About COP - Leadership Training

TRAINING All COP leaders must be approved by their Activity Leaders and must have minimum activity-oriented leader training including the Risk Management and paperwork sections of the Trip Leaders Manual.  Leaders of extended trips must attend the full Leader Training offered by the COP Office unless exempted by the Board. Leader Training Saturday, March10, 10am to 6pm COP Leader Trainings include all six modules-Risk Management: Paperwork & COP Policies, Trip Planning, Participant Screening and Leadership.  Cost is $15 for the day and includes lunch. To register, contact the COP Office, office AT outdoor-pursuits.org or 614/ 442-7901. Do You Have What It Takes? Requirements for COP Leaders Be a member of COP Support the mission of COP Have the appropriate skill level for the activity Read the Trip Leaders Manual Be trained in first aid to the degree appropriate to the activity or have someone on the trip that is Have a signed Liability Release from each participant and turn it in to COP within 30 days of the trip Use the Incident Report Form when needed & send to Risk Manager within 7 days Do not accept or place guilt at time of occurrence Follow up with injured participants, and use the Occurrence Follow-up Form Ensure that all participants are equipped with the necessary safety gear/equipment as described in the Activity Guidelines Leaders are expected to implement safety guidelines, including safety gear use, as specified in the Trip Leaders Manual, Chapter 4 safety guidelines.   (11/09/09) All COP Leaders and Instructors are expected to teach/model principles espoused by Leave No Trace®, consistent with circumstances.  (11/09/09) Meet specific Activity leadership requirements if they exist All leaders must be approved by their Activity Leaders and must have minimum activity-oriented leader training including the Risk Management and paperwork sections of the Trip Leaders Manual.  Leaders of extended trips must attend the full Leader Training offered by the COP Office unless exempted by the Board. Wilderness First Aid April 7 & 8, 2011 16 hour first aid class for people who travel more than one hour from definitive care.  Registration information and form are in the February issue, page 7. You can also download the information and form from home/About COP/Leadership.  To register online, login to the user area, scroll to the bottom of the home page and click on event registration. Requirements for the class are that you be physically able to complete the class, 16 years or older and be registered. Parts of the class are taught outdoors, so be prepared to be outside no matter what the weather.  Go to the SOLO website for the complete course description, www.soloschools.com/wfa.html Location: The course will be offered at Beech Maple Lodge,  on the east side  of Columbus at Blacklick Woods Metro Park, 6975 E Livingston Ave, Reynoldsburg Ohio 43068 Registration contact is Jennifer Thurmond   wwaterjen@yahoo.com  614/890-6269 Last date to cancel is March 19, 2012. Only if a replacement from the waiting list can take your place will a refund be issued after March 19th. Download registration form.

COP Leader Forms Liability Waiver & Release (Legal Size 8.5'x14') Liability Waiver & Release (Regular Size 8.5'x11') Incident Report Form                Incident Follow up form Payorder Form                           chart of accounts for payorders & deposit slips Trip Report Form                        Info for Event Leaders

Columbus Outdoor Pursuits Trip Leaders Manual We are posting this in chapters so it will be easier to maintain. Table of contents   9/29/11                                  Chapter 5: the COP Paper Path 9/29/11  Chapter 1: Introduction  9/29/11                         Chapter 6: Trip Planning 9/29/11     Chapter 2: Risk Management     9/29/11               Chapter 7: Participant Screening 9/29/11 Chapter 3: Safety Guidelines   9/29/11                   Chapter 8: Leadership     9/29/11 Chapter 4: COP Trip & Leader Policies  9/29/11    Appendices 1-15    9/29/11  includes                                                                                                      Information for Event Leaders

FIRST AID "Wilderness First Aid", "Wilderness First Responder"and "Red Cross First Aid and CPR Classes"  are scheduled periodically for the benefit of our leaders and members. Wilderness First Aid 16 hour first aid class for people who travel more than one hour from definitive care.   WFR recerts ok.  Information and registration form are usually in the February issue of Columbus Outdoors. Red Cross CPR & First Aid Classes are not currently scheduled. Wilderness First Responder Class-not currently scheduled.  Next class will probably be in 2012 or 2013, three weekends including Martin Luther King Day Weekend, and Presidents Day Weekend. The minimum standard for outdoor professionals, this 80 hour advanced first aid class is for people who get more than an hour away from definitive care.  .

