The Boy Scouts of America recently announced the creation of a Search and Rescue merit badge. Appropriately enough, they made the announcement during the 2012 National Search and Rescue Conference hosted by the National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR) and the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
“The Boy Scouts of America’s motto is ‘Be Prepared’—which sometimes translates to knowing how to respond in an emergency,” said Bob Mazzuca, Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America. “While we are not encouraging our Scouts to practice these new skills independently, we do want them to be ready to lend a hand to the community, and to each other.”
To meet the requirements of the Search and Rescue merit badge, Scouts must complete a series of nine requirements relating to SAR fundamentals such as:
– The process and safety methods of working around specialized teams such as aircraft, canine, and aquatic rescue teams
-Identifying differences between search and rescue environments, such as coastal, wilderness, rural, and urban landscapes
-Determining when Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) and latitude and longitude (Lat/Lon) should be used
Scouting officials have stated that earning the badge will not qualify a Scout as a trained searcher. In a press release, Bob Mazzuca, Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America related, “The Boy Scouts of America’s motto is ‘Be Prepared’—which sometimes translates to knowing how to respond in an emergency. While we are not encouraging our Scouts to practice these new skills independently, we do want them to be ready to lend a hand to the community, and to each other.” Regardless, those skills will serve Scouts well in their lives.
