side menu icon
archery - Copy

Safety

Nothing is more important within Girl Scouting than ensuring the health and safety of girls. Health and safety extend to developing safety consciousness in girls and adults, as well as training staff, volunteers, and girls to ensure proper supervision, prevention of accidents and incidents, and maintenance of program resources.

check_32

Girl Scouts covers safety from all angles in several resources available to volunteers:

  • Volunteer Essentials, our national volunteer handbook, devotes an entire chapter to volunteers' responsibilities for protecting girls' emotional and physical well-being.
  • Safety Activity Checkpoints, in-depth safety information and tips that adult volunteers use for Girl Scout sports and activities; girls can also use these checkpoints to ready their group for a girl-led activity. 

Daisies through Ambassadors can learn about safety and well-being when they earn the Safety Award. And, Brownies through Ambassadors can earn the First Aid Legacy badge. Find descriptions in The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting for each grade level.

First Aid Courses

Emergencies require prompt action and quick judgment. For many activities, Girl Scouts recommends that at least one adult volunteer be first aid/CPR certified. Volunteers can take advantage of first aid/CPR training offered by chapters of the American Red Cross, American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI), National Safety Council, EMP America, American Heart Association, or other sponsoring organizations approved by their councils. If possible, volunteers should take age-specific CPR training—that is, take child CPR if they're working with younger girls and adult CPR when working with older girls and adults.

A first-aider is an adult volunteer who has taken Girl Scout–approved first aid and CPR training that includes specific instructions for child CPR. If, through the American Red Cross, American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI), National Safety Council, EMP America, or American Heart Association, volunteers have a chance to be fully trained in first aid and CPR, doing so may make event and activity planning go a little more smoothly. The Safety Activity Checkpoints note when a first-aider needs to be present.

Check our event calendar for a current list of approved first aid courses and training schedules.

check_32

First Aid/CPR training that is available entirely online does not satisfy Girl Scouts' requirements. Such courses do not offer enough opportunities to practice and receive feedback on your technique. Approval is needed for courses taken online or from a third party not listed above.

Online Safety

Girls and volunteers make great partners to ensure that Girl Scout environments and activities are safe. Many possible projects can develop girls' safety skills and increase their understanding of what it means to be safe. Before girls explore the Internet, they need to sign the GSUSA Online Safety Pledge.