CAMPING SAFETY HAZARD MANAGEMENT (SOP)

CAMPING SAFETY HAZARD MANAGEMENT

(Standard Operation Procedure)

Why do we need this manual?

Camping activities are always surrounded by hazardous elements. These hazards can cause
serious harm and can even result in death. Therefore, it is the responsibility of everyone involved

in camping activities to identify hazards that exist in order to prevent unwanted incidents.

FACULTY OF TROPICAL FORESTRY, UMS

[email protected]
February 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page
Topic
2
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO CAMPING HAZARDS AND RISKS
2.0 FOREST CAMP SAFETY PROCEDURE 3
2.1 SAFETY PROCEDURE BEFORE CAMPING 3
3
2.1.1 Establishment of Camp Safety Committee 5
2.1.2 Health and Fitness Preparation 7
2.1.3 Camp Safety Measure 12
2.1.4 Indemnity Agreement Form
2.2 SAFETY PROCEDURE DURING CAMPING 13
2.2.1 Safety Briefing 14
2.2.2 Camp site hazard evaluation 14
2.2.3 Night Sentry and Hazard Watch 15
2.2.4 Health Monitoring and Emergency Action 16

3.0. SAFETY PROCEDURE AFTER CAMPING 18
4.0 CONCLUSION
18
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CAMPING SAFETY AND HAZARD MANAGEMENT

Mohd. Abdullah bin Abd Ghani and Azwal Aziz Malandi

1.0 INTRODUCTION TO CAMPING HAZARDS AND RISKS

Camping activities are always surrounded by hazardous elements. These hazards can cause serious harm
and can even result in death. Therefore, it is the responsibility of everyone involved in camping activities
to identify hazards that exist in order to prevent unwanted incidents. Those who ignore and are unaware
of surrounding dangers, their risk of accidents are relatively higher than those who are aware on any
danger that may exist.

Camping activities are very common for forestry students. During their 3 to 4 year studies in Bachelor of
Forestry Science, they will undergo several camping activities such as ‘Family Camp’, fieldwork camps and
‘Forest Camp’. ‘Forest Camp’ is one of the most important camping activity during their study period and
is compulsory and requires them to camp in the forest for two weeks.

Based on the past experiences, in particular from the past 20 years of Forest Camp management and
implementation involving more than 30 troops of UMS Forestry students, various hazardous incidents and
injuries have occurred due to natural disaster or happen simply due to negligence.

Some of the hazardous incidents that occurred during the ‘Forest Camp’ which has been carried out for
more than 20 years are: fallen timber that collapsed onto staff tent (due to river erosion; no injuries), flash
floods that washed away camping equipments (due to heavy rainfall; no injuries), students fall into the
river (rescued and no injuries), students slip and fall from steep cliffs during hiking (minor injuries and
rescued), students get injured from the use of machetes (most frequent and often involving small cuts or
minor injuries that require them to undergo minor surgery), fainted, asthma attacks, and students got
bitten/stung by poisonous creatures (snake, centipede and scorpion). These are some of the most
common incidents that happened. We are very grateful that there have been no cases leading to
permanent disability or death. However, we must remember that many camping activities in this country
end up in tragedy. We should be aware that camping always possess dangers and therefore the best
precaution should be taken to prevent serious injury.

All of the hazardous elements discussed above are directly identifiable hazards. There are other hazards
that are important to consider as they may seem harmless but can be fatal such malaria disease and
leptospirosis. Tawrell (2006) in his book 'Camping and The Wilderness Survival' states that the greatest
hazard of tropic's jungle is insects, particularly Malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

In 2005, two forestry students were found to be infected with Malaria after returning from a ‘Science
Camp’ in the Serinsim Station in Kota Merudu. Both students did not take the Anti-Malaria Pills as
suggested. Both students recovered completely after suffering from fever and malaria symptoms for more
than two weeks. In a separate incident in 2017 a forestry student was diagnosed with Leptospirosis after
two days back from the Forest Camp. His condition was so serious that he had to be admitted to the
Intensive Care Unit for a few days. However, it is unclear whether he was infected during the Forest Camp
or before he entered the forest camp. He fully recovered after receiving almost a month of treatment.
Londeree (2014), states that cases of leptospirosis can range from a mild or subclinical infection to a very
severe and potentially fatal one.

