Emergency Preparedness

Emergency Preparedness merit badge requirements

1. Earn the First Aid merit badge.
2. Do the following:

   (a) Discuss with your counselor the aspects of emergency preparedness:

   (1) Prevention

   (2) Protection

   (3) Mitigation

   (4) Response

   (5) Recovery

   Include in your discussion the kinds of questions that are important to ask yourself as you consider each of these.

   (b) Using a chart, graph, spreadsheet, or another method approved by your counselor, demonstrate your understanding of each aspect of emergency preparedness listed in requirement 2a (prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery) for 10 emergency situations from the list below. You must use the first five situations listed below in boldface, plus any other five of your choice. Discuss your findings with your counselor.

   (1) Home kitchen fire

   (2) Home basement/storage room/garage fire

   (3) Explosion in the home

   (4) Automobile crash

   (5) Food-borne disease (food poisoning)

   (6) Fire or explosion in a public place

   (7) Vehicle stalled in the desert

   (8) Vehicle trapped in a blizzard

   (9) Earthquake or tsunami

   (10) Mountain/backcountry accident

   (11) Boating or water accident

   (12) Gas leak in a home or a building

   (13) Tornado or hurricane

   (14) Major flooding or a flash flood

   (15) Toxic chemical spills and releases

   (16) Nuclear power plant emergency

   (16) Avalanche (snowslide or rockslide)

   (17) Violence in a public place

   (c) Meet with and teach your family how to get or build a kit, make a plan, and be informed for the situations on the chart you created for requirement 2b. Complete a family plan. Then meet with your counselor and report on your family meeting, discuss their responses, and share your family plan.

3. Show how you could safely save a person from the following:

   (a) Touching a live household electric wire.

   (b) A structure filled with carbon monoxide

   (c) Clothes on fire.

   (d) Drowning, using nonswimming rescues (including accidents on ice).

4. Show three ways of attracting and communicating with rescue planes/aircraft.
5. With another person, show a good way to transport an injured person out of a remote and/or rugged area, conserving the energy of rescuers while ensuring the well-being and protection of the injured person.
6. Do the following:

   (a) Describe the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Incident Command System (ICS).

   (b) Identify the local government or community agencies that normally handle and prepare for emergency services similar to those of the NIMS or ICS. Explain to your counselor ONE of the following:

   (1) How the NIMS/ICS can assist a Boy Scout troop when responding in a disaster

   (2) How a group of Scouts could volunteer to help in the event of these types of emergencies

   (c) Find out who is your community's emergency management director and learn what this person does to prevent, protect, mitigate, respond to, and recover from emergency situations in your community. Discuss this information with your counselor, utilizing the information you learned from requirement 2b.

7. Do the following:

   (a) Take part in an emergency service project, either a real one or a practice drill, with a Scouting unit or a community agency.

   (b) Prepare a written plan for mobilizing your troop when needed to do emergency service. If there is already a plan, explain it. Tell your part in making it work.

8. Do the following:

   (a) Tell the things a group of Scouts should be prepared to do, the training they need, and the safety precautions they should take for the following emergency services:

   (1) Crowd and traffic control

   (2) Messenger service and communication.

   (3) Collection and distribution services.

   (4) Group feeding, shelter, and sanitation.

   (b) Prepare a personal emergency service pack for a mobilization call. Prepare a family kit (suitcase or waterproof box) for use by your family in case an emergency evacuation is needed. Explain the needs and uses of the contents.

9. Do ONE of the following:

   (a) Using a safety checklist approved by your counselor, inspect your home for potential hazards. Explain the hazards you find and how they can be corrected.

   (b) Review or develop a plan of escape for your family in case of fire in your home.

   (c) Develop an accident prevention program for five family activities outside the home (such as taking a picnic or seeing a movie) that includes an analysis of possible hazards, a proposed plan to correct those hazards, and the reasons for the corrections you propose.

The official source for the information shown in this article or section is: Boy Scout Requirements, 2018 Edition (BSA Supply SKU #641568)

A FREE workbook for Emergency Preparedness is available here! (PDF or Word) with the maps, charts, links, diagrams, and checklists you need! Or click here to print just the Emergency Preparedness requirements.

meritbadge.org has PDF and Word versions of workbooks for Scouts BSA ranks and merit badges, Webelos adventures, Cub Scout ranks and adventures, and Nova awards.

• Per the BSA: "You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject." The Emergency Preparedness merit badge pamphlet can purchased at ScoutSthop.org or at your local Scout Shop.
• "Get a signed Application for Merit Badge ... from your unit leader." An electronic, fillable, and printable PDF file version is available.

• All registered youth and adults awards: Emergency Preparedness BSA Award
• Scouts BSA merit badges: Backpacking • Camping • Canoeing • Climbing • Cooking • Crime Prevention • Cycling • Dentistry • Electricity • Emergency Preparedness • Fire Safety • First Aid • Hiking • Home Repairs • Kayaking • Lifesaving • Medicine • Motorboating • Nature • Orienteering • Pioneering • Public Health • Radio • Rowing • Safety • Search and Rescue • Signs, Signals, and Codes • Small-Boat Sailing • Snow Sports • Swimming • Traffic Safety • Water Sports • Weather • Wilderness Survival
• Webelos: Webelos Adventure: First Responder • Webelos-AoL Elective Adventure: Castaway
• Venturing: Ranger Award-Emergency Preparedness Requirement
• Unit awards: BSA Ready & Prepared Award
• Skills: Emergency Kit • First-Aid Kit • First-Aid Skills • Safe Swim Defense • Safety Afloat • Guide to Safe Scouting

• An Introduction to Merit Badges – how to get started, who chooses the counselor, etc.
• Merit Badge revision dates – latest revision dates of each merit badge pamphlet.
• Merit Badge Worksheets & Requirements – with the revision dates, diagrams, charts, checklists, logs, and links you need.
• Merit Badge Application – offers online resources to let you print "Blue Cards," etc.
• Merit Badge FAQ – answers dozens of questions like: Who can be a counselor? Can requirements be added or removed?
• Merit Badges Requiring Prior Approval – Certain requirements need prior approval. Most do not. Here is the list.
• Also see: List of how many youths have earned each Merit Badge – Merit Badge policies – Merit badges required for the Eagle Scout rank – Merit Badge Days
• Additionally: List of Merit Badges by Field of Study – Merit Badge Pamphlets & Libraries
• Merit Badge Counselors must complete Youth Protection Training, file an Adult Application (and Merit Badge Counselor Information Form); and be approved by the local council. (See the Guide for Merit Badge Counselors for additional details.)
• See Submitting New Merit Badge Ideas for guidance on how to submit suggestions for new merit badges to BSA.