Written by Dave Byrne, Boy Scouts’ Occoquan District Chairman
This year’s 2016 “Trauma-Rama” Camporee with area Boy Scout units was a huge success, and Scouts were able to put their emergency response and first aid skills to the test.
Held on October 30, the Camporee was attended by more than 1,000 Scouts and Scout leaders and took place at Camp William B. Snyder in Haymarket.
The Camporee was a joint effort between the Bull Run, Occoquan, Patriot and Sully Districts, all of which are part of the National Capital Area Council of Boy Scouts. Boy Scout Districts often hold Camporees twice a year to bring their individual units within the district together to pool their resources and cross-train.
“Trauma-Rama” took more than two years to plan, coordinate, and execute.
Here are some of the many organizations that took part in the event:
PWC Fire & Rescue
PWC Police
Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office
Virginia Airborne Search and Rescue Squad
Aviation Institute of Maintenance
The American Red Cross
Volunteer Prince William
Cookies and Cream
Shawn Landry & Quality Business Engineering
Halloween Spirit Store
Lowes Home Improvement
Amangamek Wipit Lodge (Boy Scouts Order of the Arrow (OA))
Asymmetric Warfare Group (AWG) and Jason Lips
George Mason ROTC Cadets
Outback Steakhouse
The Trauma-Rama was a joint district camporee to bring Scouts together and give them the opportunity to experience a mass-casualty simulated drill. One of the most important aspects of Scouting is First Aid skills. This camporee gave the Scouts an opportunity to use their skills in a real-world environment.
During the Camporee, the Scouts were treated to a realistic mass casualty exercise.
The exercise was a simulated plane crash with victims and plane parts scattered across an area about 1000 meters long by 300 meters wide. The exercise included approximately 100 “victims”, plane wreckage and smoke pots to simulate an atmosphere of an actual plane crash.
The event also provided an opportunity for Scout leaders to see where there may be deficiencies in the Scouts skills so they can address these in future lessons.
The environment was very realistic with a helicopter overhead and landing often, sirens going off throughout the event and first responders on the ground guiding and participating with the Scouts during the event. It was a very exciting day.
It was great to participate in the event across many levels and to see the community rally around the event to provide a realistic situation the Scouts could learn and apply their skills in.