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All of the above presented incidents and hazards of camping are not intended to intimidate the reader to
avoid camping but are intended to remind readers about the importance of precaution and camping
hazard identification. The topic of camping hazards is quite broad, however, this chapter will focus only
on Forest Camp hazard management.

2.0 FOREST CAMP SAFETY PROCEDURE
Before a camp is organized, the camp organizer should consider the safety concerns of the participants.
Not only should a camp organizer have to be prepared, but camp participants should also be prepared
and aware of the hazard and risks inherent to them. The first thing a camp organizer should do is to set
up a Camp Safety Committee. The committee consists of members selected based on their capacity,
responsibilities and experience in matters pertaining to the safety and health of the participants. The
Committee is responsible for ensuring that the camp's safety procedures are followed and that all plans
and activities related to safety and hazard management before, during and after the camp is carried out.
There are lot of things about safety in camping if we refer to camping books. This chapter will focus on
the key safety measures that must be taken in the forest camp either by the organizer or participants of
the camp. The main camping safety procedures discussed in this chapter are divided into three main
sections, which are, before, during and after the camp as listed in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Three main section of Forest Camp safety procedure that should be conducted before, during
and after camp.

2.1 SAFETY PROCEDURE BEFORE CAMPING
Good planning is essential before camping. Camping safety should be the top priority in camping
preparation. Safety procedures before the Forest Camp conducted can be broken down into 4 main
activities which are: i. Establishment of Safety Committee; ii. Health and fitness preparation; iii. Camp
safety measure; iv. Indemnity agreement form.
2.1.1 Establishment of Camp Safety Committee
One of the important ways to ensure safety procedures can be followed, is by establishment of Camp
Safety Committee. The Safety Committee is responsible for planning and implementing all necessary
security measures. In the ‘Forest Camp’ practice, the Safety Committee consists of 10 members. It is
recommended that members of the committee consist of members who will be at the campsite during

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the camp. This is to ensure that any important safety decisions can be made in the campsite if necessary.
These 10 members are:

1. Camp Coordinator
2. Deputy Camp Coordinator
3. Head of Security
4. Deputy Head of Security
5. Head of Screening
6. Member of Screening
7. Forest Camp Committee Member 1
8. Forest Camp Committee Member 2
9. Forest Camp Committee Member 3
10. Forest Camp Committee Member 4
The Security Committee meeting when convening to decide on any important matters related to safety
must consist of five members present. This Security Committee meeting should be attended by a
combination of the following members:
1. Camp Coordinator or Deputy Camp Coordinator
2. Head of Security or Deputy Head of Security
3. Head of Screening or any Member of Screening
4. Any Forest Camp Committee Member
5. Any Forest Camp Committee Member
All meetings held and any decision made must be recorded by the Head of Security or the Deputy Head
of Security in a special book called the Forest Camp Safety Record. Any decision that has critical
implications must be signed by all five members who meet (Figure 2). This is for reference records in case
any critical issue arise in the future.

Figure 2: Example of Forest Camp Safety Record extracted from Forest Camp Post-Mortem Report 2019.

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2.1.2 Health and Fitness Preparation
The health and fitness levels of camp participants before entering the campsite are important to be
screened. There are three important procedures that need to be conducted in the health preparation of
participants. These three procedures are;

i. Record gathering of participant’s health background, critical illness and medication.
ii. Physical health and fitness screening test
iii. DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) emotion stability test.
i. Record gathering of participant’s health background
Each camp participant is required to fill out health background form issued by the Camp Safety
Committee. This form contains questions regarding the background of the participant's health, critical
illness, and medical treatment. The form should be circulated at least one month before the forest camp
and received by the Screening Committee at least a week before the camp.
ii. Physical health and fitness screening tests
Through past experiences there are participants in camps with critical illnesses such as asthma and high/
low blood pressure either hiding or not realizing they have the disease. To address the safety concerns of
camp participants, a screening and fitness test should be conducted to identify students with health
problems.
One of the most common fitness testing methods used by the Forest Camp Screening Committee is
Copper aerobic fitness tests that require students to run or jog for a distance about 2.4 km with recorded
time. The most frequently used route for this fitness test is the jogging path around the UMS Forestry
Complex (Figure 3). Part of the route including climbing stairs and running downhill.

Figure 3: Google Earth image of Forest Camp fitness test route approximately 2.4km (2 rounds).

