11 replies to this topic

[BoCat9]

I was thinking about talking to my director about starting up an EMS explorers program. If I did and got the go ahead, what would I need to start off with, other than interested teenagers?

[island emt]

sedatives !

[ERDoc]

This is near and dear to me as it is how I got my start, though we were called student members. Is this for a paid service or volley? I'm going to speak from the volley side since I am more familiar with it. You first need to see if your adult membership is interested. Island is right, it is not easy having teenagers around. My student directors were saints and put up with a lot. Don't be discouraged if the idea is met with skepticism, just keep at it. Some of our best adult members came from our student program. You need to see if they will be covered by your insurance. You need to establish rules to govern the student group. Then you can start to look for the students. Heavy recruiting in the high schools is a great way to get more members.

[dstevens58]

I think this would be awesome and will be looking in to it. I know there will be a need for a director with patience, but not sure of age guidelines. I would imagine they would have to be a "first responder" or is there a special category for explorers? I'm looking on my state's website now to try to find out age requirements and the like.

[bostonlegalemt]

The first thing you should do is contact your local Boy Scouts of America office. The Explorers are part of the BSA and they can tell you exactly what the process is to organize a local Explorer Post. While you are at it, consider becoming a Merit Badge Counselor for First Aid, Emergency Preparedness and any others that you feel qualified for.

It's been a few years since I was a Life Scout (level just below Eagle Scout), Cubmaster and Asst. Scoutmaster (I was never an Explorer) but I believe the age group in question is between 14 and 20 and because of the commitment necessary to perform the Explorer requirements, you are likely to have young men who are more mature than the norm.

Not sure if they are still called Explorers or are now called Venturers. Good luck with your idea!

Mike Pierce, EMT-B
Massachusetts

[Eydawn]

The difference between Explorers and Venturing is that they sit differently in the hierarchy of the BSA. Venturing is actually part of the BSA, and is treated much like a troop is, whereas Explorers are associated with the BSA but not governed by a lot of the same regulations (and not provided the same kind of protections via insurance, etc.)

Explorers and Venturing are both co-ed, with minimum age being 14. In Explorers, I can't remember when you become an "adult" within the structure- it may be 18. I know that in Venturing, youth is age 14-21 (which means you can be an adult leader in your troop at age 19 and a youth in your crew... how weird is that?) If you go the Venture Crew route, you have the opportunity to take your youth out to the high adventure bases like SeaBase, Philmont and Boundary waters, but you MUST have the right kind of adult supervision at all times or you can land in deep doo-doo. Separate sleeping quarters for male/female adult/youth, 1 adult leader of each gender present if you have mixed youth at your meetings or camp-outs or trainings or such like...

In my Venturing Crew (which I am an advisory adult at-large at the moment), we train our kids to be First Responders, and actually just got accredited as an agency to train to National Registry standards for first responder. (This is HUGE for us). We don't have a medical director, but we do have a physician associate who lends his guidance without his license. I'm actually working on getting us a medical director... from my SAR team, which is where most of my volunteer EMS energies are focused at the moment (between work shifts, semi-pro choir singing and nursing school...)

There are benefits to both routes, I would contact your local district headquarters (usually easily located via Google) and tell them what you're interested in doing. There may be a troop already looking to do a 'specialty' crew so a lot of your structure may already be there! You'd be surprised how often that happens.

On your end, I would consult with your powers-that-be about levels of liability you're willing to take. As I've said before, I thought it was the bees knees when I was a 16 year old doing third rides on an ambulance. Looking back on some of those experiences I was in no way ready to be out on the streets like that, and it was very dangerous on a lot of levels. That may vary with your area though, too... so see where you guys draw the boundaries. There's lots of public service type events to take the teeners out to... martial arts tourneys, athletic events (marathons, bike races), festivals, etc... that's a really good way to let them cut their teeth on patient care while having a slightly more controlled environment to watch them in... that's been my favorite in my Crew, to be honest. I can take a n00b, let them assess a cyclist with road rash in our tent, and provide pointed guidance here and there... seems to be a great teaching arena.

Hope this helps!

Wendy
CO EMT-B

[romneyfor2012]

I hate to say it, but the most important thing is to make sure that the leader will not take sexual advantage of female explorers. This is usually what kills an explorer program, so choose a woman, or a much older male. Do not put a 22 year old medic in charge of a bunch of 16 year old girls who are worshiping their heros.

[Richard B the EMT]

Go to the link Scouting.org for more information. Hey, it is a start.

[ERDoc]

Romeny brings up a good point. We had 4 advisors that ran the program. They were 2 men, 2 women (two of them were a married couple) but I don't know if that was just a coincidence. We were not associated with any outside organizations, just another level of volley members who wanted to ride the ambulance. We actually had 2 levels, students who were 16-18y/o and could ride the ambulance during certain times and we had youth members who were 14-16y/o and attended trainings and meetings but were not allowed to ride the ambulance.

[island emt]

I hate to say it, but the most important thing is to make sure that the leader will not take sexual advantage of female explorers. This is usually what kills an explorer program, so choose a woman, or a much older male. Do not put a 22 year old medic in charge of a bunch of 16 year old girls who are worshiping their heros.

Why do you only mention an adult taking advantage of teen girls? It would seem that in todays society there is a great a risk of someone taking advantage of either sex teenagers.
Either that or your living in nirvana of the republican party.
You know how to find a republican senator? playin footsie in the third stall of the airport bathroom. just sayin!