Exploration at Racehorse Creek: 10-17-15

What a wonderful day with these lively, joyous, thoughtful, adventurous girls! From fossils to the creek, we explored it all. We traversed, we attempted to cross creeks, we sang; it was day full of exploration and camaraderie as the Ravens reconnected with old friends and Widened Their Circle to welcome new ones.  Here are some highlights from the day:

• Playing games, laughing, and catching up with our neighbors as we rode (some for the first time!) in Moose, watching the landscape change from city scape to country forest. Learning all about the monumental landslide that occurred at Racehorse Falls a couple years back, the damage that it wrought as well as the Problems Turned into Possibilities of epic fossils uncovered. 

• Testing our northwest nature knowledge with a forest pop quiz.

• Traversing a jumble of logs to reach the creek! We were greeted by the sunshine as we ate lunch next to the bubbling waters of Racehorse Creek. Looking around us we began to spot the fossils that frequent this beautiful place. Breaking Shale and Sandstone into layers to unearth hidden leaves, ferns, needles, and even palm fronds from long, long, ago. 

• Journeying down the creek, using our nimble feet to carry us safely over rock and water.  

Using Collaborate and Compromise and S.T.O.P. risk assessment to make our way across the river and to the falls. 

Making it all the way to the base of the waterfall because these girls come prepared for any off-trail, river-crossing adventure! Some girls Stretched their Edge by scrambling up a steep bank to get to the falls. It was well worth the challenge! 

• Finding a Peaceful Place close enough to the waterfall to feel its spray on our cheeks, sitting in the stillness of nature, connecting to the sounds, sights, and smells around us. 

• Playing Spiders Web and On the Hunt in the forest on our way back to the bus. 

To see a complete album of the day, click here.

Mottos Of the Day:

Safety First
Be Prepared!

Widen Your Circle
Stretch Your Edge
Collaborate and Compromise

Problems into Possibilities

You See It You Own It

Leave No Trace

Skills Day: Wilderness Medicine at Fairhaven Park: 9-26-15

This Earth Skills Day was jam-packed with useful knowledge that prepares the girls to support our staff (or their own families & friends) should an emergency arise while they are adventuring in the wilderness or elsewhere. We covered so much during the day that I've included an (incomplete) list of the day’s activities below. The day started as a cool, rainy, fall day and ended in the blasting sun with games and laughs!
We started with the big question: What is Wilderness First Aid, and how is getting hurt five miles down a trail different than getting hurt in downtown Bellingham? We brainstormed how different backcountry medicine is from frontcountry medicine, and how in the backcountry you often times have TIME before care arrives.

Our next top was scene safety: Something’s gone wrong! What do you do when you approach a scenario in which people appear to be injured? We deepened our understanding of STOP principles by evaluating the possible dangers of rushing into an emergency scene. What was the Mechanism of Injury(MOI)? Are there other victims? Could assisting someone possibly hurt me? Ask the girls if they can use their five fingers to go through scene size up.

Now that the scene is safe; now what? ABCDEs: After we assess that the scene is safe for ourselves to enter, we check for a clear Airway. Signs of Breathing, Circulation (signs of blood), Disability (how is the individual injured), Environment/Expose. (Get the injured individual warm/cool and comfortable as possible. Expose the primary injury to assess damage). Ask your girls for elaboration on this checklist.

One of the most critical pieces of wilderness medicine is learning whether or not a patient has a suspected head injury. We discussed the criteria for a Positive Mechanism of Injury for Spinal Injury, for example falling from a height greater than the individual’s own height, making impact at a speed faster than running. We also learned that if you’re not sure if someone could have injured his or her spine—stabilize his or her neck until you can be sure they did not incur spinal damage! We then all practiced how to provide spine stabilization.

After the scene is safe and the ABCDEs are under control, we reach a crossroads: Is this a Medical injury (for example altitude sickness, dehydration, ulcers) or a Traumatic Injury (broken bones, lacerations, etc).

If it’s a Medical Injury, we discussed that taking a SAMPLE history, a detailed history of the injured individual, is the best way to get more information about his or her ailment.

If it’s a Traumatic Injury, we learned that conducting a Full Patient Assessment is the next step.
We practiced these skills by creating scenarios in which half the girls were patients and half were in charge of administering first aid. Between some giggling and plenty of requests for extra fake blood, both responders and the injured took their roles very seriously.

Lastly, we went over some of the different ways a person can become injured in the field, and some basic steps for treatment, such as cleaning wounds with clean water, applying pressure to bleeding wounds and elevating them above the heart.

This past Saturday the Ravens demonstrated just how caring, vibrant and focused a group of young women they are. Perhaps this introduction to what wilderness first aid is all about may lead some of them to explore first aid classes in the future! We'll be reviewing concepts and practicing more on our next outing!

To see photos, please click here. We did not take too many because today was a lot more classroom-style than we are used to!