The following Figure 4 is general indicator of time taken vs cardiovascular fitness level for the Cooper 2.4
km run test for males and females aged 20-29 years (Toppendsport.com, 2020) on flat terrain. On the

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right is Forest Camp Fitness Standard with 10 minutes allowance considering route of hilly terrain and
stairs.

Rating International Standard (flat terrain) Forest Camp Standard (hill terrain)

Very poor Male (Minutes) Female (Minutes) Male (Minutes) Female (Minutes)
Poor
Fair > 16:01 > 19:01 > 26.01 >29:01
Good
16:00-14:01 19:00-18:31 26:00-24.01 29:00-28:31
Excellent
Superior 14:00-12:01 18:30-15:55 24:00-22:01 28:30-25:55

12:00-10:46 15:54-13:31 22:00-20:46 25:54-23:31

10:45-9:45 13:30-12:30 20:45-19:45 23:30-22:30

< 9:44 < 12:29 <19:44 <22:29

Figure 4: Standard and Forest Camp Cardiovascular Fitness Indicator of Cooper 2.4 km run test.

Students who score outside of the lowest range will be monitored to ensure that they do not have serious
health problems. Any student who fails to complete the run will be checked for his/her health status and
careful monitoring will be conducted including sending student for medical checkup at the UMS Clinic.

Besides the Copper test, the heart rate and blood pressure of the students also need to be checked.
Examination of heart rate and blood pressure is very important to identify students with health problems.
Students who demonstrate high / low blood pressure will be included in the list of participants that need
to be monitored throughout the forest camp. They also need to do blood pressure and health checks at
the UMS Clinic and be consulted by a doctor. Blood pressure monitoring on Forest Camp 2019 participants
found that 8% of them have either low or high blood pressure.

iii. DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale) emotion stability test.

Apart from physical fitness test, camp participants also need to undergo emotion stability tests. Hysteria
has occurred twice in the history of Forest Camp. Both incidents involved female students. The Hysteria
case is believed to be related to the emotional distress of the students involved. It was found that the
Ministry of Education Malaysia had issued a guideline referred as the "Hysteria Handling Management
Guide" which was distributed through the KPM Circular Letter on March 13, 2013. The guide is accessible
via the link https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/UnithemPpdkb/surat-panduan-pengurusan-menangani-
histeria. One of the important things listed as prevention of hysteria is the identification of students at
risk for emotional distress. This identification process can be done through the DASS Test.

The DASS or Depression Anxiety Stress Scale is a mental health screening test used worldwide. In Malaysia,
the DASS test based on 21 questions that are developed by Professor Dr. Ramli Musa, lecturer and Head
of the Psychiatric Consultation Division at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) is
accessible for DASS test. All questions need to be answered honestly so that the results will more accurate.

The results of this DASS test are based on three sections namely Depression, Anxiety and Stress where
the outcome scales are Normal, Mild, Moderate, Severe, and Extremely Severe. Each participant of 'Forest
Camp' need to take the DASS test via link below:
https://www.ramlimusa.com/questionnaires/depression-anxiety-stress-scale-dass-21-bahasa-malaysia/
Students need to submit their result to Forest Camp Screening Committee for monitoring purposes.

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2.1.3 Camp Safety Measure

Selecting the right campsite for the Forest Camp is important to ensure that the students have the
experience of camping in the real forest as well as performing relevant tasks throughout the Forest Camp.
The suitability of camp site usually can be considered from three main factors, which are:

i. Safety factor
ii. Suitability for carrying out learning and practical activities
iii. The area size and carrying capacity of the campsite.

This chapter will focus only on the first factor that is ‘Safety factor’. The Camp Safety Committee should
carry out the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) in the process of selecting the area to be
chosen as the campsite. Besides conducting HIRA, other safety measures that should be conducted before
the camp starts are notification to relevant parties and safety training to participants. Therefore, process
of safety measures before Forest Camp starts can be listed as follow:

i. Identification of hazards found at campsite.
ii. Assessment of each hazard risk.
iii. Determination and prioritization of hazard according to its level.
iv. Notification to relevant parties.
v. Safety and first aid training.

i. Identification of hazards found at campsite.

