A Tornado, the Boy Scouts and Leadership
“They immediately started helping each other in this time of need and set up their own mini-triage unit.” Said Governor Culver
When I heard that, I took a moment to really grasp what that meant. I knew what that was, and knew how emotionally charged that kind of situation is, and understood that what these young men had gone through was a tough deal.
This story really touches home for me. I am a Eagle Scout and huge supporter of the Boy Scouts of America. So when I read this story about a tornado killing and injuring these Boy Scouts and how they reacted to such a terrible thing, it really struck me as an incredible story. If it wasn’t for the training and quick thinking of these young leaders, then there probably would have been more deaths.
It does not surprise me though. The Boy Scouts teaches first aid and leadership and ‘being prepared’ as common virtues. It is sad that there were four dead, but how these Scouts reacted and dealt with the situation, was absolutely amazing and made me proud. And a tornado is just such a random thing. It wasn’t a bomb or some murderer that did this, it was an act of nature, and just fate. It struck their camp, and that was that. Unfortunately, this has been a terrible tornado season in the mid-west, and this is just one more savage story about a tough deal.
On the upside though, is that we can learn a lot from how these children reacted, based on their training and preparedness. We as adults should pay attention to such things, because all too often, we forget the basics. The concept of ‘be prepared’ is an idea that needs to really be taken to heart, because you just never know what could happen. Fate has it’s own plan.
The reason I posted this, is because I firmly believe that the principals and concepts taught to Boy Scouts, are concepts that are universal and applicable to any organization. I have heard of too many stories in various organizations of poor leadership, or a lack of ‘being prepared’, as being contributers to making a situation worse. Any organization can learn a lot from how the Boy Scouts operate, and what they focus on when forging their leaders.
Also, the Boy Scouts teach a lot of wilderness type medicine techniques, that are very basic yet effective. Things like home-made tourniquets or splints, are common training practices for the Scouts. I should know, I spent hours as a young Scout, performing such activities and earning relevant merit badges. And from what I have been reading in this story, these young Scouts were using every last bit of ingenuity and training in this tragedy.
In this situation, it was sound leadership and team work, that got these young men through a bad situation. It was there motto of ‘be prepared” which actually compelled them to conduct tornado training at the camp for such an incident. They had also set up weather radio and brushed up on first aid skills. And mind you, there is no Tornado merit badge, or Disaster Response merit badge. So how they responded to this incident, shows the kind of universal application that their training had. It is not special forces training, it is basic life saving and leadership skills training for young men. But it is this kind of training, that will help them the rest of their lives, in becoming this country’s future leaders.
Overall, what got them through this is that they had the skills necessary to do the job, but also had the leadership capabilities to help orchestrate the effort. And you need individuals that understand the concept of being a good follower of those leaders, and all with the focus of accomplishing the mission. And by all accounts, it sounds like these Boy Scouts implemented outstanding leadership under duress, and got the job done. –Head Jundi
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4 dead, 48 injured as tornado hits Boy Scout camp
By TIMBERLY ROSS – 3 hours ago
BLENCOE, Iowa (AP) — Frightened Boy Scouts huddled in a shelter as a tornado tore through their western Iowa campground, killing four teens and injuring 48 others who had little warning of the approaching twister.
Tornadoes also raked Kansas on Wednesday, killing at least two people, destroying much of the small town of Chapman and causing extensive damage on the Kansas State University campus.