Southern Alberta scouts groups learn critical emergency skills at winter training camp

Scout camps learn winter survival skills A number of Calgary-area scout camps are spending the weekend in the cold. Mark Villani reports

More than 150 scouts from across southern Alberta gathered this weekend to attend a winter training camp aimed at teaching emergency and survival skills to youth.

The Senator Buchanon Winter Skills Training Camp invited 12 different scout groups to set up camp on a field just outside Diamond Valley.

Children learned basic first aid along with how to pack their bags for a hike and what essential items are needed in frigid conditions.

Instructors also taught how to care for someone experiencing hypothermia, how to tie different knots, start a campfire, and how to boil fresh snow into water to prevent dehydration.

“You never know when you’re going to need these skills in life,” said 11-year-old, Folu Ajibola with the 86th Woodcliff Scouts.

“I’m learning how to turn on stoves because it can get pretty cold and also about nutrition plans and how to use carbs, fat and protein because that's really essential when you're out in the wildlife.”

SURVIVAL SKILLS

Annette Bermack is the co-camp chief of the Scouts Canada Chinook Council and a scouter for more than 30 years.

She says these types of camps are important not just for teaching survival skills, but also life skills.

“I've seen kids who are special needs and were non-communicative, and in a year, they are now communicating,” Bermack said.

“Scouting is great for everyone. It doesn't matter the circumstance. We do leadership and self-esteem built into training and we’re always helping out with anything that our youth might need.”

Scout groups attended this weekend’s event from Okotoks, Diamond Valley, Lethbridge and Calgary, camping overnight to get a real-world experience of experiencing the wilderness.

Getting to meet new people from different scout groups especially means a lot to 11-year-old Violet Bracko.

“I don’t have a lot of friends at school so learning and hanging out with a bunch of people who have similar interests is so much fun,” she said.

“We’re always able to relate to the same things and we get to help each other learn which is something I really appreciate.

The camp wraps up Sunday.