Any hazard that exists at campsite must be identified. Each identified hazards should be evaluated to
assess its hazard level. The following hazard checklist serve as quick guide to common identified hazards
at camping areas which can facilitate Camp Safety Committee to conduct their campsite risk assessment.
Hazard at campsite can be divided into three main categories which are:

1. Major Risk Hazards
2. Regular Hazards
3. Critical rescue delay hazard

Major Risk Hazard: A selected campsite should be free from the following three Major Risk Hazard. If any
of these major risks are a possibility, then this area cannot be selected as a camping area. The major risk
hazards are as follows:

a. Large scale natural disaster or catastrophe predicted: such as earthquake, typhoon, flood etc.
b. Deadly disease outbreak area: such as Malaria, Leptospirosis, SARS, COVID-19, etc.
c. Areas of terrorist threat, violence and piracy: such as kidnapping and Sulu’s rebellion threat.

Regular Hazards: Regular hazards of camping areas in the jungle are as listed below. Each of these hazards
should be evaluated for their risk level.

a. Falling branches and tree hazards
b. Water hazards
c. Wild animal and poisonous creature/plant hazards
d. Terrain (steep slope and falling from cliff) hazards
e. Landslide or cliff collapse hazards
f. Fire hazards
g. Poaching activity hazards
h. Extreme heat and dehydration hazards

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Critical rescue delay hazard: This hazard is related to the ability of a deadly emergency victim to be
provided with life support as soon as possible. Although these evacuation abilities do not cause immediate
harm but the delay in life support can lead to the risk of death for some emergencies, such as venomous
snake bite, chronic asthma attack, chronic allergy, stroke and severe bleeding. There are two important
matters that need to be considered in this category of hazard:

a. The time duration to evacuate the victim. This time duration consists of; i. Evacuation from
accident area to road, ii. Evacuation from road to nearby Hospital.

b. Communication system. The communication (telecommunication) system should be good
and always ready for emergency.

Sharma, et al. (2004) stated that more than 75% of deaths from snakebite envenoming occur before
reaching hospital care, this statement also agreed by Longbottom, et al. (2018). This fact shows how
important it is for the victim to be hospitalized quickly.

ii. Assessment of each hazard risk.

Hazard assessment in this chapter focuses more on the probability of hazard incident that could happen
and its impact to injury severity in campsite. Modification of the severity interpretation to suite the topic
of campsite hazards has been made based on Guidelines for Hazard Identification Risk Assessment and
Risk Control book published in 2008 by Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), Ministry
of Human Resources, Malaysia.

Each of the above discussed hazard should be assessed its risk by conducting Risk Matrix (Figure 6) which
needs us to evaluate the risk level based on the evaluation of two related key matters which are known
as likelihood and consequences.

i. Likelihood: Likelihood is probability of threat incident to be happened. It can be broken down into

five levels of probability.

1. Rare : This will probably never happen / recur

2. Unlikely : Do not expect it to happen / recur but it is possible it may do so

3. Possible : Might happen or recur occasionally

4. Likely : Will probably happen / recur, but it is not a persisting issue

5. Almost certain : Will undoubtedly happen / recur, possibly frequently

ii. Severity: Severity can be described as the maximum injury that can occur by the impact of the

identified hazard. It can be broken down into five levels of injury severity.

1. Insignificant : Hazard can cause small injury/scratch/bruises (light treatment in camp)

2. Minor : Hazard can cause minor injury (outpatient hospital treatment)

3. Moderate : Hazard can cause emergency treatment (warded) with no permanent disability

4. Major : Hazard can cause critical emergency treatment and permanent disability

5. Critical : Hazard can be fatal at the incident site or during rescue/treatment.

For the purpose of assessing hazard risk in a systematic way, campsite hazard assessment can be
conducted by using Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Form (Figure 5) that has been especially
designed for Forest Camp below. Once the assessment of hazards likelihood and its severity has been

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completed, the risk level assessment can be done by using the Risk Formula at the bottom of this table or
using Hazard Risk Matrix coloured diagram shown in Table 6.

Figure 5: Campsite Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment form for Risk Level evaluation.
iii. Determination and prioritization of hazard
Hazard level determination in this section is based on Hazard Risk Matrix guideline by DOSH 2008. Risk
level of each hazard can be valued into three levels which are:

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i. Low : considered as acceptable and further reduction of hazard may not be necessary.
ii. Medium : Requires a temporary measure for hazard reduction if required.
iii. High : Requires immediate action to control the hazard.

