When the howling winds finally died down, the Boy Scouts — true to their motto, “Be Prepared” — sprang into action.
Boy Scouts praised as heroes after twister kills 4
By JOSH FUNK [Assoicated Press]BLENCOE, Iowa (AP) — When the howling winds finally died down, the Boy Scouts — true to their motto, “Be Prepared” — sprang into action.
Putting their first-aid training to use, they applied tourniquets and gauze to the injured. Some began digging victims from the rubble of a collapsed chimney. And others broke into an equipment shed, seized chainsaws and other tools, and started clearing fallen trees from a road.
Dozens of the Scouts, ages 13 to 18, were hailed for their bravery and resourcefulness Thursday, the morning after a twister flattened their camp in Iowa and killed four boys.
“There were some real heroes at this Scout camp,” Gov. Chet Culver said, adding that he believes the Scouts saved lives while they waited for paramedics to cut through the trees and reach the camp a mile into the woods.
The 93 boys, all elite Scouts attending a weeklong leadership training session, had taken part in a mock emergency drill with 25 staff members just a day before the twister hit.
“They knew what to do, they knew where to go, and they prepared well,” said Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid-America Council of the Boy Scouts of America. (…)
“The scouts did exactly what they were trained to do. This was the real thing.”
“It’s the scouts that saved a lot of lives,” said Ed Osius, chief of the volunteer fire department in Blencoe, a town of about 200, not far from the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, with its rugged, heavily wooded terrain, trails and valleys spread over 1,800 acres. “The scouts did exactly what they were trained to do. This was the real thing.” — [NY Times]
[1] Boy Scouts praised as heroes after twister kills 4 (2008-Jun-13) [Assoicated Press]
[2] Statement Regarding the Tragedy in Western Iowa (PDF) (2008-Jun-13) [BSA National Office]
[3] A Deafening Howl Then Deadly Chaos for Scouts (2008-Jun-13) [NY Times]
