In general I agree with Henry ...
The guardian & physician must determine, to a large degree, medical
readiness.
The guardian should also share medical conditions with the advisor and how
to treat them as it is in the best interest of the participant.
Unfortunately some guardians aren't completely candid, some see Philmont as
little more than summer camp except its in New Mexico.
Problem is this is where things can break down. A guardian could choose to
be less than candid because their desire for their charge to have a Philmont
experience is greater than their desire to be completely candid ... As I've
shared previously we discovered in '04 that we had a hypoglycemic scout with
us ... No, it wasn't on his medical form, No his folks didn't mention it, No
he didn't really know anything about it other than the symptoms were
familiar. (They also didn't tell us he slept walked or had heel spurs).
These all caused challenges for the scout, the advisors and the crew.
One of Henry's points I've got a problem with, or I misunderstood: "If a
family refuses to disclose medical concerns to an advisor, that advisor
would be sensible to choose not to take responsibility for that child."
First, I don't know how you would know this early enough to refuse to
include the child; Second, once in my care I can't use a rationalistion to
obsolve me of my responsbility. I guess with my case above, I could have
pushed this kid off on the first staff camp / chaplian that I found but I
(we) didn't and wouldn't unless the condition developed on the trail was
severe enough to take the kid off the trail independent of any advance
information we might have had. Don't get me wrong, this was stuff I
thought we should have known going in.
Fact is all you get to see as an advisor is the PSR medical form. Through
the shakedown process you can get a sense of physical and mental readiness.
Again in '04 we had a scout drop out as a result of a shakedown experience
and a subsequent conversation with the parents ... this kid wasn't ready
mentally for the hardships he was going to face and fortunately we all (the
advisors, the parents and the scout) saw it early enough to do something
about it. The remedy ended up being an alternate troop activity that
summer better suited to his abilities.
Guess my message is: Get to know your crew, adults and youth alike. If its
a troop/crew crew its easier, if its a provisional crew its tougher, but you
gotta do it.
YIS
Jim Thompson
PSR '74, '04, '06
www.troop6bsa.org?cmd=philmont
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com]On
Behalf Of Henry Buruel
Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2005 11:33 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: Re: [Philmont]: Medication information and privacy
Having followed all of the previous emails with interest, I think you are
all right. The physician is the person who must fill out a medical form and
determine if the patient is capable of completing the trip. Philmont
includes information on the medical form to help doctors understand what the
trip involves. After the doctor completes the form, it is returned to the
child and parent. As is generally accepted, the guardian of a child is
responsible for knowing any medical conditions that the child has and how to
treat them. In the case of scouting, the advisors are in effect guardians
of the youth during the trip, and should know how to handle all situations
that arise. If a family refuses to disclose medical concerns to an advisor,
that advisor would be sensible to choose not to take responsibility for that
child. The decision making should be done by a physician, but information
and backcountry emergency treatment should be known by all responsible for
the youths safety.
Just my thoughts...
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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------
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Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org
Subscribe/Unsubscribe at http://usscouts.org/lists/
Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp
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Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com
Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com
List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp
List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com
-------------------------------------------------------
As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------
Received on Mon Dec 5 06:45:20 2005
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