Want Scouts to stay safer? Check out our Safety Moments

Certain risks are obvious, says Tree Kiester, Scouting America’s director of environmental health and safety. Dehydration when it’s hot. Hypothermia when it’s cold. Interactions with wild animals. Handling a firearm or knife.

But not every situation is obviously risky.

That’s why Scouting America publishes Safety Moments and consistently updates the Health and Safety section of its website.

Scouting America’s Safety Moments are guides that help prepare for an activity, review safety measures and report incidents correctly. They range from treating asthma to proper food storage to water bottle rocket safety.

Just as Safety Moments aren’t exclusive to risky situations (Check out the Safety Moment for bunk beds!), Kiester says staying safe isn’t just for Scouts and their families.

“These are applicable to anybody who travels, goes on adventures, goes outdoors,” Kiester says. “We want these resources to be available to the world because that’s part of Scouting America’s service to our communities.”

A crucial component of Scouting America’s culture, Safety Moments underscore a commitment to identifying and preventing or mitigating hazards and risks in all activities. Here are some resources and different types of Safety Moments:

• Scouting Safely Resources: Utilize the extensive library of ready-to-use Safety Moments on the Scouting Safely web page.
• On-the-Spot Safety Moments: Create ad hoc Safety Moments tailored to specific situations. Scouts, not just Scout leaders, are encouraged to do this.
• Localized Safety Moments: Consider developing Safety Moments at the local level. Certain moments are unique to units, districts, councils or camps.

Kiester says Safety Moments can come from multiple situations and be developed by anyone, and he’s expecting nearly 10 new Safety Moments to be added to the Scouting Safely webpage by the end of the month. If you think you have a Safety Moment for the site, submit the idea to health.safety@scouting.org. (If you’re inspired by other organizations’ Safety Moments online, make sure they align with Scouting values and adhere to Scouting America guidelines.)

“A lot of times, a council will have a safety leader or a person designated to be responsible for safety and risk management, so all you have to do is say, ‘Hey, I had this incident,’ and they’ll help develop it into a potential Safety Moment,” Kiester says. “We encourage everybody to get involved in this and keep making safety a priority.”