Wednesday, November 12, 2008

cub scouts

Just in case you think I only do quilts I am also the wife of a scoutmaster; a job in itself, and the cub scout committee chairman. Last night was pack meeting and we had our yearly disaster. I've organized this every year as the Webelos leader as a way to teach a bunch of first aid skills all at once. We've had a train wreck,  a plane crash and an Indian fight; all to set the stage for injuries that would need to be treated. Guess what we had last night? ... Not a hurricane; the boys did a puppet show about a train wreck (the little kids loved the puppet show-it went over better than the skits we have done in the past.)
 
I involved the 11-14 year old scouts; they each chose what they were willing to teach. We had 5 stations:
  • stopping severe bleeding, first aid for shock, cuts and scratches
  • poisoning by mouth and snakebite
  • frostbite, nosebleed, and blisters on the hand and foot
  • tick, chigger, spider bites, and bee and wasp stings
  • burns, scalds and sunburn 
I've made 'blood' each year we've done this but this years was the best. White frosting tinted with red paste food coloring and some cocoa powder to darken it. I put a bit in ziplock sandwich bags and then just snipped the corner so it was easy for the scouts to dispense the 'blood'. I also put some white frosting in bags labels antiseptic for treating the injuries. I also supplied gloves, bandages (using fabric from Ailene), band aids, towels, tweezers, pen (for drawing a tick on the patients) and ice packs and a stuffed snake.

The past years we have had 6 stations but always went over our time so I eliminated the choking and Heimlich maneuver. It went very well and I hope the boys learned their stuff. I know the Boy Scout teaching the same thing 5 times learned their portion.

1 comment:

Liz Johnston said...

sounds like it was a disaster. :)