The following guidelines are provided by the Scouting Association.

Night Activity Safety Guidelines

Sent in by Thomas Murphy, Scout Leader.

1. High visibility vests/jackets should be worn by at least a proportion of the group. The more the better. Failing that, reflective strips are not expensive and can be used instead. A car driver travelling at 60 miles per hour on an unlit A road will not see you in time to take avoiding action unless you are wearing something reflective.
2. Children should understand that they always remain BEHIND the lead adult and in FRONT of the "tail end Charlie" adult.
3. With large numbers of children, the easiest way to retain control is to break the group down into smaller groups of no more than five or six children per adult. Each adult is then responsible for the specific safety of no more than six children. Whenever a headcount is called, children go to their specific adult. The Group Leader then needs only to check with his helper adults that all children are accounted for. It is very easy to overlook a child if one adult is trying to count a large group at night - children do mill around, no matter how often they are told to stay still; if adults do not know the names of the children for whom they are responsible, then they should carry a list and call a register of "their" children
4. Torches: should always be carried at night, especially when walking alongside an unpaved road. The lead adult should wear a cycle lamp clipped to his/her jacket or a headtorch (a torch on an elasticated band, worn around the head); The tail adult should wear a red LED cycle lamp strapped to his/her back, preferably in flashing mode to attract the attention of drivers - these can be seen over half a mile away on a straight road.
5. Children should walk in single file; adults should walk alongside at intervals so that they can control the section forward of them. The control section is from immediately in front of the adult to the back of the adult in front. All adults should carry torches, which they point forward at an angle slightly below the eyelevel of an oncoming driver (i.e, the driver will see the light but not be blinded by it).
6. When crossing roads, the whole group should be brought to a stop at the edge of the road. One adult crosses the road to act as a receiving marshall. Two adults step into the road, facing away from each other, to stop any on-coming traffic. The fourth adult is responsible for despatching small groups of children between the "bridge" created by the two adults on the road. Children pass between the backs of the two adults on the road. Children are sent over in small groups so that, should a driver not be prepared to stop for any reason (drunk; boy racer; reacting too late; emergency vehicle; criminal etc.), the danger to the group is minimised. It is easier to grab hold of one or two children and fling them out of the way than to try and rescue 20 or 30 of them at the same time. The despatch adult is the last person to cross and does so ONLY when the last child is safely over the road.
7. Whistles: Adults should all carry whistles. Useful if the group gets split up for any reason; also useful if the line of walkers is beginning to straggle. Three blasts on the whistle is the signal for the lead member of the group to stop. It may just be that the line is too long and there is a danger of the group becoming separated; it may be that there is a specific problem which needs to be addressed. Six blasts on the whistle is the international distress signal and means that there is a problem which needs to be sorted.
8. First aid kit: Should be at least one of these carried on every hike - plus a first aid manual; ideally, at least one adult should be first aid trained with an up to date certificate.
9. Medical records: especially on a hike, there should be a medical record for each child, one copy of which is carried by a responsible adult on the hike, another copy of which is carried by the home contact (see below). In the event of a hospital trip, these can be lifesavers. I have been surprised by just how many children in my care are allergic to penicillin, specific types of anti-biotic, anaesthetic and so on. Ideally, medical forms should include details of the child's blood group as well - although most parents seem not to know this detail.
10. Mobile 'phone - always useful, especially if there is an accident and the emergency services need to be called. In the event of an incident, particularly where more than one person is involved, a 'phone call should be made to the designated home contact who should have names, addresses and telephone numbers for all children on the hike. The home contact acts as the liaison between the group and parents for incident management purposes. This leaves the group leader free to deal with the incident after making one call as he/she knows the home contact will be relaying information to affected parents.
11. Refuse to allow a child on a night hike, particularly in autumn or winter, unless they have adequate head, hands and feet protection. A cold child, as I know from experience, is a miserable child. Worse still, children are much more susceptible to cold and hypothermia than adults - they can go from feeling chilled to dangerously cold in a matter of minutes as most of them have relatively little body fat on them.
12. Teach children the golden rules if they get separated from the Group:
• Keep warm; hat/hood on; gloves on; zips and buttons done up; arms across chest to keep heat in; hands tucked into armpits; crouch or squat to minimise body surface area and keep heat in
• shelter behind a NEARBY tree or in a bush to get out of the wind and/or rain Shout "Help! Help! Help!" at regular intervals; once or twice a minute should do; too often and the child will become tired and get upset more quickly
• Stay where you are unless you are in danger; the group can retrace its steps and find you because they know where they have been; they cannot find you if you wander off
• Remain calm; you WILL be found
13. Frequent headcounts every half mile or so if the hike is a long one - that way you cut down the chances of losing a child and, if the worst happens, you cut down on the area you have to search.
14. For longer hikes, prepare a route card with checkpoints along the way. One copy of the route card stays with the group leader; another copy of the routecard (and map) should reside with the home contact; confirm safe arrival at each checkpoint by 'phone so home contact knows how far you have progressed; in the event that a checkpoint is not made within a reasonable time of estimate (and assuming that the group leader has not called to say the group is running late), the home contact can
    initiate emergency search and rescue and have a rough idea of where the group is.
15. You might care to look at http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/por/2002/chapter_9.htm which sets out the Scouting standards for activities with children.