Activity Schedule Guidelines 2011 June From Your Editor COP runs 600-800 trips every year.  With the exception of GOBA, these are all lead by volunteers.  Given how much work is involved, the schedule usually is a fairly smooth affair.  However, over the past year, the process has gotten increasingly rough and acrimonious.  The May newsletter was a real hair-tearer and this issue followed suit, So, let us review the Activity Schedule Process. Note: the only new item below is that the Activity Scheduler posts the schedule to the web, instead of the webmaster using a list from the newsletter Please, please, please! Pay attention to deadlines. Ideally, your activity schedule coordinator will send you a reminder email that includes their deadline for receipt of schedule items.  Even if they don’t, deadlines are published every month, usually on page three.  At least one issue a year has an early deadline due to the editor’s vacation.  This year it is the September issue. Your SC will be operating on a short timeline and their time and effort should be respected. If your Schedule Coordinator sends out a draft schedule, be sure to read it.  Send your trip listing your Activity’s Schedule Coordinator (SC) (page 3 again), or if the activity doesn’t have one, the Activity Chair (AC). The SC/AC needs to submit a compiled schedule for the whole activity no later than 11:59 p.m. the 5th of the month, the month before publication. I.e. July 5th for the August newsletter.  This is sent as a plain text file that is complete and ready to be placed into the newsletter. All the editor should need to do is apply the styles and a few “info and app are on page X”, which is info the SC won’t have. The Editor will not accept schedule items from individual leaders.  However, if you are leading an Event (bike tour, boat school, etc.) and need information in other sections of the newsletter, that information does go direct to the Editor. Both the Editor and your SC should acknowledge receipt of your submission with at least a “thank you”.  If you do not such a response, it is quite possible that your submission did not get to them. Unless you make other arrangements with your SC, send it via email.  If doing this electronically, it needs to be in plain text, with no formatting. (no bold, italics, all caps, etc.). Newsletter issues normally only include information for that issue month plus the next. Occasionally we run an entire season listing for use as a fridge poster, but please don’t submit the entire season every month. It causes extra headaches for your schedule coordinator when they have to edit the excess. For recurring trips, You have two options: 1. Send your SC a confirmation monthly that the ride is continuing 2. Send the listing with an ENDING DATE Also, if there is a week off, send a notice that can be posted to the web calendar, or the trip can be deleted for that week outright. Responsibility for getting a trip/event listed in the newsletter and web calendars lies with the leader, as it always has. Please do not expect that someone else is going to submit your trip unless you have discussed this with that person. In addition to compiling the schedule, some other tasks your SC does are: If Schedule Coordinator does not recognize the person as being an approved leader, questions are asked, including” have you taken appropriate leader training, first aid/rescue classes, do you have the skills for the job?  Yes, this is officially an AC task, but it is usually delegated to the SC.  Posts the schedule to the web calendar.  The Schedule coordinator, may, at their discretion, add activities to the web calendar after the newsletter has gone to print. The Specified Format The following is the format in which you are expected to submit your information: Line one: Title Please, Do not type the title in all caps.  It may appear in the newsletter as having small caps instead of lower case, but that is a style.  In order to apply it, the text must be in normal upper/lower case form. In other words, if you send WRONG instead of Wrong, it will be WRONG instead of Wrong. If your trip will be in a titled section of the schedule, please don’t use that title as the trip title. Example: If your trip will be listed in the SMP section of the boating schedule, don’t use SMP as the title.  All trips in that section are SMPs. .  