InquisitiveScouter

A great resource... https://tap.scouting.org/ Check it out

Save your money, book a week on the Chesapeake, DelMarVa Council: http://www.delmarvacouncil.org/high-adventure-opportunities/high-adventure-sailing-on-the-chesapeake/9297#Registration Save even more money...eliminate the middle man of the council, and book directly with the company: https://www.experiencesail.com/ You'll have to plan for and bring your own meals...but they will give you guidance on that...

Isn't it always about the money??

Wonder what drove this? https://www.scouting.org/outdoor-programs/trail-to-adventure/the-highlights-of-short-term-camp-an-interview-with-the-ncap-chairman/

The market provides...

Yes, but any licensed provider could do it. They just have to enter their info, just as on the BSA form. And yes, people cheat. We have had parents fake Part C's before, and called them on it, discretely of course.

What is that??

Agreed...and they have already done it. But download the form, then get it filled out/signed, then uploaded again is horrible. Even the government has figured this one out...the FAA has an online "secure" medical clearance website called MedXpress. https://medxpress.faa.gov/medxpress/ https://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/media/medxpress.pdf Aviators and air traffic controllers (in the works) create an account, and put in all their medical info before their provider visit. At the visit, the provider logs in to complete some additional data and "clear" the pilot to fly. Bada bing, bada boom...you have an FAA Medical Certificate and are flying in/managing our national airspace. With standardized data, you can easily pull an "caution" report for your outing. Print out forms if you are going someplace with no access... The hurdle here is cost (of course) and to get parents on board for A&B, and providers on board for Part C, with accounts to log in and provide data and clearance. But, with (from 2019 Annual Report) 2.1M youth and 800K adult volunteers, plus outing visitors (yes, all participants must have the form) that could possibly be the largest medical database in existence. Possible, but highly improbable this would ever come to be...

Ever hear of Price's Law?? https://dariusforoux.com/prices-law/ 50% of the work is done by the square root of the total number of people who participate in the work.

Wow! No wonder there is a high turn over rate...I wouldn't do any of that...nor ask the DE to do it. Our previous DE, when he first came in, pulled me aside and asked what is the one thing our district needed to focus on. I told him we need Commissioners. I think we have two...and I don't even know who ours currently is... And we currently have no DE. I twist our CC's arm to come camping with us...a lot!!

Will you move here and be our CC, please?? (with no pay ) concur

Another pro tip... Carry a few copies of the BSA Health and Supplemental Insurance Form (or other form if you have a different insurance) in your medical binder. If you give those to the provider and explain it is supplemental, you can save parents aome headaches and bucks down the road. Our supplemental insurance through our council covers any co-pays... https://www.hsri.com/forms/claim forms-approved/Boy Scouts of America/Boy Scouts of America - Council & Unit.pdf You will still need to fill out and get a form signed at your council office when you return home, though, in order for the claim to be processed. Uber-pro tip... If you have any Scouts or Scouters who are covered by TRICARE (health insurance for military members, retirees, and their dependents), then BSA Health and Supplemental, by federal law, becomes primary, and provides full coverage. No claims should be filed with TRICARE. Again, if this applies, it could save some headaches. Providers will need the same form as above, or your whoever your insurer is...

Agreed, but we often do Patrol camping where each Patrol selects their own destination...so two or three books going out is not unusual for us. It keeps the Medical Forms Grand Poobah on her toes

HIPAA only applies to providers/insurers/etc... https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/faq/190/who-must-comply-with-hipaa-privacy-standards/index.html The BSA no-scan guideline exists to protect you from identity theft and fraud, as well as safeguarding personal and private health information that you don't want plastered all over the internet...

Also impossible to develop a solid set of outdoor/Scouting skills... the decline and fall of the Scouting Empire

Do as I say, and not as I do???

