If you’ve ever been to a large Scout event in the UK, chances are you’ve seen representatives from ScoutMed, the National Scout Active Support Unit (NSASU) for first aid and medical treatment. ScoutMed is made up of a huge range of volunteers from doctors to first-aiders, who are committed to attending to the medical needs of staff and participants at Scout events.

Sam, a paramedic outside of Scouts, was one of the members of ScoutMed on standby at the opening ceremony on Saturday night. Having been a member of Scouts since the age of 6, becoming a paramedic made perfect sense to him. “Scouting and being a paramedic is a shared mindset and I thought I could smash the two things together. It’s good to be able to support the events like this one.”

Sarah, a cardiac physiologist, has been with ScoutMed for about 10 months and is already on her third event. She has been Akela with Kew Scout group since 2010, and for Sarah, “Scouting is a change rather than a break [from my professional life] and it keeps us young!”.

Jess, who followed in her godfather’s footsteps to become a paramedic, was also on duty. She is volunteering with ScoutMed for the first time at this event, and was outspoken about how much Scouts has helped her succeed in life. “Most of the job is talking to people and I learnt that at Scouts. When I was a kid, I was the shyest kid ever, I would barely talk to anyone and now being county youth lead and being a paramedic I have no choice but to go and talk to people. Now I can stand up in front of a room full of adults, and tell them ‘Listen to the young people and what they’re talking about!’ Maybe ruffle a few feathers!”

ScoutMed is just one of the many NSASUs that operate to support events like EIJ2024 and provide a different type of volunteering, one perhaps better suited to those not able to commit to a weekly meeting. ScoutMed are always looking to hear from new members no matter your level of clinical skill and they can be contacted through their website: https://www.scoutmed.org