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Abuse Troop “Positive Conrol” Specific Safety Items Airbags Safety is key to all Scout activities. The Scoutmaster is constantly aware of the need to be safety minded. The Scouts are always oriented through training to be safe with fire, tools, and during Scouting programs. There are other areas of safety concern, and they are addressed below. In the front of each new Boy Scout Handbook is a smaller handbook, “How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parents Guide.” Section one, information for parents, covers topics as: neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, sexual molestation by peers, signs of sexual abuse, prevention of child abuse, alternatives to child abuse, talking with your child about sexual abuse, when a child tells you about abuse, and resources. Section two, information for youth, covers topics as: child’s bill of rights, “three Rs” of youth protection, personal protection rules for computer on-line services, child abuse and being a good Scout, practicing the “three Rs” of youth protection and family meeting. The material in this section is worth review in a family setting on a yearly basis. You can never know when it will serve to avoid a full blown family crisis. I have kept an eye on newspaper and magazine articles to concentrate attention on safety. These are just some occurances. On Sunday October 22, 2000, Shannon Arnold was hiking with her friends on a ridge high above the King River when she fell 100 feet to here death. This is to say that bluffs over any river or any high place are particularly dangerous and should be avoided or approached with skill and caution. It is a good rule never to hike in darkness. Hiking and how visible are you, particularly at night? When you are detected by a car, and recognized as a person depends on what you are wearing. Apparel Distance-to-Detect Distance-to-Recognize White T-shirt 224 ft. 105 ft. On Wednesday March 29, 2000, fourteen highly skilled skiers were seeking out adventure on a cross-country run in the Off-Piste area of Austria when they were caught in an avalanche. They don’t know if the avalanche was caused by the skiers or snowboarders seen high up on the Kitzsteinhorn mountain. The fragile snow turned into an unstopable force and there was little chance of escape, and later it threatened rescue efforts. Air bags became a standard auto safety feature in the 1990s. They are designed to work in conjunction with your seat belts. The seat belt keeps you properly positioned in front of the air bag, so that the air bag works properly. Don’t panic after an air bag is activated, a cloud of powdery dust often fills the vehicle. Some crash victims think there vehicle is on fire, but what appears to be smoke is harmless talcum powder. Sit at least 10 inches from the air bag. Tilt an adjustable steering wheel down, and drive with your hands in the 9-and-3-o’clock position. Trampoline accidents in 1996 alone caused an estimated 83,400 injuries. Most occur on home trampolines with many injuries caused when two or more jumpers collide. Trampolines are considered too dangerous to ever be safely used without sever risk of injury--even with multiple spotters. Injured children are often faced with lifetime affliction. For those college bound students, they should be aware that campus crimes frequently include murder, hate, underage and binge drinking, sex offenses and theft. The U.S. Department of Education provides crime information online for more than 6,300 colleges and universities. The web site, is www.ope.ed.gov/security. By Federal law colleges and universities must provide an annual crime report to current and prospective students and employees. For information on alcohol and drug abuse on various campuses, use web cite www.edc.org/hec, the Education Development Center. To find current news on laws affecting campus safety go to the Security On Campus, Inc. web cite, a non-profit organization at www.campussafety.org. Safety information and tips can be found at the National Crime Prevention Council web site, a non-profit crime prevention organization at www.ncpc.org. Safetyshould become a critical focus for a “Venture Crew.” Many topics could be addressed, i.e., driver safety, drug safety, web safety, outing safety and etc.. I have available a video tape prepared by the Traffic Court Judge, Vic Fleming that could be used for starters. |