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LPasn

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Posts posted by LPasn

  1. I wonder if the problem is awareness. If you can hear thunder, you should seek shelter. If you do not hear thunder again for thirty minutes, it is safe to leave the shelter.

     

    Every group should have a weather-alert radio in case of emergency. NOAA is broadcasting other special alerts also. These radios can be found with new technology that will detect the area that is alerted. You input the areas that you want to receive alerts and only those come through.

     

    Keep safe.

  2. I just graduated from Cub Scouts. Our pack had scheduled one major event per month. For Sept., Oct., Nov. the event was a campout. For March, April and May, the schedule called for campouts. The parents complained about the price of food on the campouts so fewer campouts were held this spring. At graduation the boys and their parents complained about the lack of campouts. Go figure.

     

    For me, Scouting is all about the outdoors and camping. Camping teaches the boys to take care of their world. They keep the tent clean and they wash their own dishes. The adults guide the younger boys. The boys develop confidence by doing these things. I believe that camping is imperative in Cub Scouts. The boys that go camping stay in scouts. That is the bottom line. They can look forward to camping without their parents as Boy Scouts.

  3. Excellent question. Is it overkill to have a battery charger in your vehicle? I happened to be on a campout with the pack this weekend. I had used my personal battery charger at work and it was in my vehicle when I left for camp. We had a problem with some equipment and thought that the 12 volt battery was low. Out came the charger and when it was hooked up the battery showed a full charge. We continued until we found a loose connection. OA ceremonial music at full volume up close inspires folks to move.

     

    I usually carry a full three day kit in my vehicle. I work in Emergency Management and I teach Preparedness. I have taken some classes lately that have caused me to think about my kit. It might be prudent to add to what I have.

  4. ALL organizations should have to have this warning label in this case. Every organization discriminates in some way. I would bet that the ACLU would not have Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell as members. Atheists cannot join my church. The Democrat Party would not let George W. Bush join them.

     

    We all discriminate in some way. I like Chevrolet vehicles. I have a friend who really has a separate area at his home for folks who drive anything other than a Dodge. That is discrimination. BTW, his son refuses to allow a Dodge to park in his driveway.

     

    I believe that discussions of sexual orientation have no place in Scouts. If a leader has to discuss sexual orientation with a Scout, there is a problem that needs to be reported under Youth Protection.

     

    Would I sign the statement? In blood.

  5. This is why I love this forum. You all teach me so much.

    "You might want to check and see if your COR is attending the District Meetings? And attending the Council AGM. "

    I have been associated with four COs and this is the first time I have heard about the District Meeting. The current CO was not told about this.

    Eamonn, I will take your advice and focus on the boys. Thanks.

  6. ScoutNut, the person who told me was the CM from our pack. I have not called to confirm this. I plan to contact the CM from another pack about this also.

     

    The Troop CO is a volunteer group in the county. We could move the organization by changing the mailing address to a different member's house. The Pack is a different matter. They cannot move as easily.

     

    Of course I really do not want to move but I want to send a message to this Council. If they are in such financial condition that they have to sell camps, maybe they should scale back on the new offices.

  7. We have had another change in DE's. The last DE was here for about three years. Prior to his tenure, there were two in about eighteen months. Council has sold one of the local camps and cut a million dollars of timber from another camp. They are remodelling the council offices. The new DE insists that we should attend summer camp at the council camp of choice. That camp is about three hours drive and the service last year was so bad that many of the scouters have refused to consider attending again.

     

    Tonight, I was told that the local scout shop is refusing to record advancement and other awards if the pack or troop does not buy the award locally. We have tried to buy our patches from the local shop but sometimes they are out and have no idea when the patches will arrive. If we buy the patch from a nearby council shop, the local shop does not recognize the award. One pack bought a quantity from another source and none of their awards are recorded this year. (I have not confirmed this with the CM.)

     

    I am disgusted with the local council on several issues. I do realize that Scouts is a business to them but in my eyes they are stealing from the boys. I have considered seeking a charter from another council that covers an area less than twenty miles away. Has anyone else had this kind of problem develop?

  8. I have taken the BALOO training with most other adult leaders in my pack. I applaud anyone who takes the training. I believe that the UC will benefit from the training because there will be a common reference point. Without this training, how can the UC advise anyone regarding it?

