What one word would you use to describe the BSA safety philosophy? I hope prevention was the one that popped into your head. Whether you consider the content in the BSA First Aid Merit Badge or you have taken the Wilderness First Aid Course*, thinking ahead, being prepared, and preventing injuries and illness are taught first, and then responding appropriately and quickly when things do happen follows. Prevention is the key to Scout safety, and prevention starts with education.
You can make your unit, Scouts, and leaders safer by taking a few moments at every meeting, whether that is a unit meeting or a committee meeting, to talk about safety. Fortunately, BSA makes this easy because they have a Safety Moments section on the health and safety area of the BSA website. New information, seasonal concerns, and best practices are covered in the BSA Safety Moments. You can find a wealth of information on the health and safety menu such as FAQs, prohibited activities, health and medical forms, and of course the Guide to Safe Scouting. Additionally, the very important incident report which you need to fill out whenever you have an injury beyond what can be handled by ordinary scout first aid OR if you have damage to property is conveniently located here too.
For easy reference, a link to these resources including the incident report form is also available on the council Resources page. If you haven’t reviewed incident reporting in the past year, this is a great topic for your next meeting safety moment.
