I recently read the following quote: “No matter how bad things are, you can always make them worse.”
The implications for an adult volunteer during a Scouting activity are many, including failing to appreciate the existence of, and to deal with, medical emergencies as they occur, or failing to adequately deal with an environmental crisis as it arises, to name a few.
Indeed, rushing headlong toward a solution to a crisis situation is sometimes less than prudent, and may result in making things worse. A colleague was once taught by a flight instructor that he should “wind his watch” before addressing an in-flight emergency.
In other words, when faced with a crisis situation, take a breath, take into account the situation at hand, consider all viable options which may be taken in response which consider the best interests of all participants, and make a considered decision as to the next steps to be undertaken.
But, more importantly, we can avoid “making things worse” by not getting into trouble in the first place!
Christopher Cunningham, in his book Sea Kayaker’s More Deep Trouble (2014) reminds us that to rush headlong can lead to disaster:
“Most of the time, we can see trouble looming ahead and avoid it. Sometimes we can stop right at its threshold without crossing over into it. But at other times we may recognize we are in trouble only when we are irretrievably in the midst of it. We’ve crossed an invisible line beyond which the forces already in motion have gained a momentum that exceeds our ability to change the course of events.”
He further states that “safety requires looking ahead both in time and space. We’re looking for dangers that might lie ahead, but more importantly, also for the points at which we still have an opportunity to avoid them.”
Safe Scouting!