Risk level can be calculated using the following formula:

L x S = Relative Risk Where; L = Likelihood and C = Severity

By using the formula above, score of each Risk Level can be stated as below:

Low = 1 to 4; Medium = 5 to 12; High = 15 – 25

Figure 6: Risk Matrix Assessment for valuation of Risk Level at campsite. Source: DOSH 2008.

For camping areas that are found to have high risk hazards that require immediate control, there are four
risk reduction methods that can be implemented:

a. Eliminating Hazard: This method is done by eliminating any identified high risk hazards so that the
area can be used for camping.

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b. Search for nearby alternative area: if hazards cannot be removed, then low-risk alternative areas
nearby to the high-risk hazard area should be searched to replace the campsite.

c. Abandon the site: if the hazard cannot be removed and other nearby alternative areas cannot be
searched, the high-risk campsite should be abandoned to prevent serious injury. Other campsites
located in the forest of another zone or district away from that high-risk campsite should be
searched for replacement.

d. Activity cancellation: This is the most extreme decision to be made. This can happen if all the
above three methods of risk reduction cannot be implemented. These results can occur in certain
situations such as war, pandemic disease outbreaks, large-scale natural disasters or state/country
in the state of emergency by certain matters. Forest Camp must be canceled or postponed in
these cases.

All of the actions above should be recorded its date of action and implementation methods for future
reference in order to assess the effectiveness of the safety measures taken and for the benefit of legal
reference documents.

vi. Notification to relevant parties.
Police, hospitals, firefighters and village leaders around the campsite should be notified once the campsite
is found to be suitable and safe to be selected as the campsite area. Notification should be conducted at
least a week before camp started in order to facilitate related matters in the event of any emergencies
occurring during camp.
Notification to the village leaders is also important in order to inform villagers about the upcoming
camping activities, so that hunting activities can be stopped for the safety of camp participants. In order
to increase the safety of camp participants, camp banners should be installed at strategic locations around
the campsite to provide a reminder to hunters who normally go hunting.

iv. Safety and first aid training.
As a step towards improving safety, camp participants should be provided with safety and first aid training.
Some of the key items to be included in the training are hazard assessment methods, emergency response
and basic first aid practice such as CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and basic first aid for injuries.
This training can be conducted in collaboration with the UMS Clinic or the Paramedic Team / Red Crescent
Society. This exercise should involve all camp participants (students and staff).

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2.2.5 Indemnity Agreement Form
Indemnity agreement form should be circulated at least one month before the forest camp and received
by Screening Committee at least a week before the camp. Example of indemnity form as Figure 7 below:

Figure 7: Example of indemnity agreement which needs to be submitted to Safety Committee at least one
week before camp. This agreement should be attached with Camp Health Screening Record form. Source:
Modification from RHC Youth Camp, Singapore 2019 indemnity form.

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2.3 SAFETY PROCEDURE DURING CAMPING

Safety in the camp should be given priority from the first day participants enter the camp. There are four
important procedures to be implemented during the camp. These four safety procedures are:

i. Safety briefing
ii. Camp site hazard evaluation
iii. Night watch and hazard watch
iv. Health monitoring and emergency action

2.2.1 Safety Briefing

Safety briefing is the first thing to do on the first day participants enter the camp before any other
activities can be conducted. This briefing is very important as an early reminder about safety procedures
and actions to be taken in the event of an emergency. Some of the important things to address are;
emergency siren alert, assembly point, response to emergency alert, dangerous acts, surrounding
hazards, danger items, emergency evacuation plan, first aid procedures, safety regulations, and actions
to be taken for those who violate safety rules.

A special session that lasts approximately 1½ hours on the first day of camp should be scheduled for
briefing and Q&A session between the organizer and participants of the camp. The briefing should be
given by the Head of the Safety Committee or his/her deputy. Other than the briefing on the first day.
Daily safety briefings should also be conducted daily to provide current safety warnings and to keep them
aware of current risks and hazards. Daily safety briefings can be conducted by the staff on duty. This
briefing may take about 20-30 minutes.

During this briefing session, the safety and health committee among students should be established. The
Student’s Safety Committee is responsible to assist Camp Organizer for:

i. Regular health monitoring of participants
ii. Organizing night watch (sentry) schedule and reports
iii. Keeping treatment records for injury
iv. Monitoring current risks and hazards

2.2.2 Camp site hazard evaluation

The number of participants in one Forest Camp’s troop is usually within the range of 60 - 80 students,
however, there have been cases where participants of the Forest Camp have reached more than 80
students and the largest number of participants that has been recorded is about 140 students.

