Treat your team

You’ll need

Scrap paper
Pens or pencils
Scissors
Bowls
First aid kits

Join the practical skills alliance

Bushscout are a national community of Leaders who have a passion for teaching traditional and practical Scouting skills to other Leaders. Subjects covered on days include:

knife, axe and saw safety and skills
backwoods cooking
tarpology and tents
fire
kelly kettles and water purification
pioneering
crafts
game preparation

Learn more about Bushscout

Before you begin

You’ll need a basic first aid kit for each group. They should also have access to other things they’d have in a survival situation, for example, a limited supply of water, an extra jumper or two, and perhaps their Scout scarves.
If using knives, take the time to read and understand the Scout knife safety guidance.
Check out the Victorinox survival first aid information.

Get stuck in

The person leading the activity should explain that outdoor activities can sometimes result in minor medical issues such as small cuts or grazes, or people getting too hot or too cold. Occasionally, more serious emergencies happen, so it’s essential that people have a basic understanding of first aid.
Everyone should work together to write illnesses and injuries that people might face in a survival situation. Each illness or injury should be on a different slip of paper.
Everyone should fold each slip of paper and put it in the bowl.
Everyone should split into groups or four or five people.
Each group should choose someone to be the first ill or injured person.
Each ill or injured person should choose an injury or illness from the bowl. They shouldn’t tell anyone what it says, but should act it out for their group.
The rest of the group should try to work out what’s happened to the ill or injured person.
Once they know what’s wrong, the group should give the ill or injured person first aid with the supplies they have. They should remember that they’re in a survival situation, so they may be hours (or even days!) away from professional help.

Meanwhile, the people leading the game should keep an eye on each group’s first aid. They should step in to give advice and help people get it right, so they learn from any mistakes they make.
Once the team’s treated their ill or injured person, they should chat about how it went. Would their treatment have been effective? Could they have done anything else?

Each group should choose a new person to be ill or injured.
Everyone should repeat steps 5 to 11 until everyone’s had a go at being ill or injured.

Reflection

This activity was all about developing skills and being independent. Spending time in the wild can be really enjoyable, but sometimes things go wrong. Was it tricky to do first aid with limited supplies? How did it feel to be in charge of making important decisions? Why is it important that everyone, not just the person leading a group, knows first aid? How does planning ahead make it easier to deal with emergencies?

It can be helpful to plan ahead to know what to do in a serious situation, for example, if someone in a group of three is seriously injured and unable to move. They need professional help as soon as possible – but there’s no phone or GPS signal. Should one uninjured person stay with the injured person while the other goes to find help, potentially getting lost or injured on the way? Or should both uninjured people go to seek help together, leaving the injured person on their own knowing their condition might get worse? There may not be one right answer – and it might depend on other factors such as the location and the weather. Discussing it in advance helps people to know how they might react.

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.