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I have been guilty of winging it in rogaine training. And the net result is not quite the smoothly oiled machine that I present everywhere. Take the time to develop good training programs. It will pay off with faster, more exciting games. The stuff here is a start. It's the first time I've actually gotten everything written down in one place.
In the following sections I distinguish between 3 groups:
- Participants or runners.
- Captains & Navigators.
- Leaders
Where I ask for competency, you can interpret it as the equivalent of a 70% in school. The person knows 2/3 of it. When I ask for mastery, I expect 85% about 5/6 of everything, and no omission that would result in catastrophic events. Not surprisingly most of the mastery requirements are in the Safety section.
I've divided the skill set for Rogaine as follows:
Section 1: Safety
Hypothermia Prevention
Hypothermia is called, "Killer of the unprepared" with good reason. The best way to deal with it is to not have to deal with it. ALL participants must master this.
- What it is.
- Three main causes -- temp, wind, wet.
- Who is more at risk
- Dress to prevent.
- Buddy system
- Importance of food & rest before.
Hazardous situations.
This is a review of hazards that are common in winter. All participants should master this material.
- Hazards of wilderness travel. Hidden surfaces, slipery slopes, thin ice.
- Difficulties of dealing with an accident in winter.
- Stupid behaviour.
Communications
This section covers the communication rule and the four basic signals: "Where are you" "Here I am" "Come to me" "I'm coming" Advantage of whistles. All participants should master this.
Lost
Ok, you've screwed up, and the group is in two separate places out of signal distance. What do you do:
The usual recommendation when lost is to sit still. In winter this is a good way to become a hypothermia victim unless you build a fire. There are many ways to set up a response. Agreement is more critical than details. Everyone must be on the same page.
Ideally it will be a pair, not an individual that is lost. This is how it will play out if you are running your buddy system properly.
First aid.
I don't cover first aid here. I recommend that all participants have the equivalent of St. John's Ambulance (no relation to the school I worked at) or Red Corss basic first aid. This is the 4 hour course. Ideally leaders or captains have a 40 hour first responder course with emphasis on wilderness situations.
Running and analyizing a 2-3 scenarios as a review is a good idea.
Hypothermia Response
This section covers what you need to do when you discover that your prevention didn't work. This course must be mastered by Captains and Leaders.
- Review prevention. Point out when preventive measures usually fail.
- Change the environment. Get out of the wind, change wet clothing.
- Add insulation. Stop additional heat loss.
- Help generate heat. Food and warm liquids. Keep victim moving.
- Monitor
- Accidents -- Situations where things get out of control quickly.
- If you can't move, build a fire.
- Secondary casualties -- concentrate on one victim -- have two victims ten minutes later.
Section 2: Map and Compass 1
This group of skills are ones that I expect everyone to attempt. Depending on how long you are willing to take, how hard you push, and the participant's basic skill at simple mental arithmetic you will have varying success. Participants have to be exposed to it, Captains, Navigators, and leaders have to master it.
Skills covered:
Compass & Pace
- Set a given bearing
- Following a bearing over irregular terrain
- Measure distance by pacing.
- As a group, move a set bearing and range through heavy bush.
Maps
- What is a map
- Orienting a map by using terrain.
- Following a map.
- Predicting ahead.
Section 3: Map and Compass 2
This course is necessary for Captains and navigators. Ideally leaders master it too, as it make them better mentors. I don't require this for basic participants, but if interested, they can come.
Maps
- Map coordinates. Reading and ploting UTM and Latitude/Longitude
- Map directions. Understanding and converting between true, magnetic and grid north.
- Measuring distances on a map.
- Estimating time for a route.
Compass
- Taking a bearing
- Moving to a particular bearing (E.g. get to a spot where a tower is due south of you.
- Back bearing to go away.
- Team exercises in keeping to a bearing in rough terrain.
Searching and Time Management
This course shoudl be taken by all -- mostly because it will help captains
later in running their team. Runners don't need to master this material.
Captains and Navigators should master it. Leaders should take the course for mentoring.
- Time management at the control -- overview of the problem.
- Making things move
- Communication rule -- Minimum signals, recommended additional signals.
- Searching -- types of searches.
- Running a linear search.
- Running an area searchy.
- Running a scatter search.
Race Planning
Either the captain or navigator must master this material. It's better if both master it. As before, leaders are better mentors if they take this course too.
- Reviewing the rules that apply to planning. What do you need to do.
- Understanding clues -- deciphering the clue sheet.
- Plotting the clues.
- Deciding on your best controls.
- Contingency Plan: Running Late.
- Contingency Plan: Running Fast.
- Marking your route
- Submitting your plan.
Leadership
This training segment focuses primarily on the captain's special skills. The navigator should take it too -- he's the captain's assistant, and if he's taken this, he will be on the same page, and understand what the captain is trying to do.
Pre-Race checks.
- Equipment check.
- Food, water check.
- Emergency gear check.
- Fitness check: Anyone with colds, blisters, other injuries.
- Buddy check.
- Default direction if lost
Trail management
- Use each person's skills.
- Involving team members
- Keep things moving.
- Use of voice, choice of wording.
- Importance of delegating.
- Importance of routine
Time management
- More tricks to shave seconds.