Using SMP as the title is left over from the days when they were mixed into the general boating schedule. Weekly trips should include the day in the title, i.e. Canal Winchester Mondays, to distinguish it from Canal Winchester Thursdays. Line two: Date:  If just one day, include the day of the week. Line 3 to ?:paragraph or two of description including trip level of difficulty, approximate cost, deposit/refund information if called for. Notes like: "contact leader for directions' and more detailed information will be provided at later date" need to be in the description section above the leader info line, not after. Last line: contact information including name, email if any, and phone number While I personally prefer the European way of typing phone numbers, i.e. 614.555.1234, please use our official format of 614/555-1234. If you want to reduce the amount of spam you get, present your email address as username AT domain.ext rather than username@domain.ext Try to put all the leader contact information on one line (no returns/enter button) Leading off with words like “Leader” and “Contact” is redundant since it is the leader contact line. This is a volunteer driven organization.  Let us all strive to treat each other with a little more civility and willingness to listen, and resubmit the email (again!).  Or as in sung in Pippin, “Put down the vinegar. Take up the honey jar.  You’ll catch many more flies”.**                                                                                                           **lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Presidents Message Concerning COP Leaders Providing First Aid As an outdoor education and activity organization, COP is very involved in training members in activity specific skills and leadership skills.  Activity groups provide various opportunities for developing skills either through formal classes or informally during activity events.  Recently, the Bicycling activity had a Bicycle Leaders training event to provide an opportunity for leaders to refresh knowledge of COP leader expectations and to share knowledge with fellow leaders. During this event, discussion arose concerning COP's requirements concerning first aid training and trips.  The COP Trip Leaders Manual states on the inside cover (under requirements for trip leaders) "Be trained in first aid to the degree appropriate to the activity or have someone on the trip that is."  On page 6 where risk issues are addressed, the Duties section indicated that leaders have a duty to "provide healthcare/first aid (within your level of training, but to a level appropriate for what you are doing."   While these statements are accurate as far as they go, they do not include any context that provides guidance to leaders as to what level of first aid training would be appropriate on a given trip.  Therefore, this issue was referred to the   Risk Management committee.  After some discussion, we developed the following text as an expansion on the existing Trip Leader Manual statements: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Providing healthcare/first aid is different than personally performing healthcare/first aid.  Based on that, one needs to look at the environment the activity is being pursued in along with how that environment affects access to - and response by - community/area emergency services. In the case of bicycling, the event (we’re assuming a typical weeknight or weekend ride here) is on public roads that provide quick response and direct access by emergency vehicles to the incident requiring medical attention.  Given the populated areas we ride in, even if no one at the scene has a cell phone handy to call for assistance, someone can quickly ride to a nearby residence or business to make an call for emergency services.  Additionally, these bike groups – though massed at the start – tend to string out and disperse in the course of the ride.  There is no guarantee that the leader or other person on the ride that has suitable first aid training will be with any given part of the group in the case of an incident.  Even if they are behind the incident, changes in route choice may mean those persons will not happen on the incident to provide their assistance.  This means that those on the scene still need to address the incident (including any medical needs) in some fashion which may well be to call for help. An urban neighborhood walking group would fall in this same risk category. Therefore, this means COP does not need to require bike leaders to personally have first aid training nor do they need to insure that someone on each event has such training.  We think it is a good idea to have first aid training. COP encourages leaders and all members to get first aid training, but it is not absolutely required for this class of event. For other kinds of trips that venture away from quick, easy phone and road access to outside assistance, it is essential that leaders and/or other trip participants have suitable first aid training.  Hiking and backpacking trips, flatwater and whitewater paddling trips, climbing trips and other trips into more remote areas would fall into this category.  - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - -- --- -- -- -- -- -- -- This text will be added to the latest revision to Trip Leaders Manual as a supplement to the existing statements.  As a long time outdoor activity enthusiast and leader, I have taken many first aid and rescue classes.  