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TRIP LEADER FUNDAMENTALS

Trip Leading 101: �What to expect & how to get started

leading an EASY event �

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WELCOME!

Our mission:To provide a supportive environment where all women can have fun and challenge themselves in a community of women who love the outdoors while respecting the Earth.

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INTRO

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  • Please keep yourself on mute
  • Do ask questions - use chat to ask questions
  • Introduce yourself in the chat:
    • Full Name
    • Your email address
    • WO Region
    • Favorite outdoor activities
  • We will send you a copy of the slide show
  • This is about Level 1 EASY trips

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What is a WO Easy Level Trip?

An outdoor activity approved by an RC, led by a qualified Women Outdoors leader who is a current and active member, and open to any Women Outdoors member.

  • Local day trips : ‘101’ easy to moderate level outing, within one hour of medical care.

A Women Outdoors trip can be an exciting opportunity to learn new skills, enjoy the beauty of our natural world and share a meaningful experience with other women

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Benefits of Leading

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  • Do a trip you want to do, when you are available
  • Support a wide variety of women to engage with the outdoors
  • Develop your own skills and leadership
    • WO offers skills development partial reimbursement
  • Opportunity to meet and learn from other women who love the outdoors

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QUALITIES OF A TRIP LEADER

  • Respectful, responsible, attentive
  • Good communication skills
  • Problem solver
  • Calm under pressure
  • Knows the rules, follows the rules
  • Can give clear directions
  • Takes action when needed

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WO TRIP LEADER EXPECTATIONS

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  • All WO trip leaders must be current WO members
  • Participate or co-lead in two or more trips before leading your own trip
  • Ensure your own knowledge and skills and lead trips within your skill level
  • Promote inclusion, cooperation, and good communication
  • Maintain leader status by leading two or more WO trips / year
  • Optional– WO Leadership Training (see next slide)
  • Optional - First Aid and CPR skills

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Leadership Training Resources

Guidelines for Women Outdoors Trips

Pocket Checklist or Women Outdoors Events

Trip Difficulty Guidelines

Leave No Trace Guidelines

Leave No Trace - Women's Specific Issues

Paddle leadership training

Training Scholarship Policy

Women Outdoors Unleashed!

WO Waiver

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WO PARTICIPANT GUIDELINES

Participants need to:

  • Understand and accept responsibility for your own safety and group safety
  • Work cooperatively with the trip leader and others as part of your group
  • Stay with the group
  • Let your leader know if your plans or timing changes
  • Participants are encouraged but not required to be members of W0
    • We hope that after 2-3 trips, participants will join Women Outdoors

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Trip Difficulty Levels

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  • Level 1 - casual, easy
    • Hike: Within a mile from a road (hence not ‘wilderness’). Includes walks and meanders and shorter, less strenuous hikes. Could be 1-4 hours, includes stops.
    • Bike: 1-3 hours riding time on paved roads, gentle terrain. Rest stops.
    • Paddle: flat water or gentle current, within swimming distance to shore. 1-3 hours of relaxed paddling. Leader should be able to swim her boat to shore, and help someone else get her boat to shore and empty them. Be able to tow swimmer and tow boat to shore or perform a rescue.

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  • Level 2+ - refer to the trip level rating system on the WO website

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Safety Precautions

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  • Start of the trip: explain the expectations (ie stay with the group)
  • Walk/hike: Participants on hikes should have proper footwear.
  • Paddle: All participants on paddling trips must wear properly fitted life jackets (when you lift the shoulder straps of the pfd, the front should not come up over your chin.)
  • Bike: Participants on bike rides must wear a well-fitting helmet.

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Trip Planning

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Pick your activity and location

    • Is the venue open?
    • Are there any hazards?
    • Be aware of the weather
    • Parking availability
    • Cost to park/admission?
    • What items are recommended? (ie a water bottle , binoculars for a bird walk, helmet for bike ride,hikingpoles)
    • Group size limitations, co-leaders, dogs distracting
    • Closest emergency services/hospital & phone numbers
    • Is the trip ADA accessible?
    • Check for any medical conditions that might be impacted by this activity

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PRE-TRIP GUIDELINES

  • Notify your RC & get approval
  • Have previous experience on this particular trip
  • If appropriate, have a co-leader
  • Be honest about your own skills, limits, and expectations, set up your trip accordingly
  • Post trip on meetup or other platform used

by your region’s RC

    • Communicate level of difficulty-elevation gain and where on the trail, terrain and hazards
    • Share info on what to expect and required equipment for leader and participants, supplies needed
  • Screen as needed to understand your participants’ needs and skills- put in the meetup writeup
  • Print emergency contact form
  • Scheduling - do not overlap with other trips if possible

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Trip Posting

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Meetup or website:

  • Description of trip - leave out time & meeting location
  • In trip description, describe trip difficulty, risks, fitness requirements
    • trip-distance
    • describe terrain
    • pace
    • required gear
  • Ask participants to inform you of any medical conditions or accommodations
  • Max # of participants. Don’t post time and place.
  • Guests of Meetup members must register on Meetup website
  • RSVP if can’t attend
  • Rain date

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Current Covid Statement

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We encourage all of our members and guests to follow the latest recommendations and guidelines from the CDC to protect yourselves and others from Covid-19.

