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A lost boy is a Troop Emergency!
There is an added area of safety that needs to be addressed, i.e., maintaining positive control of Scout unit in a crowded or on-the-move setting. Some steps may occur to others and should be added later.
The proposed steps are:
- Have a standard plan for keeping track of Scouts.
- Make sure all Scouts and adult leaders are aware of the plan.
- Always follow the plan.
- From point of departure to return, “positive control” of all Scouts will be maintained.
- Adult leaders, Senior Patrol Leaders, and Patrol/Crew Leaders are responsible to maintain the “positive control.”
- If a full patrol is not present, patrol(s) will be established by the Sr. Patrol Leader and approved by the Adult Leaders present.
- Each member of the patrol will be aware that he has a responsibility to maintain contact with his patrol leader.
- Each member of the patrol will report, immediately, a Scout who has left the control of the Patrol Leader and wandered off. He will report this to the Patrol Leader. The Patrol leader will report this to the Senior Patrol Leader. The Senior Patrol Leader will report this to the nearest Troop Adult Leader. If the Troop Adult Leader cannot be found, He will report it to any nearby Adult Scout Leader, or competent civil authority--the nearest police or sheriff authority.
- All routine Scout functions will cease until the lost Scout is found.
- Time in a lost situation is always of the essence, and it is better to respond immediately, and be slightly embarrassed, than to have lost a Scout who is endangered.
- If a Scout becomes inadvertantly separated, he is responsible to contact the nearest Adult Scout Leader, civil authority, and his parents immediately. When in doubt, ask for as much help as you need.
- When moving as a unit, “ALL” Troop Leaders and Scouts will be given a roster of Scouts going on the outing. The top of the roster will include a paragraph of where the Troop is going, when they expect to arrive, how long they expect to stay. The roster will include intermediate stopping points. Adult leaders will maintain constant, at least hourly contact on the road, and as agreed necessary during the event. The roster will include home, cell, and email contact points for each participating adult and Scout member. If a Scout becomes separated, this will aid responsible authorities to re-establish Troop or parent control of the separated person, adult or boy.
- No Troop will depart the departure point, either going or coming, without having the roster established and having every adult and Scout accounted present and equipped appropriately for the outing.
- One Adult Leader will be identified as being in charge of the event outing. He will be responsible to keep all other adult and Scout leaders informed of changing circumstances, and change in plans. All Scouts will be informed of the changes. If for any reason the appointed adult leader cannot continue or must depart, he will make sure another adult is placed in charge of the event.
- The adult leader will report the progress of the unit, i.e., departures, arrivals, problems, etc. to a home person, i.e., his wife, or committee chairman or designated committee member.
- The cardinal rule is “maintain positive control at all times.” An adult leader or Scout leader must be prepared to step in and establish “positive control” in any emergency circumstance. If he is not fully informed of the who, what, why, where, when, and how, he will have difficulty doing so.
Remember the control flows up and down by the Troop elements, i.e., the adult leader-in-charge, the senior patrol leader, the patrol leaders, and the members of each patrol and back. All members of the unit are responsible for unit positive control, i.e., guarantee no lost boys.
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