I consider them to be a small investment in being able to understand and manage risks whether I am a leader on the trip or one of the trip members with another leader.  As a leader, I appreciate it when other trip members have taken first aid and rescue training.  Their training provides me some of the same benefits that my training provides for others.  Sometimes, the trip leader (or primary first aid person) is the one in trouble or is the injured one.  Having more than one person on the trip with rescue/first aid skills makes it more likely that every member of the group has someone to help them if needed.  Your fellow trip members are your friends; it’s good to be able to help your friends if they need assistance and to know that they can assist you if you need it. Another part of providing assistance (besides the knowledge part) is having a basic first aid on hand.  It doesn’t need to be a big one to provide value.  At a caving convention many years ago, I attended a session on first aid that advocated a minimalist four-item first aid kit: 4x4 gauze pads(cut or fold if smaller one is needed), duct tape (or first aid tape), zip lock bags (irrigation, occlusive dressing, bio-hazard gloves) and safety pins (pin sleeve to jacket to improvise sling).  Supplemented with the items in your day pack, bike bag or dry bag, this minimalist kit provide just what is needed with minimal bulk.  The only things I would add are vinyl or nitrile gloves (the bags are awkward) and a COP incident report form http://www.outdoor-pursuits.org/downloads/forms/incident.pdf  and ballpoint pen.   Liability waivers and other forms are also available on line at http://www.outdoor-pursuits.org/leadershiptraining.php or on the COP home page, click ‘About COP’ in the menu, then click ‘Leader Training’ and scroll down a little. Thank you to Bicycling Activity Chair Suzanne Burke and the Bicycling leaders for forwarding this issue for further discussion and expansion.  Many thanks to all COP leaders and members who have taken first aid and/or rescue training in the past or plan to in the future.  If you are interested in taking first aid or other training to develop your skills as a COP leader, there are Leadership Development funds that can offset some of your costs.  Contact your activity leader for details. See you out there, David Seslar COP President March 2011

Leadership Corner  by Sharon Hsu Top 10 Reasons to Become a Trip Leader for COP Okay, Okay . . . you keep hearing about COP needing leaders, COP offering leadership training, articles in the newsletter about how to lead trips, meetings about paperwork, risk management, etc. But, none of these articles or meetings may answer the fundamental question you have: WHY should I become a leader?? Although there are many, many answers to this question, here are just a few: 10- You get to go where YOU want to go. Have you ever been on a trip (recently, or even when you were a kid with the family), and you thought, "Why can't we hike that trail?", "Why can't we paddle this river?", "Why can't we go there? I wanna go THERE!!!". Well, when you lead your own trip, you can decide where to go. Ever want to paddle a beautiful, quiet river in Minnesota? Lead a trip there! Ever want to backpack a dramatic ridge on the Appalachian Trail that you read in Outside Magazine? Lead a trip there! 9 - You get to go when YOU want to go. So you love biking by the farms of Madison County and eating at the Dutch Kitchen, but have to work on Saturdays. Well, you can lead your own trip anytime you want - go on Wednesday! Think those boaters are crazy for scheduling local boating trips in March (when the water is still icy)?? Then lead a trip when it's warmer. When you lead your own trip, you don't have to worry about juggling your schedule to fit another's (unless you want to, of course). You can go when you want. 8 - You get to do what YOU want to do. Do you enjoy many activities, but find that many trips only focus on one? For instance, if you're paddling down a river that's right next to a bike trail, you can lead a "pedal & paddle" trip! Do you like to hike with your kids, but all the trips you find are too long or strenuous for them to keep up? Then you can lead a kid-friendly hiking trip. You can do what you want (as long as it's legal, of course) when you lead your own trip -- one activity or many activities, cook or eat out, bike hills or bike flat, Class I rapids or Class V rapids, kids or no kids - it's up to you! 7 - You have company to go with you. Hey, just because your husband and all your friends think you're crazy for crawling around a dark, muddy hole in the ground doesn't mean that you have to cave alone. Actually, for many of our activities, it's better that you don't participate in them alone. Also, certain areas (e.g., Okefenokee Swamp) require a minimum party size for various permits. Furthermore, it's often helpful (very helpful) logistically if you have several people and/or multiple vehicles Ð for instance, boating or hiking shuttles! 