From past experiences, a large number of more than 80 students will lead to difficulty on maintaining
security. So it can be suggested that 80 students is the maximum number of participants for safety control.
The more participants, the higher the probability of an accident to occur, so it is best to limit the
participants to the optimum number of 70 to 80 students people in one troop with 7 to 8 members in one
group.

All of these participants will be located in a designated area for them to set up a tent so the area of the
campsite should be evaluated for its hazards. Each student is required to make a HIRA assessment. The
same form (Figure 5) as in the previous example can be used for the purpose of assessing their campsite

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hazards. If there are high-risk hazards recorded, immediate action should be taken to reduce or eliminate
the hazards.

In addition to hazard assessments in the main campsite or known as base camp. Campsite Hazard
Assessment should also be conducted in the Group Camping area. Forest camp activities usually involve
group camping that requires each group camp away from the base camp for 3 days and 2 nights. This
camping group activity aims to give students exposure to the real working experience in the forest as well
as practical for jungle survival skills.

The camp organizer (Safety Committee) is required to conduct hazard risk assessment for the areas
selected to be the Group Camping campsite before students can be admitted. The same form (Figure 5)
as above must be completed and signed by the personnel on safety duty and submitted to the Head of
Camp Safety Committee for monitoring and record.

Upon arriving at the designated campsite area, each group is required to conduct a hazard assessment
using the same form as above. This assessment must be submitted to the Safety Committee during the
group camping safety inspection, a copy must be kept by the group for monitoring and record.

2.2.3 Night Sentry and Hazard Watch

Night sentry and hazard watch are very important safety tasks that need to be performed daily. Night
sentry is usually conducted from 12.00 am to 6.00 am. The purpose of the night sentry is to provide hazard
watch to ensure that the campsite is always protected from any unforeseen hazards when most campers
sleep.

The Head of Camp Safety Committee must ensure that the sentry rotation tasks are properly scheduled
from the first night until the last night of the forest camp. The scheduling of these sentries should be
planned through discussions between group leaders and the Student’s Safety Committee. The sentry log
book should be created and placed in the sentry post.

Some of the main tasks of the group on sentry duty are listed below:

i. Ensuring the fire or lights that need to be lit for safety purposes is always lit throughout the night.
ii. Conducting security patrols at least every 30 minutes around the campsite while observing any

possible hazards such as, poisonous creature and wildlife hazard, sign of rising river’s water level,
signs of hunting activity (sound of gunfire, etc.), intruders, signs of storms, sign of tree break down
hazards, etc.
iii. Make reports on hazards observation into the security log books. Notes should be made for each
patrol although no hazard identified.
iv. Be prepared at the security post in case someone needs help.

During group camping activity, mode of hazard watch will not only be limited to night time, but the hazard
watch will go round-the-clock, day and night. Continuous 24-hour hazard monitoring and record is
essential throughout group camping activity for the purpose of legal documentation in the future.
Rotation of personnel on duty for hazard observation and monitoring of safety and health of team
members should be made. Hazard monitoring and all group member’s safety and health reports should
be written in Safety Log Book for each sentry rotation duty.

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Duration of sentry duty is two hours per sentry rotation. This sentry rotation should be made through a
group-approved discussion. A clear rotation schedule throughout the camping group should be
established. The schedules and sentry records in the log book will be inspected by the Camp Safety
Committee during the Group Camping inspection. Log book notes will be counted for group’s mark. These
monitoring and security instructions for Group Camping are as illustrated in the instruction form (Figure
8) provided during the Forest Camp safety briefing as below:

SECURITY AND MONITORING INSTRUCTIONS FOR GROUP CAMPING

THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS FOR EACH GROUP TO FOLLOW IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF
CAMP PARTICIPANTS IS ALWAYS MONITORED AND RECORDED FOR LEGAL DOCUMENTATION. IT IS A PROCEDURE THAT MUST BE
IMPLEMENTED THROUGHOUT GROUP CAMPING ACTIVITY.

3 HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT
Each group should evaluate the risks of their campsite area. Assessments should be made as soon as they reach the campsite
area.

4 SENTRY DUTY AND SAFETY LOG BOOK
Each group should have a Safety Log Book that records the activities, movements, and group member’s health and physical
condition. In addition, a hazard observation record should be made. Duration of sentry duty is two hours per sentry rotation.

