Merit Badge University

[nutz4scouting 10]

I'm back into scouting(ASM & Tiger Leader). Also O.A.

I've been drafted to be the counselor for Emergency Prepardness. I need some ideas as to what to put on.

Is this just classroom instuction,or hands on?

[Mike F 10]

Hi, Nutz!

 

Welcome to the "campfire!"

 

I did some rooting around - you can find a ton of info on Emergency Prep MB at the following sites:

http://www.meritbadge.com/files/mb-pdfs/EmergencyPreparedness.pdf

http://www.meritbadge.com/mb/006.htm

http://www.relia.net/%7Ethedane/passports.html

http://www.relia.net/~thedane/emergency_preparedness_passport.pdf

 

A word of caution - your topic says "Merit Badge University."

Please be careful if someone is encouraging you to put on a class for a group of scouts and expect them all to be done with this merit badge at the end of the day. It just can't be done.

 

You can have a lot of fun (and keep them awake) by doing a lot of demonstrations. One example would be to take an old frying pan outside on a concrete pad, put a greasy paper towel in it, and light it. Demonstrate how easy it is to extinguish by simply putting the lid in place. (Give this a try at home before going prime time. Consider gloves, long sleeve shirt, and safety glasses.)

 

For another, start a small fire (to demonstrate fire in garage, etc.) and use a fire extinguisher to put it out. Most scouts have probably never seen a fire extinguisher in action.

 

Other things come to mind (like why you shouldn't use water on a gasoline fire), but I'd probably get a volunteer from the local fire department involved - this one's not for the novice.

 

Definitely demonstrations and hands on as much as possible. They won't remember much if it's all talk.

 

Again - you can have a lot of fun with demos for a group class so they'll remember, but they really need to be matched up with a personal counselor for the actual sign-off one at a time. This MB is too important to just mass group demo, talk, and sign. Some day in the future, many of these scouts will be face-to-face with an emergency and this MB may be the only training that makes the difference between life and death.

 

Good luck!

 

-mike

 

[nutz4scouting 10]

Mike F. It's people you that makes this site so COOL!!

Thank You so much. That is truly above & beyond the information I was looking for,Now I've got some ideas.

Nutz

[KoreaScouter 13]

I've also been involved in planning a few of these "MB days". Properly done, they're not "cheats". I've never been able to offer Eagle-required MBs at one of these, however. They're all too involved to get done in a day. Even some of the electives we've done require advance work by the Scouts. If you can find out through advance signups who your Scouts will be, you can assign them "pre-work", done on the meritbadge.com worksheets. They may still end the day with a partial, but they'll be off to a good start.

 

KS

[Mike F 10]

Thanks, Nutz!

You made my day!!

-mike

[LPasn 10]

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.