6 - You get to meet new people who are interested in the same activities. One of the best benefits of leading a trip, versus just going on a personal trip, is that you get a wonderful opportunity to meet new people who are interested in the same activities. You can meet people who like to ride lots of miles on their bikes at really high speeds. You can meet people who enjoy a walk in the woods as much as you do. You can also meet people who find as much contentment sharing stories by a campfire as they do paddling through a Class IV rapid. 5 - You can go to places and/or experience activities that you normally wouldn't or couldn't. So you keep reading about this great river down south and want to go, but the difficulty of the river is just at your limit, and you know that you wouldn't be able to safely handle a group and don't want to go alone. Many times, if you are willing assume the administrative skills of leading a trip, a more experienced tripper will help out with the more technical aspects of the trip. This can allow you to explore more remote areas of the Smoky Mountains or even allow you to take a longer sea kayaking trip. 4 - You can get a free trip. That's right - you could get a free trip! According to COP rules, trip leaders can charge each participant up to 10% more than the cost of each person's share of the trip expenses to cover the leader's share. Basically, if you have 10 trippers and charge each of them 10% above the trip expenses (e.g., transportation, camping fees, food, etc.), you can get your trip for free! Realize, however, you can not make money on trips (e.g., you can't charge the extra 10% for 20 trippers and wind up with more money than you would have spent on the trip. In this case, you can only charge up to 5% extra for each tripper to cover your expenses). This one of COP's way of encouraging leadership. It's also a way of going to places and participating in activities that you could not otherwise afford. 3 - You can help develop skills in yourself and others. By becoming a trip leader, you develop your own leadership skills. For instance, you can learn about group dynamics, decision-making, and trip planning. You also have the opportunity to develop skills in others. You can help guide someone's decision to spend the money on a GOOD tent, instead of a tempting $30 tent. You can help someone understand the dynamics of surfing a wave hole. You can help someone ride longer by showing them how to draft safely. 2 - You help support the spirit of volunteerism. Have you been on a COP trip? Or taken a COP school? Someone took the time and energy to lead that trip or direct/instruct at that school. COP is a volunteer, participatory organization that runs upon the strength and energy of all its outdoor family members. When you lead a trip, you help make our family stronger by providing more outdoor opportunities for more people. Furthermore, you help reward the people who lead the trips you went on before by giving them a trip to go on that they don't have to lead. 1 - and the number one reason: WITHOUT TRIP LEADERS, THERE ARE NO TRIPS!  It doesn't get much simpler than that.

Leadership Corner ON PLANNING AND LEADING A TRIP Part 1 of 2 By David Seslar Any trip requires a leader. The trip leader creates the trip by deciding when and where to go, getting the trip into the schedule, taking the seemingly endless phone calls, et cetera, et cetera. WITHOUT TRIP LEADERS THERE ARE NO TRIPS. Many people quail at the thought of leading trips. (Many trip leaders also quail at the thought of leading trips, but that’s another story.) A great void appears to yawn before them - what all needs to be done and how will I ever get it done? This article tries to give the new trip leader an idea of what needs to be done, a framework to follow when planning a trip. Because I usually lead boating trips these days, the examples given here are mostly oriented towards boating but the general principles and tasks are similar for many types of trips. There are two kinds of trip leaders (actually there are lots of kinds, but I’m chopping them into two piles). A ‘Type A’ trip leader is the best and strongest boater or backpacker, has been everywhere and done every river and trail and all kinds of trips. ‘Type A’ has a huge trip vehicle, is a superb group cook, has nothing to do before the trip but plan and take phone calls, can handle all sorts of medical emergencies requiring less than 4 pints of blood, and can build a boat, backpack or litter in the field with nothing more than a dull spoon and 5 feet of duct tape. ‘Type A’ often ends up doing everything, getting little help and having little fun. A ‘Type R’ trip leader on the other hand takes a much more relaxed approach. ‘Type R’ realizes that it’s not