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Pre-trip Communication

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  • Two to three days before your activity:
    • Share your contact info, and get all phone numbers from participants
    • Provide meeting time, location & directions
    • Go over equipment needed by participants
      • drink water before leaving home, and before starting out, and refill water bottles
    • Remind participants about gear and supplies needed
    • Check and communicate the weather forecast
    • Announce cancellation date/time and rain date
    • Have participants notify you if their plans have changed
    • Provide links to maps, other materials

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As a leader, what do you need to bring?

  • Waiver and Emergency Contact form and pen
  • Cell phone, fully charged
  • Bring Extra :
    • snacks and water
    • clothing that will fit anyone
    • blanket/foam pad for the ground
    • first aid kit
    • 10 essentials
  • Pocket resources list
  • Leave trip plan with RC

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“Trailhead Talk”

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  • Welcome everyone, introductions, set an inviting atmosphere
  • Ensure waivers are signed
  • Re-check medical issues and trip readiness
  • Check footwear, water, food, other gear, if applicable
  • Ensure method of keeping track of participants
    • assign lead and sweep, stop if you cannot see the person behind you
  • Set turnaround time
  • Set group expectations, ie:
    • Stay together,
    • Bio breaks (always tell someone you are going off trail, can leave backpack on side of trail)
    • Stopping at all forks and wait for the group, wait till last people have caught their breath
    • Trail signs,
  • Disclose any risks / hazards, elevation and terrain
  • Assign lead and sweep (front and back)

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  • Recognize that you are responsible for the group’s safety
  • Exercise good judgment and encourage good judgment on the part of the women you lead
  • Water breaks at each rest /wait stop
  • Facilitate positive group interactions and welcome new women
  • Teach, practice, and encourage sound environmental ethics
  • Stay with your plan ( Be adaptable for weather, hazards, participants’ abilities)

What to be thinking about during the trip

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POST TRIP �GUIDELINES

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  • Debrief with co-leader(s)
  • Assumption of Risk forms to Regional Coordinator (RC)
  • File accident reports
  • Post pics on social media!

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Trip Tips

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  • Encourage good hydration - encourage everyone to drink often
    • helps avoid fatigue, heat exhaustion, hypothermia
    • electrolytes are very helpful
  • Adjust pace for everyone’s comfort, taking breaks out of the sun if possible, avoid long stops
  • Adjust clothing layers to match activity level
    • avoid sweating, especially in cold weather
    • add layers to avoid chilling
  • Be attentive to others’ conditions

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Creating easy trips

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  • Think about creating trips that would attract diverse populations, near public transportation, not alot of equipment required, new places to visit
  • Diversity committee: think about trips that are more accessible to people who would not otherwise come
    • for more information about what Diversity committee is doing, contact <hha57@yahoo.com> <Lagould@msn.com>
  • Give feedback, share ideas about trips, make a list to put on the website
    • easy trails
    • women’s history month trip, MLK day, Juneteeth
    • walks around town-different groups show up than on hikes further out of town
    • museums
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Emergency Procedures & Reporting System

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If there is an emergency situation:

  • Don’t panic.
  • Survey: Decide exactly what steps to take before acting.
  • Give first aid to the victim if trained or contact EMS.
  • If there is no cell service, choose messenger party to go for help.
      • Send at least two people.
        • Send with the messenger party a completed accident report form and map or sketch showing exact location of the patient.
      • Leave at least one person with the victim.
  • Contact Regional Coordinator as soon as possible to report accident
  • WO does not carry liability insurance.
    • All participants must sign the Women Outdoors waiver

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External Leadership Training Reimbursement

Women Outdoors may reimburse approved members for a portion of the expenses for training in First Aid, CPR, and skills trainings.

Guidelines and application are available at

https://www.womenoutdoors.org/MembersOnly

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How do I contact my RC?

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Resources

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VOLUNTEER PROTECTION ACT

Women Outdoors doesn't have insurance. Volunteer trip leaders are protected from liability by the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997. Here's a summary.

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In a nutshell, volunteer trip leaders are only protected by this law if they haven't acted negligently.

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SCOPE OF LIMITATION ON LIABILITY

Under the act no volunteer of a nonprofit organization or governmental entity can be liable for harm caused by his act or omission on its behalf if:

1. he was acting within the scope of his responsibilities at the time of the act or omission;

2. he was properly licensed, certified, or authorized by the appropriate authorities in the state where the harm occurred;

3. the harm was not caused by willful or criminal misconduct, gross negligence, reckless misconduct, or a conscious flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of the person harmed by the volunteer [my emphasis]; and

4. the harm was not caused by the volunteer operating a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other vehicle for which the state requires the operator or owner to possess a license or maintain insurance.

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As you can surmise, the lax attention to safety that you describe could potentially set up a trip leader to liability claims should something go wrong. And things do go wrong.

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QUESTIONS?

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THANK YOU!

Women Outdoors, Inc.

www.womenoutdoors.org

@womenoutdoorsinc

@womenoutdoors