Our boys went on scout expeditions and never came home

[Persuader]

A sad story from England.

Gambia's Africa Cup of Nations squad come within minutes of disaster as the oxygen on their flight fails and forces them to land after nine minutes, with ex-Man United player complaining of 'extreme dizziness and headaches' - 247 News Around The Worl

The Gambia football team narrowly averted disaster flying to the Africa Cup of Nations as they came 'within half-an-hour of dying' after the cabin oxygen

247newsaroundtheworld.com

 

[DudleySmith]

The English coastlines are a dangerous place, period, lots of slippery grass slopes and cliffs.

Deaths off UK coastline reach new high

The number of people killed off the UK coastline in 2015 is the highest since records were first collected in 2011, the RNLI says.

www.bbc.com

!7 deaths since 1995 is very small by comparison to a 168 in one year along the coasts there. Less than 1 per year among Scouts. Scouts are obviously a lot safer than the general public.

32 have died in the U.S. in the last 5 years.

A list of Boy Scout outing deaths

A list of Boy Scout outing deaths

www.latimes.com

In the past five years, 32 Boy Scouts, adult leaders and invited guests have died in outdoor activities. The list was compiled from news accounts, law enforcement reports, lawsuits and other public records. It excludes other deaths that involved occupational accidents, heart failures that occurred during nonstrenuous activities and transportation accidents.

 

[rightwinger]

Scouts often camp in areas that are potentially dangerous.

 

[citygator]

I’ve seen scouts out in areas I have hiked and camped overnight. They do a really good job with safety from my observations. Anything can happen to you if you leave your bed in the morning. Scout activities are way safer than other activities boys choose. There are 11 or so deaths a year playing football.

Edit: My observations are in the US.

 

[DudleySmith]

When I was 16 I went on a canoe trip to Canada one summer; some Scouts from Korea were about 6 days out from base when they were raided by bears and lost their food supply. They had to scavenge food from other passing scouts as they made their way back to base. Luckily the bears didn't kill anyone, but it was against Canadian park rules to carry rifles to shoot dangerous animals with. Pretty stupid rule to have in wilderness regions. We didn't carry radios either, but with cell phones these days they aren't needed any more. The Scouts offered merit badges in radio operation and telegraph codes, but few Troops could afford those.

 

[rightwinger]

We didn't carry radios either, but with cell phones these days they aren't needed any more.

Many wilderness areas have no cell phone coverage

 

[DudleySmith]

Many wilderness areas have no cell phone coverage

And many do. Ranger towers have antennas, for fire watches and relays, and are on high ground. They still make hand cranked radios, and did so back then as well. The military had thousands of them.

Emergency Radio: Solar Emergency Weather Radio, Crank Emergency Radio with Flashlight

Always be aware of the weather and relief instructions during a natural disaster. To stay connected in this instance, equip yourself with an emergency radio.

www.survival-supply.com

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