Drink bottles and bisphenol A

It looks like the familiar ‘Nalgene’ hard-plastic water bottle will no longer be the essential container for the hiker’s kit. Recent studies have raised questions of the safety of one of the chemical constituents of the plastic used for the Bottle construction.

Mountain Equipment Co-op, the country’s largest specialty outdoor-goods retailer, says it has pulled most food and beverage containers made of polycarbonate plastic from its shelves, citing concern over possible health risks.
The Vancouver-based firm been one of the largest sellers of such products as polycarbonate Nalgene water bottles, and probably has done more than any retailer to make the distinctive, brightly coloured containers an iconic product everywhere from backcountry campsites to urban offices and university campuses. … — Mountain Equipment pulls water bottles off shelves [1]

Recent studies link bisphenol A to obesity, breast and prostate cancer, and neurological disorders. [2]

Scouts Canada and its Shops are in the business of helping Canadian youth enjoy the outdoors and adopt healthy lifestyles. Our priority is always the safety of our youth members and volunteers. If the safety of a product we sell is put into question, we need to ensure we are doing everything possible to safeguard our customers’ well-being. [4]

To check and see if your bottle contains BPA just turn it over and look for a ‘7′ inside the recyling triangle design. This is not limited to ‘Nalgene’ branded products so check your other branded products as well.

[1] Mountain Equipment pulls water bottles off shelves (2007-Dec-07) [globeandmail.com]
[2] Two words: Bad plastic (2007-Aug-02) [Salon]
[3] BPA and NALGENE [Nalgene]
[4] Scout Shops Remove Products Containing Bisphenol A (2008-Apr-1 [Scouts Canada]
[] Nalgene BPA Announcement (2008-May-04) [KISMIF]

Raingutter regatta

The raingutter regatta is a Cub Scouting annual event in the United States of America that is the sailboat equivalent of the pinewood derby. The sailboat kit consists of a seven-inch long balsa wood hull, a 6-1/2 inch mast, plastic sail, plastic rudder, and metal keel. Within the basic design rules, Scouts are free to paint and decorate their sailboats as they choose. Modifications for speed include the placement of the keel and rudder and the size, shape and location of the sail. A catamaran is an exceptionally fast design, although this modification is not allowed in all races.

The boats are raced in a standard rain gutter that is ten feet long, placed on a table or saw horses, and filled to the top with water. The boats are propelled by blowing on the sail, either directly or through a drinking straw; the boat cannot be touched with hands or the straw. The first boat to reach the end of the gutter is the winner. The overall winner is determined by an elimination system. — Wikipedia

Rules:
- Raingutter Regatta Rules - Pack 435 [DOC]
- Raingutter Regatta Rules - Pack 902 [PDF]
- Rules for Raingutter Regatta - Pack 135 [PDF]
- Instructions for Building a Rain Gutter Course and Mounting Stand [PDF]

# Boats must be made from the BSA Raingutter Regatta kits
# Hull: No longer than 7″ or shorter than 6 1/2″
# No wider than 3 1/2 inches
# Mast: No taller than 6 1/2″ from deck to top
# Keel: Supplied in kit
# Rudder: Supplied in kit
# Sail: Supplied in kit
# Additional decals, paint and glue are permitted
# The materials supplied in the kit can be modified within the restrictions & limitations.

Raingutter regatta kits:
- Raingutter Regatta® Kit BSA Supply [www.scoutstuff.org]
- Pinewood Racing Car and Derby Supplies
- Raingutter Regatta [Raingutter Regatta - World Class Boats]
- Construction Kits - Raingutter Regatta [Hobbylinc]

References:
[1] Raingutter regatta [Wikipedia]
[2] Rain Gutter Regatta [Buckskin Council BSA]
[3] What is a SailBoat Race? [www.pinecar.com]
[4] Raingutter Regatta - World Class Boats [Raingutter Regatta]
[5] All About Fast Breath Powered Boats [Lastufka Labs]
[6] Make the ultimate raingutter regatta racer [Boyslife.org]

2008 Fly The Flag competition

The Fly The Flag competition is on again and this year the prizes are even bigger!
The rules have been adjusted to make it easy for EVERYONE to take part - you no longer need to have a World Scout flag.
So celebrate the Year Of The Scout by flying the flag before 31 August 2008.

The competition for 2008, is now open. To get some ideas check out the 2007 Fly the Flag Winners.

Time to put on the thinking cap and come up with a *brilliant* idea for flying the flag to win this years competition! Perhaps Joey’s abseiling from helicopters?