Format examples of this safety note sheet are as below:

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Group Name : Power Rangers

Campsite Code : Kolam Puteri C-8

Leader : Ahmad Asyraff bin Azlan

Date Sentry Slot Hazards Observation Member’s Health and Physical Person on Duty Sign
ali
Reports
rajan
01.09.19 8.00 am No risks and hazards were Ahmad - healthy and happy Ali

To identified. Aisyah - depress and sad

10.00 am May - healthy and active

Rajan - happy but sore feet and

cramps

Ali – relax and enjoy

01.09.19 10.00 am Incidence: A snake crosses the Ahmad - a little tired but happy Rajan

to campsite at 10.52am. Action: and cheerful.

12.00 pm Group leader killed the snake. Aisyah – sleep and got fever

11.58 – Aisyah detected to have May – healthy and active

fever. The group leader ordered Rajan - happy and his sore feet

May and Rajan to bring Abu to are healed.

the base camp. Ali - sleep and healthy

REPORT APPROVAL: The report should be checked and approved by Camp Safety Committee during Group Camping inspection.

Prepared by: : …………………………………………………… Approved by: : ……………………………………………………
Name : …………………………………………………… Name : ……………………………………………………
Signature : …………………………………………………… Signature : ……………………………………………………
Date Date

Figure 8: Instruction form of security and monitoring for Group Camping. The report should be checked
and approved by Camp Safety Committee during Group Camping inspection.

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4.1.3 Health Monitoring and Emergency Action

There are five basic procedures to be followed in health monitoring and emergency action. These five
procedures are listed below:

i. Health monitoring for students with health issue
ii. Routine participant’s health monitoring
iii. Treatment for minor injuries and health issue
iv. Life-threatening injuries and critical health issue emergency
v. Hysteria case management

Health monitoring for students with health issue: This procedure should be conducted daily for
monitoring students with high/low blood pressure, fever, sickness etc. Monitoring results should be
written in the Student Health Monitoring Log Book for reference and legal documentation.

Routine participant’s health monitoring: General check for any fever, injury, other symptom of critical
illness/disease among participants on a daily basis. This task can be conducted by routine report of the
group member’s health condition by the group leader during morning or night gatherings.

Treatment for minor injuries and health issue: Every student with minor injuries or health issues should
come to treatment hub immediately and undergo regular medical check by the Camp’s Paramedic on Duty
for medication or light treatment (cleaning and dressing) until their injuries heal. All treatment should be
recorded for legal documentation.

Life-threatening injuries and critical health issue emergency: In the event of life-threating situations such
as serious accident/incident that causes the victim to have excessive bleeding, fainted and fracture, or life
threatening situation due to victim health issue such as asthma, blood pressure, and cardiac arrest,
procedure of casualty assessment and critical emergency first aid should be conducted first before any
further action taken. This is important for life saving. The CPR procedure for basic reference in this chapter
is shown in Figure 9.

Hysteria case management: In the case of hysteria, the procedure recommended by the Ministry of
Education in the document of Hysteria Handling Management Guide circulated on March 13, 2013 should
be followed. The steps for handling hysteria in camp should follow the procedures listed below:

1. Students will be isolated and emotionally stabilized.
2. After a few hours (2-3 hours), the assessment should be conducted. The assessment should be

carried out by 5 assessors namely Camp Coordinator/Deputy, Safety Committee Head/Deputy,
Head/member of Screening Committee, 2 persons of any lecturer/staff on duty at that time.
3. The assessment result will be either:

a. Students were found to be stable and able to continue the forest camp.
b. Students were found emotionally unstable and had to be removed from the camp.
4. Students taken out of the camp need to be send to the nearest Hospital for further action as
per SOP by Ministry of Education.
5. Alternative treatment can only be conducted by parent’s consent.

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NHS INFORM SCOTLAND: NHS inform is Scotland's national health information service. https://www.nhsinform.scot
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
WHAT TO DO AFTER AN INCIDENT?
If someone is injured in an incident, first check that you and the casualty aren't in any danger. If you are, make the
situation safe. When it's safe to do so, assess the casualty and, if necessary, dial 999 or 112 for an ambulance. You can
then carry out basic first aid.

Assessing a casualty
The three priorities when dealing with a casualty are commonly referred to as ABC, which stands for: Airway, Breathing,
and Circulation.