We instruct parents to make and keep a copy (e-copy is their choice), keep their original, and provide the Troop with one paper copy. A registered Committee Member, the "Medical Forms Grand Poobah" (or MFGP) holds and manages our forms, including inputting dates into Scoutbook, and sending out reminder notices when forms are expiring. (It is almost a full time job for our unit.) Prior to every outing, the unit leader designated for that outing procures the binder for all attendees (only), and reviews that binder prior to the outing (sometimes this happens at the very last minute.) If anyone's form is missing or outdated, the designated leader takes steps to resolve with the parents or adult attendee. Personally, I make every Scout/Scouter with an epi-pen or rescue inhaler show those to me upon arrival at any outing. No meds is a no go... He must also show everyone in his patrol where he keeps those items in his pack/gear. (One of them may be the Scout who saves his life.) Before I give any OTC meds to a Scout, I review the form and, if possible, call the parent. This has proven wise on several occasions as we have Scouts who are allergic to ibuprofen, pepto-bismol, benadryl, aspirin, certain topical antibiotics, etc. You have to set your own policies on prescription meds, and whether unit leaders will keep or administer those...to each his own... Highly recommend you set a deadline of one week before Scout camp as the due date for medical forms. Even so, you will always have "the usual suspect" parents scrambling at the last minute to get Johnny's physical done. When I came to this unit, they kept e-copies on a thumb drive to give to the unit leader. Of course, the unit leader could rarely access them if needed. Not really that smart... And as @T2Eagle notes, no medical pro has ever asked for a form... Finally, pro tip...if you ever even remotely plan to do a SCUBA event during the year (many SCUBA shops offer an orientation program that meets SCUBA BSA and Snorkeling BSA requirements), instruct parents to print out and take the SCUBA form with them during their provider visit. It will save you beaucoup headaches down the road... Keep them with the medical forms.

When we had our kids in private school, this was the case. The school said pay an additional fee now, and if you volunteer x number of hours, we will refund you. And it wasn't pro-rated...reach x number of hours, or no refund...

@ParkMan, great points in theory...but I have never, in over 40 years of Scouting, seen a program where the lion's share of the burden does not rest on just a few people begging for additional volunteer (parent) support... And we have the best Troop in our council because of a few overburdened, yet dedicated volunteers... That is what paradigm shift implies, no?? Wholeheartedly concur...but would you elaborate on this one a bit, please? Who abuses the DE, and how?

Why would you hang up your uniform?? If a person spends 40+ hours a week making a great program that benefits the youth in our community, why would you "muzzle the ox while he is treading the grain?" We all know it is a good program which attracts membership. And we all know it is quality unit leaders who ensure a good program. A great unit leader can have a program without help or support from the district or council (except for the registrar...and maybe a local Scout shop, but these days, with Amazon and next day delivery, that could be overcome...)

OK, expand the paradigm shift...hire a Cubmaster, too!

@CynicalScouter, Interesting read... "As a consequence, the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee of jurisdiction instituted a moratorium on granting new charters in 1989. (The Senate generally defers to the House on chartering matters.) On several recent occasions, however, Congress has established Title 36 corporations despite the moratorium." "In 1992, Chairman Frank [I am no fan of Barney Frank, though] called charters “a nuisance,” a meaningless act; granting charters implied that Congress was exercising some sort of supervision over the groups and it was not. “When I first raised the issue, ‘What is a federal charter?’ The answer was, a federal charter is a federal charter is a federal charter.... You could make up an organization for the preservation of Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler. We’d have no way of checking into it.”34 Moreover, the subcommittee understood that the committee could be drawn into public disputes touched off by any controversial activities or statements by a Title 36 corporation or employees or members thereof.

That Congress no longer issues charters begs the question as to why others are allowed to continue... Why can the DuctTape Scouting Association (the DSA) not get a Congressional Charter?? Or, @DuctTape will you call it the DTSA??

The corporation will not cease to exist...it will mostly likely be restructured, with assets sold to cover liabilities at pennies on the dollar...

And, John, BSA has used this "Charter" to bludgeon others, which are legitimate "scouting" organizations, to prevent them from calling themselves any kind of a "Scout".