How Do I Get Involved?
Get together a team of Scouts (any Section) and show the Australian Scout logo (see below) in a high profile and creative way. It’s a great way for us to show our pride in the Scout Movement, letting the public know what Scouts can achieve. It is preferable for people to be able to fly a Australian Scout Logo flag. However, if you don’t have one, you just have to be able to display a copy of the Australian Scout Logo on a display board of at least A3 size.

And look what The NetCommish @ USSSP - Ask Andy is linking to on Amazon! I’ve just ordered one for us

Rikki-tikki on landmine-sniffing duty

I’m NOT up for this job!

Dwarf mongooses (mongeese?) are trained to sniff out explosives in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, making disposal of the island’s countless landmines far less dangerous. Lightweight and intelligent, they don’t set off the bombs, and can yell “get me the hell out of here!” when strapped to the robots that drag them through dangerous, landmine-infested locales.

via BoingBoing Gadgets

ANZAC Day Resources

Their Spirit, Our History [Australian War Memorial]
Their Spirit, Our History is a Memorial booklet written to help young Australians to understand the historical significance of ANZAC Day. It also includes commemorative classroom activities and an outline for planning your own commemorative ceremony.

Teaching Gallipoli - Educational Resources [Visit Gallipoli / Department of Veterans' Affairs]

Organising a Commemorative Ceremony [Department of Veterans' Affairs]
Do you want to hold your own Anzac Day or Remembrance Day ceremony? Practical advice, helpful downloads and useful information are available. (Ceremony outline, Audio files, Anzac Day posters)

ANZAC Day - Information for Schools [WA Dept of Education & Training]

Australians at War [Department of Veterans' Affairs]
The education kit, as with all components of the Australians at War project, examines the effects of war on the lives of Australians and how the nation has been shaped by those experiences.

An introduction to ANZAC Day for early childhood [ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Qld)]
Learning about ANZAC Day helps young children to understand the life and times of Australia and its people.
By building young children’s understandings about the traditions, facts and folklore of ANZAC Day, the many real life stories of sacrifices and heroism of everyday Australians will not be lost, but be handed down to future generations.

Anzac Day [Aussie Educator]
This site includes a host of educational and historical information on Anzac Day.

Cuboree 2008 - Pack 405 - Notes 8

Wow what a week! This set of notes will wind up my postings for Cuboree 2008.

1. CA$H
Send me your Pack405 costs for extra equipment (ponchos, gateway, etc.) so that I can divvy up the payments asap.

2. WINDY WEDNESDAY
Sub Camp 4 worked well under pressure, the kids may have been in the marquee for 10+ hours but they were fed, entertained and kept safe. Scout Leaders and Scouts of sub camp 4 you were wonderful to work with - thank you!

Windy Wednesday - Gilwell Idol

The Afternoons program was also flooded with calls from concerned parents about the 3000-odd Cubs currently camping in the Dandenongs at a ‘Cuboree’. The Cuboree website assured visitors that “if needed there are permanent buildings on site”, and that arrangements had been made for adverse weather conditions. — (2008-Apr-02) ABC Melbourne

Update 2nd April, 2008: 9pm :
The weather front has passed and all are safe. No unexpected incidents have occurred.
Some packs are remaining on their campsites whilst others through necessity have been transferred to dry areas.
All have had their evening meal and the vast majority are in high spirits. (…)
– Victorian Cuboree 2008

Sure, Nutrigrain bowls make great helmets

Regarding the activities that we missed, Meredith has a pretty good idea;

(…) that we pick one or two of the action bases that our Cubs didn’t attend and use it (or them) as the basis for our Nillumbik District billy-cart derby day. We could contact the relevant activity team/s and find out what activities they had planned and then do the simple and feasible ones. We might even be able to use some of the gear that has been prepared. (…) — Meredith

Pack 405

3. TRANSPORT:
On Friday night having missed the bus I was supposed to be on I arrived back with Nillumik 3 to find that the Cubs’ parents had provided each leader with a cooked dinner for Friday night and a thank-you note. How good is that!

It was good to see that Diamond Creek were able to be dropped off at the Diamond Creek hall this made the drop of area at Eltham a bit less crowded and increased the safety.

4. PULL DOWN:
Pull down went smoothly, and I remembered the BBQ so we were able to eat some sausages in bread once the tents were down and in the trailer. Thanks to everyone who assisted with the pull down and pack up.

5. EXTRAS:

• Cuboree Updates (VicScouts)
• Cuboree Photo Gallery (VicScouts)
• Cuboree Lost Items (VicScouts)

letter of appreciation from the Cuboree Council (03 April 200
DVD Order Form - order by 30th April 2008

Why I’m A Leader

Why I’m A Leader
Hudson Valley Council

I’m not a Cub Scout Leader for the easy hours, high pay, parents’ gratitude, power or prestige.

