3 Essential Health Tips Every Girl Scout Leader Must Know

October 7, 2022

Time to read 2 min

As a troop leader, you understand that you have a responsibility to look after your girls and ensure they are safe in every activity they do with you. Troop leaders have a difficult role, balancing chaperoning, guiding, and protecting at all times. In many ways, you are a role model for your girls. So, it is fair to say that your girl scout experience is valuable to the troop.

But there is a lot more girl scout leaders need to consider. You are the first point of contact for your girls and for parents. More often than not, someone in your position is able to spot health problems, whether physical or mental, that parents may not have noticed. Therefore, it is crucial for the troop leader to be familiar with essential health practices, including:

Assessing a situation carefully
Understanding how to best react
Providing care when it is required
Raising the alarm and calling for specialist assistance

Essential skills for medical emergencies

You never know what could happen on the field. Therefore, being equipped with a CPR, First Aid and BBP Certification can give you the confidence to act rapidly in the event of an emergency. As the person in charge of the girls’ safety, you could be faced with a situation where providing CPR could save someone’s life.

There’s another useful skill you can develop when you train for first aid emergencies. You can learn to notice anomalies, such as someone having shallow breathing or experiencing absence seizures. Being able to inform the parents about their child’s health can make a huge difference to her life in the long term.

Mental health awareness

Nobody expects a girl scout leader to provide dedicated mental health care the way therapists or counselors do. However, you may be someone the girls talk to about their lives and issues. Consequently, taking a Mental Health and Well-Being Course is essential so you are confident you can listen to and support them. You can even choose to take a Mental Health First Aid certification, which can prepare you to: