First Aid Merit Badge Question

[wagionvigil]

First Aid is super important for a lot of Merit Badges.

[RMM]

I voted yes, then continued to ponder the question. Upon further review, I would change me vote to no. Not required for First Class; however, required for Star.

[Mad Dog]

I don't think the merit badge should be required for First Class. You already have to have a number of the first aid skills required to advance to First Class. But, First Aid is an important badge and is a component of many others so I would agree that it should be required for Star.

[scoutaholic]

Most of the MB requirements are already required for 1st Class.

Granted, the skills are important, but they are already part of the Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, and 1st Class requirements. Having the MB required later, gives the boy a reason to review and improve these skills. It would not make sense to require the MB unless you change the existing rank requirements to remove all the 1st Aid related stuff.

If you look at the current requirements for Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, and 1st Class, you will see that it covers much of Citizenship in the Nation, Cooking, First Aid, Orienteering, Pioneering, and Swimming. Some of these MBs are not required (even if you think they should be). These are important things for every scout to know, and that is why they have been put in the early rank requirements. The MBs give the boy a chance to review, improve, and add to his skills in these areas.

[cballman]

I voted YES because I know that First Aid training is one of the most useful merit badges in scouting. I have had to use my first aid skill more than once on scout outings and band outings. if it were not required then most kids would not even think about earning this badge because it is to hard. boy back in my day when I had to walk to school uphill both ways the merit badge was way harder then it is now. I mean really I know how to treat boils and pimples. what are they teaching this kids these days just broken arms and legs

[hops_scout]

I believe it should be required early on because those are skills that could be vital to the success of a trip. Personally, I believe all Scouts should have a little more than basic understanding of First Aid as early as possible. I understand 11 and 12 year old Scouts might not have the maturity needed to be of the most use when it comes to first aid while on the trail, but if we can instill the need for first aid knowledge early on, it could be a very good thing. Be Prepared. You never know who you are going to have to depend on when the going gets tough. If I'm a 15-year old Life Scout and my buddy is a 12-year old Tenderfoot then he sounds protected, but am I?

[Chief J]

I voted yes that First Aid MB should be required for First Class. The skills are very important to learn even at an early age. They should also continue to be reinforced all through your scouting career.

As for watering down requirements for younger scouts, we as leaders and merit badge counselors should see to it that never happens.

Chief J

[pipestone1991]

I say yes, it is incredibly important, and takes the workload off scouts as they get older and take Eprep or Lifesaving which requires the badge.

[Nuts4Scouts]

A Tenderfoot can take First Aid if they wish. Just because a MB is required at a specific level does not mean that a Scout can not take it earlier.

I vote no.

[smtroop168]

I found I web site that says First Aid Merit Badge was required for First Class from 1979-1989. All ranks used to have MBs required for advancement. I'm sure there was a good reason for changing. I'm sure there was a good reason for Skill Awards too, but it escapes me.

I'll vote yes.

www.bsatrainer.org

[9009scoutmaster]

I voted yes.
First Aid was required for 1st class also when I became 1st class in the mid-seventies. Citizenship in the community was also required for 1st class at that time.
I feel that first aid is the most important merit badge in the scouting program.
First Aid is a life skill that everyone needs and will use at sometime in their life.

[WVBeaver05]

I voted no.

Not (by any means) because I don't think it is important - it is. But because I am not convinced that requiring MBs at and before 1st Class is a good idea.

Further, we learn by repetition. I like the idea of learning the skills in the requirements for Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, and 1st Class THEN going over them again when doing First Aid MB, then again when teaching younger scouts, etc. etc.

YiS

[ICanCanoeCanU]

I voted yes on this one.

As the advancement coordinator for our troop, I always try to encourage new boys to take First Aid at camp as early as possible. The knowledge is sooooooooo important and the foundation for so many other badges that it just makes the most sense to concentrate on this badge first. I don’t think many boys would have a hard time earning this prior to 1st class.

I also like the idea of adding a MB to the requirements for 1st class. Not too much to ask.

My only concern would be that some boys – troops – adults – parents, would hurry up and get boys through the badge that maybe they would not pay as much attention to the lessons learned. Hum,…. Now that I do think about it, I guess I have mixed thoughts. Overall all I still say yes though.

[ilgoldstein]

I voted no. Some scouts are rather young when they make First Class, and I would like them to be a little older and have more body strength and maturity before thinking they are qualified to jump into a serious situation.

It is, however, a great badge to work on as a troop. There is plenty of time for a boy to earn the badges he needs. And I would hate to hold a boy at a lower rank if he could not find a counselor for a specific badge.

I do put a great importance on the First Aid badge, and it should remain Eagle required.

[ilgoldstein]

Deleted by author - duplicate. Got an error and thought it hadn't posted

[WeeWillie]

I voted No. Prior to the 70s you had to be 1st Class before being eligible to earn any merit badges. The premise was that as a Scout advanced in rank more was expected of him. While I do not agree with the blanket policy of no MBs before 1st Class, there should be some that are. 1st Aid should be one of them. We should be building on previously learned skills, rather than trying to do it all at once. We don't teach geometry all at once, nor should we be teaching 1st Aid all at once. Poorly taught 1st Aid results in poorly applied 1st Aid, which is a danger unto itself.

[pipestone1991]

Now that I think about it, I change my mind.........Tenderfoot,2nd Class, & 1st Class are meant for learning the basic skills every Eagle needs to know.Star,Life and Eagle are for mbs.

[wagionvigil]

SO maybe we should go back to the days that you had to be First Class to earn MB's?

[FrankJ]

SO maybe we should go back to the days that you had to be First Class to earn MB's?

I would say no. For example swimming & first aide are great merit badges to work on while learning tenderfoot -- first class skills.

Even if the first aide doesn't sink in the first time around. It will provide a base to build on. There is a reason why you have to re-certify in CPR & first aide every 1-3 years even as an adult.

[mhjacobson]

If you review the requirments for most of the MB, you will find that the first requirements are either safety or first aid, or related to both. The level of these requirements is at the level of first aid MB, Thus if a scout had earned first aid MB by the time that he was a first class scout, he would have little difficulty with that portion of the majority of the MB.

In fact, most of the time that I have had to send a scout back to study prior to completing a MB, is due to a failure to know the first aid portion.

In addition, I think that when working in the field with a large number of boys, it would be nice to have more of the older boys trained in first aid. How would you like to be the first aider in an overnight event with 150 scouts and not know how many people really know first aid?