I’m a leader because I want the world for your son and mine,

I want it to be a world he can shape and help shape; a world of love and laughter, where he can show compassion.

I want him to be able to look at the stars, a sunrise, a sunset, the work and world of man — and feel their beauty inside himself.

I want to help him to learn to finish anything he starts and do it well. I want to guide him to know his worth with a deeper understanding of himself.

I want to help shape men who have strength of character and are sensitive to the needs of others. I want them to be the best they can be.

I’m giving of myself and my time. I reap rewards far beyond what I give. I receive for my children and future generations a better world.

I am a Cub Scout Leader because I care.

– from Baloo’s Bugle (January 2004)

“Bohemian Rhapsody - Scouting Style”

A Scoutmaster’s Blog has a great post featuring Bohemian Rhapsody - Scouting Style. I could really see this happening at one of our camps. Classic!

First Aid - no more ‘kiss of life’?

Experts call to end first aid’s ‘kiss of life’
In a controversial move, the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine has recommended that mouth-to-mouth ventilation be abolished from national cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines and replaced with chest compressions only, saying the move would save more people.The recommendation comes after two prestigious overseas studies found patients were more likely to survive without brain damage if CPR was administered without mouth-to-mouth.But the Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC), the peak body overseeing CPR guidelines, is resisting recommendations despite last year slashing the rate of breaths to compressions and eliminating pulse checks.Dr Stephen Bernard, of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, told The Sunday Telegraph latest research showed compression-only resuscitation was the best way to improve survival.(…)

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this month found patients of emergency workers who delivered compression-only resuscitation were three times as likely to survive.

– (2008-Mar-30) news.com.au

Minimally Interrupted Cardiac Resuscitation
Minimally interrupted cardiac resuscitation (MICR), a novel protocol for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, includes an initial series of 200 uninterrupted chest compressions, rhythm analysis with a single shock, early administration of epinephrine, and delayed endotracheal intubation. To investigate whether MICR is associated with improved patient survival, Bobrow and colleagues (SEE ARTICLE) instructed emergency medical service personnel from 2 urban Arizona fire departments in MICR and assessed patient survival before and after instruction. In a second analysis, the authors reviewed data from 62 Arizona fire departments (12 trained in MICR) and compared survival among patients who received MICR vs those who did not. The authors report that survival to hospital discharge increased after implementation of MICR and was higher among patients who received MICR compared with those who did not. In an editorial, Peberdy and Ornato (SEE ARTICLE) discuss critical determinants of cardiac arrest survival and progress in resuscitation techniques and protocols.
– This Week in JAMA: JAMA. 2008;299(10):1105.

Minimally Interrupted Cardiac Resuscitation by Emergency Medical Services for Out-of-Hospital…
Bobrow et al.
JAMA.2008; 299: 1158-1165.

Cuboree 2008 - Pack 405 - Notes 7

We are almost there

ONLY 1 sleeps until Cuboree 2008 “World of Wonders” starts!

1. The tents are up, the wall is hung

Gateway frame - Welcome to the reef (2008-03-29)

A BIG thanks to everyone who helped setup the site yesterday, things went together pretty well and the Cubs should be impressed as they walk into camp on Monday. A special thank-you to Eric Hormann who donated the sand for our beach and transported it up with the other gear in his truck.

This is a learning experience for me as well. One of the takeaways from yesterday is that we should of had a BBQ lunch for our volunteers at the setup … Doh! I’ll have a BBQ arranged for the pull down day (Sausages, bread, sauce, onions).

2. More paper work!
Copies of the Cuboree forms that were in the mailouts (I know some forms were missing from some envelopes). You definitely require the Medical Update Form for all Cubs and Leaders.

• All Cubs should have a copy of the “Medical Update Form” which shipped with their Cuboree envelope. According to the form every member of Cuboree 2008 needs to complete the form, this would also refer to leaders. NO FORM NO BUS.
  Medical Update Form [PDF]
   
• “Medication Information Form” which should be completed for anyone bringing medication to Cuboree. This includes over the counter medications, but does exclude Tim Tams, Mint Slices, and Coffee.
  Medication Information Form [PDF]
   
• “Personal Allergy Management Plan” for Cubs/Leaders with allergies … all forms completed with ‘I am allergic to other people’s kids’ will be treated carefully
  Allergy Management Plan [PDF]
   
• “Asthma Management Plan” for Cubs/Leaders with asthma
  Asthma Management Plan [PDF]
   

Note: For Leaders resolving outstanding medical problems; you need to fill our “Cuboree Form 5150 - Sanity restored, no longer attending”. Of course this form does take 12 months to be processed due to the document management system… orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. (with apologies to Douglas Adams)

Only 1 sleeps!
cheers Darren
“NEMO”