SCOUTS GIVEN FEAL OF RESCUE IN SIMULATION

Twenty-two Boy Scouts searched an area north of Cape Girardeau Saturday morning to help rescue an injured hunter after he failed to return home from the evening before.

Actually, the rescue operation turned out to be a simulation, although the Scouts did not initially know it was simulated.

When found, the victim had fake blood on his face and hands and a mock stake protruding from his leg. The simulation even featured a landing by the Lifebeat helicopter from Southeast Missouri Hospital to show how the victim would be transported for medical help.

Scout leaders arranged the search with the help of the volunteer East County Fire District to help the Scouts work toward the Emergency Preparedness merit badge. The badge is one of two optional badges required to reach the rank of Eagle Scout, said Charlie Brown, Scout master with the boys' troop, Troop 2 of the Southeast Missouri Council.

The search came on the eve of Scouting Anniversary Week, which starts today and runs until Saturday. The organization is celebrating its 82nd birthday with nationwide festivities.

Brown said the Scouts who took part in the search ranged in age from 11 to 15 years and from Tenderfoot to Eagle in rank. Although the Scouts work on emergency preparedness constantly, he said, there has been an intensified effort in that area since last summer camp so some of the Scouts could finish the merit badge.

"The boys weren't aware we were going to have an alert today, so it was a surprise to them," he said. "When they got the call they didn't know if it was real or not.

"East County did an excellent job of staging it for us. It couldn't have been any more realistic." The department provided the victim.

A call for the Scouts' help in the search was made on a prearranged basis, said Brown. The Scouts searched private fields on both sides of Highway 177. Assistant Fire Chief Charles Brawley said the search area totaled 35 to 40 acres.

One of two search parties comprised of Scouts, Scout leaders and fire department members found the victim, department member Russell Boswell, laying on a steep bank with trees and other growth. The scenario was that Boswell had tripped while hunting and sustained a possible broken right leg and a possible neck injury. A tree in front of Boswell had blood on it.

The Scouts took about an hour to find Boswell by walking through the highly-grown fields several feet apart. At times, the Scouts' leaders had to keep some of the Scouts in line and from clumping up.

Department Emergency Medical Technician Kevin Myrick coached several of the Scouts through an assessment of Boswell's condition and his preparation for transport. Boswell, dressed in olive green coveralls, was covered with blankets and placed on a backboard and in a transport basket for the trip to the hospital.

During the assessment, Myrick asked Boswell if various parts of his body hurt. Boswell responded with either a "no" or by moaning affirmations.

Some Scouts still believed Boswell to be a real victim even near the end of his rescue, said Brown. Life Scout Joe Koch, 13, of Cape Girardeau, who found Boswell, said he at first believed Boswell to be a real victim, until he got closer to him.

Chris Thompson, 13, and Graham Andrews, 12, both 1st Class Scouts, lauded the exercise.

"I got blood on my fingers," said Graham, showing a reporter his hand and adding that the incident was "very professional." "Everybody took it seriously," he said.

Chris said the make-up looked somewhat real. "When I saw him," he said, "I said, `Dang.'"

Life Scout Derek Chenoweth, 15, primarily helped Myrick with the victim. He said afterwards that several of the Scouts, who received the call to help in the search at 7 a.m., thought the victim was real.

"I liked it. It helped us to remember our first-aid skills, which we had to know for a while. I forgot half of them."

The victim, Boswell, a 10-year veteran firefighter with the department and an emergency medical technician, said a couple of the Scouts' eyes got as "big as saucers" when he was found.

Boswell said the plan was for the stake to be found on a secondary assessment of his condition, when things like fractures and abrasions are checked for. But the stake was found quicker. "One of the kids was standing on it," he said.

This week's anniversary of the Boy Scouts will feature a presentation of the Scouts' annual "Report to the Nation" to President George Bush and members of Congress. Both adult and youth members of Scouting will take part in several days of meetings with federal officials and military leaders.

The organization, with more than 4.3 million youth members, was started in the United States by Chicago publisher William Boyce. Boyce brought the Scouting program to the United States from Britain after a Boy Scout there helped lead Boyce to his destination when he became lost in a London fog. The Scout helped Boyce two years after the organization originated in Great Britain in 1907.

Since starting in the United States in 1910, more than 88 million young people have participated in Scouting.