  9. Five years ago I bought a pair of Hi-Tec Magnums from Botach Tactical. It was an end of the year special and I paid $28. About a year later I purchased an identical pair that are waterproof and insulated for the same price. Last year I started working in the field more and I wear my boots almost every day. I have hiked with the Cubs and walked many miles in the woods in them. I am about to replace the oldest pair. I will probably have to pay more for these boots. These boots felt like tennis shoes when I first put them on but they support and wear really well.

     

    You may have to wait for a good deal. If you can anticipate when you will need a new pair, start browsing for a pair on sale. I think that I bought these boots in the late spring or early summer.

  10. I saw an episode of "Our Gang" yesterday that had scouts in it. They were showing camping skills to the kids prior to going camping. The gang wanted to go along but they are too young to join. They strike out on their own and have several mis-adventures. They end up in a patch of poison ivy. As they head back to town, the scouts come along and treat the poison ivy for them. The gang decides there is more to this camping thing than they thought.

  11. If this boy really is a special needs case, he should be in a pack or troop that works with special needs boys. We are really amateurs here. This child sounds like he needs professional help.

     

    I have to say that I have asked the parent and grandparents of one boy to keep him home until he learned better behavior. He tried to provoke an older scout to a fight. He destroyed another scouts property. He did not take care of his messkit. He repeatedly violated camp rules. He referred to another pack as "ghetto people" because they were racially mixed. When the SM and I sat down to discuss these problems with him, he looked me in the eyes and told me that he and my son had been discussing how they would like to kill me for the way I was acting. This all happened in one day. We returned him to his grandparents along with the committee decision.

  12. Eamonn, I appreciate that you addressed this problem of medical information embarassing the scouts. Your post reminded me that I do have a medical condition that is not on the Class III form. I have sleep apnea and need electricity to power a CPAP machine that I wear whenever I sleep. Do you have a campsite with an electrical outlet? I usually have a battery and an inverter for power.

  13. I stated that BSA needs to have a written policy on this. That policy should state who is responsible for keeping the medical forms. It should state that the information is to be used by the medical staff only. It should also state what the disposition of the form is, shred or return, and what safeguards should be taken to insure that the information is confidential. We should accept nothing less.

     

    Why is this a big issue? I have been associated with three young men who now avoid camp. They will not discuss their medical history in front of the other boys or adults. One of the boys was going on a campout and listed the drugs that he had to take. He was recovering from surgery and chemo for cancer. The DL and CM were discussing this and one of the boys in his den overheard them. No one wanted to share a tent with him. The other boys thought he might die during the night. The other two have similar conditions. They do not want their peers to be afraid of them. Let's include similar information from family campouts. My daughter has a bladder condition. She cannot control her bladder if she is tickled or laughs to excess. Imagine how she felt when one of the Webelos found out about this and caused an incident on our family campout. It was her last campout.

     

    So now I am unwelcome in your camp and my boys are unwelcome also. The troop stays away from your camp. Eventually no one comes to camp. No one complains to you about anything. No one can sue you. Closing the camp is not a good solution.

     

    If you do anything, someone is going to complain. If you do anything, there is a chance that someone will sue you. If there is a national written policy that respects the rights of the scouts and the scouters and that is consistently applied at all camps, we have a working start to a solution to this problem. It is not your decision and it is not my decision, it is BSA policy.

     

    First responders work with people every day without the benefit of medical forms. The first thing that they look for is a medic alert bracelet or necklace. If I had a serious medical condition, I would wear one.

     

    I have one last thought on this issue. I attended a non-BSA campout many years ago. The medical rules were that you had a physical and brought a medical form to the medics when you checked in the campground. A doctor had looked over the events that were planned and had written conditions that would disqualify one from each event. A list of these conditions were available to the campers prior to the sign up for camp. Campers were issued permission passes to each event that they were attending. The medical form was folded, placed in a waterproof bag and returned to the campers. Everyone carried the medical form in either the left pants pocket or the left shirt pocket. Our meal tickets were added to the bag later. At each meal, we showed our meal ticket and our medical form sealed in its bag. At each event, we showed that medical form again and presented our pass to take the event. At least every two hours, we confirmed that everyone had a medical form with them. In an emergency, the medics had all the information they needed to proceed with treatment. Serious conditions such as heart problems were discussed prior to the campout and medical personnel were prepared to respond to those problems also. We even had a mom-to-be attend that campout. No one had a problem with the medical form when it was treated in this way and it had more information that the Class III form.

  14.  

     

    "He told her that the information was private and should be available to the director and the medical officer only. That no other campers or staff should see the medical form unless there was a medical problem that made that necessary."

    Here is the beginning of a great solution. Screen the forms and determine which staff must be informed of problems. The medical officer and the camper should notify the staff that must know about a problem. This might require that the forms be sent in before the camp and not delivered when the scouters arrive depending on the number of medical staff the camp has. Keep the forms in a lock box in the medical office and return them when camp is over.

    The idea that a scout or scouter should conform (deliver any information requested) or stay home is not acceptable to me. I believe that the scouts deserve a better example than this.I am the ACM of my son's pack and the ASM of his future troop. I am also part of the CO that sponsors the troop and we hope to start another pack next year. So I will continue to work for a written policy that respects the privacy of everyone.

  15. My concern is that the personal information on the health forms is not protected. I take no drugs, have no health problems, and I am an adult. I make the decisions about participating in activities. I am intelligent enough to bypass a marathon run. My work can require that I take medical exams to determine if I was exposed to toxic chemicals. There is a reason for that exam. There is little reason for a "complete medical history" to attend a summer camp.

     

    Whether the HIPPA laws apply or not really is not part of the question. If any medical information is released, it is a violation of privacy. If the information was about a camp director, I believe there would be a change in the way health forms are handled.

  16. I want to properly introduce myself. Many years ago, I was a Cub Scout in a small town. The pack folded during my third year (I think it was Lion then.) and I never got into Boy Scouts.

     

    Almost five years ago my son brought home a paper from school about Cub Scouts. Sign up night was the next day. Strange things happened and I became the DL for twenty Tigers. At the end of the year, I was ready to move up as a Wolf leader but again strange things happened. Sign up night was 9/11/01. My son ended up joining a new pack. The next year I became the ACM. This is my last year with the pack. My son graduates in May to the Troop that another father and I started. Right now I am the ACM of the pack and the ASM at the troop.

     

    I work in Emergency Management, am a Haz-Mat Technician, and teach CERT.

  17. Are you talking about the Emergency Preparedness merit badge only? It is a natural lead in to the "Emergency Preparedness BSA" award. This is a joint effort of BSA and Homeland Security. The requirements are at this link.

     

    http://www.scouting.org/pubs/emergency/index.html

     

    You should also look into the CERT program. Call your local Emergency Management office and ask if they have this training. This link gives some details of the training.

     

    http://www.citizencorps.gov/programs/cert.shtm

     

    This is great training and can include the family. We have had a nine year old complete this class. Properly done, CERT and a CPR course can cover most of the First Aid and Emergency Preparedness merit badges.

  18. When my son was a Tiger the pack had two Tiger dens. DL were trained and left before the first meeting. I volunteered and ended up with twenty Tigers. I spent the year calling parents, reminding them of meetings, planning the meetings, everything that happened in the den I did. I asked for help every week. No one volunteered. Two weeks before graduation a mom called me to say that her son was not going to attend any more meetings. She thought that I was not doing enough for her son. I challenged her to plan an event or suggest an event and she could not. She did not have enough time to "do my job for me". At graduation, the CM announced that he was leaving. I was asked to lead the Wolf den AND become the CM. Most of the parents were very happy that there was a program each week.

     

    Remember the Cub Scout motto. "Do your best."

     

    The CM should step down, IMHO. Any CM who would come to a DL and deliver such gossip is not worthy of the office. Go to the Committee Meeting and ask for a clarification of this issue.

  19. Ask about the proposed sleeping arrangements. The boys may all be in one tent and the adults in another (nearby if necessary), but the only adult allowed in the tent with Scouts is a parent or legal guardian.

  20. I would look at the record carefully and see if he was active for six months after the end of the fourth grade. If he was and he meets all other requirements, award the AoL and cross him over to Boy Scouts with his den. If he can complete the six months by the end of the fifth grade, wait until he completes the six months to award the AoL and cross him over at that time.

     

    You are not the only DL to face this situation. I would like to hear how this is resolved.

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