heads.

I guess that what I am rambling on about is that while training for these
situations is a valuable way to build a database of possible solutions to a
rescue problem, the actual rescue will come from somewhere else, some place
inside.

Mike Montoya

-----------------------------------------------------
Mike Montoya, ASM, Troop 94 mmm@yosemite.net
http://www.yosemite.net/mariposa/clubs/t94/
"I used to be ...Faster, Lighter, & Less Gray!"

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