Rivers District 2^nd Annual First-Aid Meet

Dateline: 4 March 2010, Colonial Beach, VA

On Tuesday, the 2^nd of March, the Rivers District Troops of the Heart of Virginia Council met at the BealeMemorial Baptist Church in Tappahannock, VA, to compete in the 2^nd annual Rivers District First-Aid Meet.[The Rivers District is comprised of: Essex Co., King & Queen Co., King William Co., Lancaster Co., Middlesex Co., Northumberland Co., Richmond Co., and Westmoreland Co.] 

Six Boy Scout Troops were represented by Patrols from their Troop. First to arrive and check-in was the eight Scouts of the Gryphons Patrol from Troop 258, Sponsored by the Colonial Beach Baptist Church, Colonial Beach, VA. Arriving close on their heels was the six Scouts from the Hawks Patrol of Troop 304, Sponsored by St.Timothy’s Catholic Church, Tappahannock, VA; followed by eight Scouts of the Wolf Company Patrol from Troop 341, Christ Church Episcopal, Saluda, VA; the six Scouts from the Flaming Ice Cubes Patrol of Troop 303, St. David’s Episcopal Church, Aylett, VA; and a combined unit of a four Scout Sharks Patrol team from Troop 205, Macedonia Baptist Church, Heathsville, VA & Troop 370, Middlesex YMCA, Hartfield, VA.

After the units check-in and were assigned their locations Adult leaders were given sets of intense scenarios combining rescue and then treatment and care of a victim. Each of the Patrols responded in a team effort to first rescue the victim (in one case, an unconscious youth stranded on the thin ice of a frozen pond) then with a time limit of fifteen minutes, the teams evaluated the victim, sent two Scouts (the Buddy System), or called for help with information on the patient’s condition while the remaining Scouts started First-Aid treatment, using the different skills learned in Scouting.

By the end of the first problem solving scenario there was only a 3 point difference between the units with a high score of 9 points and the units with a low score 6 points. At this point, anyone of the units could take the Gold.

However, at the end of round two, the playing field began to spread out as the simulated scenarios increased in difficulty. With the scores coming in from the judges as round two ended it appeared that Troop 304’s Hawk Patrol and Troop 341’s Wolf Company Patrol had surged ahead and took a commanding lead with solid scores of 21 points & 20 points respectively with the other units attaining scores of 17, 15, and 12 each.

With the completion of the third round the over all scores tighten up once again with Troop 258’s Gryphons and Troop 303’s Flaming Ice Cubes roaring back into contention by scoring 11 points each to the Hawks’ 7 points and the Wolf Company’s 9 points.

After all was said and done, and the dust settled, the points calculated, and tie breakers taken into consideration… It Was a Tie for First Place… between the Hawks of 304 and the Wolf Company of 341. Each unit had secured 37 points for a base score and each had 14 tie breaking points. In second place with an allover score of 36 points was the Flaming Ice Cubes from Troop 303… next was the Gryphons of Troop 258 with a score of 32 points, followed by the Sharks of the combined 205 and 370 units with a score of 28 points.

Remember… If You Don’t Use It, You’ll Loose It; Practice Makes Perfect; and Always “BE PREPARED”. Good Job Scouters.