necessary to be the best or the strongest or the most knowledgeable person on the trip. Instead the trip leader should be an administrator, investigating and organizing the strengths and abilities of all the people on the trip, making sure things get taken care of but not doing everything himself. Many people are happy to help and will do a great deal to help the trip, especially if you put YOUR name, number and e-mail address in the newsletter schedule. You as a trip leader don’t have to and aren’t expected to do everything yourself. Don’t be shy: ask people for a bit of help. You can lead trips to places you’ve never been, rivers and trails you’ve never done or doing things you have limited skills in, with the assistance of others. But someone needs to get the ball rolling and that someone could be you. The first thing to decide as trip leader is where and when to go. This can a bit fickle for many kinds of trips since seasons and weather can dictate what is reasonable or possible to ski or hike or paddle. Many rivers are too low to paddle in the summer unless you’re there when it’s raining. High water in spring may leave trail river crossings impassable. Four inches of snow could be too little to ski and too much to bike. So, once you’ve picked your when, be a bit flexible about what you paddle or hike or do. There’s almost always something to do similar to what you’d planned. Where to go?! So many places, so little time. One of the easiest ways to lead your first trips is to go to places, trails and rivers you’ve been to before. You know what the river or trail is like, maybe you remember how to get to the trailhead or how to drive from the put-in to the river’s take-out. For places you haven’t been to or if you don’t remember the details (perhaps you slept all the way to the put-in last time), ask other people who have been there for details, or consult guidebooks. Guidebooks can provide a vast amount of information for trails, rivers and coasts almost anywhere you want to go. Any worthy outdoor shop will carry some, all backpacking and boating catalogs carry books on many areas. Area libraries have a limited selection of guidebooks and some C.O.P. activities have a small library of books. Many outdoor magazines such as Backpacker, Outside, Paddler, or Canoe and Kayak have articles on places to go with good resource information. If you have internet access, there are many commercial, club, government and personal web pages with useful information - try your public library for internet access if you don’t have other means. Many of the most active backpackers and boaters have libraries of their own covering many areas of the country that you might be able to look at to plan your trip. However, if you’re planning a long trip or use someone’s book more than a couple times, it’s probably time to get your own. Maps are also an important resource. Topographic maps, state and county road maps, river and lake maps, coastal charts, all may be important. There many sources - map stores, book stores, catalogs, USGS, ODNR, and other state and federal agencies can be sources. One of the most useful types of map publications is the statewide county atlas available for many states. DeLorme seems to publish the best ones. Now that you’ve decided when and where to go, you need to advertise to attract people for your trip. Typically this is done through the Trip Schedule in middle of the Columbus Outdoors newsletter. This means you need to notify the activity leader or the activity scheduling coordinator by the end of the month at least two months in advance of your trip because of newsletter lead times. Ask the activity leader who their coordinator is. The trip may also appear on the C.O.P. website in the activity’s schedule listings. This assumes that you already have the permission of the activity leader to lead the trip either on your own or with an approved co-leader. If you are leading a C.O.P. trip that is a week long or longer, you also must have the permission of the C.O.P. Board of Directors. This is done through the activity leader during the monthly board meeting, and should be done a couple months in advance of the trip. If you have the support of the activity leader, usually this will be mostly a formality since the activity leader will have made sure you have covered all of the bases. The Board does prefer that you’ve taken the C.O.P. Leadership class and that someone on the trip has some first aid training. The activity leader should make sure you have the appropriate forms for the trip - liability waiver, incident report form, deposit form, etc. Don’t know what to do with all of the forms? The leadership class will help you with all of that and more! Sign up today! Available in one-day and modular form! To be continued next month. ... WITHOUT  TRIP  LEADERS  THERE  ARE  NO  TRIPS ...

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