Preventing Illness and Injury

The Scout motto is: "Be prepared". Another motto is "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". These phrases underscore the purpose and importance of preventing illnesses and injuries before they happen. If you practice prevention you can save yourself a great deal of pain, misery, sick time and even long term illness or disability.

We have reviewed our experience on BSA wilderness outings in Northern California and elsewhere, and have identified twelve conditions which, with varying probability, will arise.

We want you to know how to prevent each one from besetting you.

Remember, this is all about being prepared.

John Barr, MD
Dave Starkweather, Dr. PH

Here are the twelve illnesses and injuries you can prevent. They are formatted so that you can print out any particular one of concern to you vis-a-vis your next outing. Now you can use this information to be prepared.

• Altitude Sickness
• Blisters
• Dehydration and Hypokalemia
• Giardia
• Food Poisoning/Diarrhea
• Heat Stroke
• Hypothermia
• Lyme Disease
• Muscle Strains/Sprains
• Poison Oak
• Stings and Bites
• Tetanus