SCOUTING — BOTH BOY SCOUTS AND GIRL SCOUTS — IS A SOLID WAY TO EXPOSE YOUR CHILDREN TO THE “CAN DO” CAPABLE SPIRIT. William has gained some great skills from his scouting experience. He is now a Weblo 1 Scout, which is a fourth grader who has finished Cub Scouting. One of the qualifications needed to complete the Arrow of Light in Weblos is called ‘Readyman’. It is the next step after their initial first aid training. The idea is to prepare them for many situations where they will automatically do the the logical things to assist in an emergency situation. As the boys begin to go on bigger adventures it is important that they are able to handle accidents and get medical help properly.

A few weeks ago our leaders arranged for the school nurse to teach them the necessary steps for this level. I came along to see what they were learning after school. I took some pictures and actually learned some things myself. Nurse Jeannie used the Red Cross training for the major issues and then supplemented with her own hands-on teaching. {And seriously, aren’t school nurses the best? Ours is such a great asset for the school and has literally been a lifesaver.}

To look at the pictures you’d think that the boys were goofing off. And they were…I mean what does a group of 10 year old boys do when faced with something embarrassing or personal…they snicker and goof off. Amazingly they got the importance of the training. Through all the silliness they absorbed the critical message of each skill. My gosh they look silly in these photos though. I just love the acting of the unresponsive victim in each of these photos:

And I learned that there was a certain way to take gloves off which keeps the germs and bodily fluids off of your skin. There were also some interesting questions from the boys about what “bodily fluids” were…oh my those were interesting questions!

 The boys were extremely disappointed that Nurse Jeannie did not cover the amputation portion of the training. {insert a motherly eye roll and sigh here}