The Boy Scout Brigade is a global organization and the rules of membership may vary slightly from country to country, but the basics of scouting are the same the world over. One of the codes of belief of scouting is to ‘Be Prepared’ and being prepared involves being willing to help others in distress, which also includes First Aid.
Boy Scouts are encouraged to take badges such as the First Aid badge, there are also badges denoting different degrees of ability. One of the things that a scout learns when training for his first First Aid badge is how to put together a personal First Aid kit.
A typical basic Boy Scout’s First Aid kit will include such things as soap, bandages, plasters, iodine, scissors, matches, tweezers and safety pins. At a higher level, the kit may get supplemented with a triangular bandage, insect repellent, talcum powder, aspirins or paracetamol, gloves and a mouthpiece for giving artificial respiration.
A scout and especially a sea scout will learn how to put a person in the coma position and will also be shown how to get water out of a person pulled from the water.
The First Aid training that Boy Scouts receive now has been upgraded many times over the last fifty years due to advances in medical knowledge and the proliferation of aids and other contagious diseases.
Scouts lead a very active existence and are always building things and climbing. This means that there are quite a number of sprains and fractured bones among scouts, so it is not surprising that caring for fractured bones features largely in their First Aid training.
In fact, one of the first items that a cub or a scout is taught is how to utilize their neckerchief as a triangular bandage to support a broken arm and how to fold it in order to tie splints to a broken leg.
Scouts going for higher level First Aid badges will get taught more detailed courses which might include how and when to apply CPR; how to distinguish a victim of stroke or heart attack; what to do if someone has an epileptic fit; what to do if someone is unconscious or suffering from concussion; how to handle shock and much more.
Lord Baden Powell founded the Boys Scout Brigade as a sort of preliminary to going into the army, but it has not been regarded like that for numerous decades. Nowadays the scouts give boys (and sometimes girls) and teenagers the opportunity to do things that they otherwise would never have the opportunity to experience - activities like boating, canoing, camping, map-reading et cetera.
These events put the children at a higher danger of injury, but the scouting organization counters that increased danger by training all their boys in First Aid and both the events and the First Aid training stays with them for the rest of their lives. It has with me and I will always be indebted to the Boy Scouts for the things they taught me and enabled me to experience.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is at present concerned with First Aid trainer courses. If you have an interest in RC vehicles, please come over to our website now at First Aid Courses Online.