Applied Science

After six months of in-person classes, tests, practical exams and more, I was finally, officially, a ski patroller. And yet, for the first two years, every day I walked into the patrol room to start my shift, my head was walking through scenarios, reminding me what to do if somebody broke a bone, sprung a leak, stopped breathing, stopped moving, over-dosed, went into diabetic shock and on and on and on. 

I mentioned this to one of the more-seasoned patrollers and he laughed. 

“Yep, that’s about right. Patrolling is an applied science. Once you have enough real-world practice, your mind will slow down and you’ll just know what to do when you need to do it. Till then, your kind of a freak show.”

I remember laughing off the remark, but secretly being worried. Would I ever get to the point where I could deal with medical and trauma incidents naturally? 

The answer was yes. But it took three full seasons. 

I got to thinking about this as I read through this issue. Like patrolling, becoming a quality camp counselor is an applied science. No matter how many online training sessions you host. No matter how many scenarios you run your team through. Nothing trains your staff faster than doing the job – though like patrolling, good training can shorten the curve. 

To help on that front, we’ve dedicated this issue to tips, tricks and ideas other camps have used successfully to get their teams up to snuff quickly. I hope you like it – and I hope you have a lot of staff returning for summers three, four and five because the longer they do the job, the better they become and the easier your life is. 

Give this issue a read and let me know what you think. If you like it, or if you don’t, let us know. We love mail. 

Till next month…

Rodney J. Auth

Publisher

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