A. Airway
If the casualty appears unresponsive, ask them loudly if they're OK. If there's no response, leave the casualty in the
position they're in and open their airway. If this isn't possible in the position they're in, gently lay them on their back and
open their airway. To open the airway, place one hand on the casualty’s forehead and gently tilt their head back, lifting
the tip of the chin using two fingers. This moves the tongue away from the back of the throat. Don't push on the floor of
the mouth, as this will push the tongue upwards and obstruct the airway. If you think the person may have a spinal injury,
place your hands on either side of their head and use your fingertips to gently lift the angle of the jaw forward and
upwards, without moving the head, to open the airway. Take care not to move the casualty’s neck. However, opening
the airway takes priority over a neck injury. This is known as the jaw thrust technique.

B. Breathing
To check if a person is still breathing: look to see if their chest is rising and falling, listen over their mouth and nose for
breathing sounds, feel their breath against your cheek for 10 seconds. If they're breathing normally, place them in the
recovery position so their airway remains clear of obstructions and continue to monitor normal breathing. Gasping or
irregular breathing is not normal breathing. If the casualty isn't breathing, call 999 or 112 for an ambulance and then
begin CPR.

c. Circulation
If the casualty isn't breathing normally, then you must start chest compressions immediately. Agonal breathing is
common in the first few minutes after a sudden cardiac arrest (when the heart stops beating). Agonal breathing is sudden,
irregular gasps of breath. This shouldn't be mistaken for normal breathing and CPR should be given straight away.

Hands-only CPR
To carry out a chest compression:

Place the heel of your hand on the breastbone at the centre of the person’s chest. Place your other hand on top of your
first hand and interlock your fingers. Position yourself with your shoulders above your hands. Using your body weight
(not just your arms), press straight down by 5-6cm (2-2.5 inches) on their chest. Keeping your hands on their chest,
release the compression and allow the chest to return to its original position. Repeat these compressions at a rate of 100
to 120 times per minute until an ambulance arrives or you become exhausted.

CPR with rescue breaths
If you’ve been trained in CPR, including rescue breaths, and feel confident using your skills, you should give chest
compressions with rescue breaths. If you're not completely confident, attempt hands-only CPR instead (see above).

Adults CPR
Place the heel of your hand on the centre of the person's chest, then place the other hand on top and press down by 5-
6cm (2-2.5 inches) at a steady rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute. After every 30 chest compressions, give two
rescue breaths. Tilt the casualty's head gently and lift the chin up with two fingers. Pinch the person’s nose. Seal your
mouth over their mouth and blow steadily and firmly into their mouth for about one second. Check that their chest rises.
Give two rescue breaths. Continue with cycles of 30 chest compressions and two rescue breaths until they begin to
recover or emergency help arrives.

Figure 9: Instruction on emergency incident actions and conducting CPR. Source: NHS Inform 2020.

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3.0. SAFETY PROCEDURE AFTER CAMPING
After-camp safety procedures should be followed to monitor any issue on participant’s health due to
camping activity. Post-camp health monitoring of participant’s health for 2 weeks after camp should be
conducted to monitor the existence of any camp-related disease such as Malaria, Leptospirosis, and
Cholera that can affect camp participants which may be obtained during forest camp.
In addition to post-camp health monitoring, other important tasks that should be carried out are hazard
reports, assessment of safety measures effectiveness and emergency incidents post-mortem. The 4
essential post-camp safety procedures that should be implemented can be listed as below:

i. Hazard and safety report
ii. Evaluation of safety procedure
iii. Post-mortem on reported incident
iv. Post-camp health monitoring
All reports should be documented for the purpose of future safety guidance and legal documentation.

4.0 CONCLUSION
The safety of campers is the most important matter in any camp. Safety procedures must be strictly
followed to ensure implementation of maximum safety measures. To ensure proper implementation of
safety procedures, a Safety Committee should be established for each camp organized. This Safety
Committee assignment is not only subject to safety measure during the camp, but it covers all safety
aspects and safety procedures before, during and after the camp. Proper safety measure planning and
systematic hazard identification and risk assessment can reduce the risk of unwanted incidents during
camping. It is hoped that this chapter will provide a basic guide to the methods of safety planning and
management in camp especially for Forest Camp that can be practiced by organizers and campers in an
effort to reduce the risk of camping activities.

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