	Wilderness and Adventure-Based Therapeutic Outdoor Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-WT 11: Safety Review and Risk Prevention

The agency ensures safe practice through advanced planning, safety procedures, and personnel and participant training.

Note: See PA-WT 21 Staff Training and Development.

PA-WT 11.01

A safety review committee, supervisory personnel, or external advisors:

conduct ongoing safety reviews;
promptly review incidents when emergency procedures are invoked; and
recommend corrective action.

PA-WT 11.02

Safety procedures include:

use of a written safety manual or equivalent safety plan for each type of activity offered;
completion of a safety or risk-management plan before each trip or activity that contains safety preparations and other emergency planning information;
a mechanism for bringing a participant’s relevant health and medical information into the field;
providing trip leaders with funds or other means for obtaining emergency resources during trips or programs held outside the agency's immediate vicinity;
filing incident reports for any accidents or incidents in which personnel or participants were injured or at risk; and
notifying senior management if emergency procedures are invoked or an unanticipated problem or incident occurs.

PA-WT 11.03

When conducting trips or outdoor activities in remote areas, the agency:

develops written evacuation and search and rescue procedures;
trains staff on protocols for conducting medical evacuation; and
provides appropriate equipment for emergency communication links from field personnel to outside medical and other resources.

PA-WT 11.04

When conducting offsite activities, the trip or activity plan includes:

an itinerary maintained at the agency's central location;
weather conditions under which evacuation may be warranted;
detailed information regarding contact with the service director, or a designee, and rangers when appropriate;
means of contacting rescue resources, medical facilities, and law enforcement; and
any public or private entity notified of the itinerary.

PA-WT 11.05

Safety training related to missing persons addresses:

search and rescue procedures;
public-safety agency involvement; and
notification of all relevant personnel.

PA-WT 11.06

The agency trains all participants in planned trips or adventure based activities about the prevention of risks that may include:

sunstroke, sunburn, hyperthermia, dehydration, frostbite, and snow blindness as appropriate to the type of activity and weather conditions;
dangerous plants, animals, situations, and other hazards that may be associated with adventure-based activities or locations; and
allergic and anaphylactic reactions.

PA-WT 11.07

First aid, emergency response kits and emergency supplies, and medications needed by participants are available and under the control of the senior trip leader or other designated group leader at all times.

PA-WT 11.08

An agency that provides transportation in agency-owned vehicles, or in vehicles owned by personnel or contractors, requires:

vehicles be equipped with standard safety equipment and passenger restraint mechanisms;
access to emergency roadside repair tools, spare tires and parts, and other equipment required by law;
pre-trip vehicle checks and regular vehicle maintenance;
advance planning for supervision of participants during travel and during scheduled stops; and
advance planning for appropriate breaks and rest stops, with a full day of rest scheduled following four consecutive days of vehicular travel.

NA The agency does not provide transportation directly or by contract.

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	PURPOSE: Youth who participate in Wilderness and Adventure-based Therapeutic Outdoor Services expand individual capabilities, develop self-confidence and insight, ameliorate symptoms, and improve interpersonal skills and relationships.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	INCIDENT REPORT A document describing a high risk event or an event at variance with policy, procedure, practice, or usual experience.


	SENIOR MANAGEMENT Employees who assume administrative oversight for the organization's programs. Senior management positions may include vice presidents, chief operating officers, assistant commissioners, directors, or other positions that involve management of program administration. The term does not include supervisors of direct service workers.


	PROTOCOLS Instruments and procedures used to accomplish a particular goal, activity, or purpose.


	PREVENTION Actions taken to minimize and/or eliminate social, psychological, or other conditions. Prevention can occur at the individual, group, community, and societal levels and enhances opportunities to achieve positive fulfillment.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	MEDICATION A prescribed or over-the-counter drug that is injected, taken orally, applied topically, or otherwise administered.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	CONTRACT A formal written agreement between two or more parties that specifies the services, space, or products to be provided in exchange for some form of compensation. Also known as "purchase of service arrangement."