Cycling Merit Badge Pre-Class Training Guide Troop 1143

1. Cycling Merit BadgePre-Class Training GuideTroop 1143

2. First Aid Knowledge RequirementsInstructions: Read it all. Summarize the answers into your Workbook (Question 1) along with any questions you have. Copying the answers from this guide is OK. That counts as studying.

3. Hypothermia • Q: What does it mean? • A: Body is losing heat faster than it produces heat, reducing temperature. • Q: How does this happen on a bike ride? • A: Riding in the rain or cold without the right gear • First Aid: The idea is to raise the body’s core temperature gradually • (Strangely, this is not in the handbook, but it is EXTREMELY important) – Replace wet clothes with dry clothes. A wet person is a cold person. • Have person drink warm liquids (not super hot, just warm) • Get out of the cold and wet. Move person to a shelter. • Wrap towels around bottles of warm liquid and place them in armpit and groin areas • Watch for changes in condition; call for help.

4. Frostbite • Q: What does it mean? • A: Your skin is so cold it has frozen. • Q: So what? • A: Your skin and underlying tissue cells have water in them. When water freezes it turns into ice and takes up more space than the water it came from. This bursts your cells and kills your skin and tissue. People with frostbitten areas (e.g., fingers) often have to have those areas cut away from them by surgeons. This is because when many cells have been killed, the body can’t replace them fast enough, so that part of the body is “dead.” • Q: How does this happen on a bike ride? • A: Riding in the rain or cold and not stopping when you get really, really cold • First Aid: The idea is to raise the temperature of the frostbitten area gradually • Remove wet clothing and cover the affected area by a dry blanket • Call a doctor • Do not massage the area or rub it with snow • Try to warm the area only if you are sure it will not get refrozen • Expose the area to warm water (100-105 F) • Bandage loosely • Hold your warm skin against the person’s frostbitten skin

5. Dehydration • Q: What does it mean? • A: Body is losing water faster than taking it in, reducing the body’s cooling capacity • Q: How does this happen on a bike ride? • A: Sweating a lot and not drinking enough water • Q: But I just want to drink when I’m thirsty. Is that OK? • A: No. You need to drink *before* you feel thirsty. If you feel thirsty, you are *already* dehydrated. • Q: So, I’m dehydrated. What’s the big deal? I’ll just drink water and be fine again, right? • A: No. Most kidney stones are the direct result of dehydration, and occur days or weeks after the dehydration event. They happen when your kidney is filtering waste from your blood and doesn’t have enough water to keep the waste in solution, which results in something similar to rock candy forming in your kidney. Kidney stones hurt a lot and can put you in the hospital for days. A kidney stone can damage a kidney for life. Be nice to your kidneys. You only have two of them. Don’t mess around with hydration. • First Aid: The idea is to rehydrate the person gradually • For mild dehydration, drink a quart of water or sports drink over 2 to 4 hours • Water or sports drink is recommended with good reason. If at all possible, don’t give the person “thick” liquids, like soda, orange juice, coffee, tea. While these are better than nothing, they increase the risk of kidney stones. • For severe dehydration, same treatment but get to a doctor ASAP. • Untreated dehydration leads onto bigger problems, next.

6. Heat Exhaustion • Q: What does it mean? • A: Think of it as Dehydration +. The body has given up trying to keep cool by sweating and is lowering energy output to try to keep temperature from rising. This is why the person will seem to have no energy and will be weak and tired. His skin will be cool because his body has reduced heat output. • Q: How does this happen on a bike ride? • A: Untreated dehydration or very rapid dehydration with no break • First Aid: The idea is to rehydrate the person gradually and remove them from heat sources so the body can get back to normal • Get the person out of the sun and to a shady, cool spot • Encourage the person to drink some fluids, but not a lot. Pushing a lot of fluids at once can change temperature too rapidly for someone whose body has resorted to reducing energy output as its means of temperature control • Apply some water to clothes and skin and fan person gently • Raise the legs so the heart doesn’t have to work as hard • Make sure person rests for the rest of the day even if they feel better

7. Heat Stroke • Q: What does it mean? • A: Think of it as Heat Exhaustion +. The body’s attempt to control temperature by reducing energy output has failed and body temperature is rising uncontrollably to life-threatening levels such as 105F, and the body does not know what to do to save itself. Heat stroke victims have a high pulse, hot skin and are confused and disoriented, perhaps passing out. • Q: How does this happen on a bike ride? • A: Untreated dehydration and/or heat exhaustion, especially in high humidity where a person’s sweat has no chance to act as a coolant • First Aid: The idea is the same as heat exhaustion, except that medical attention is needed immediately: rehydrate the person gradually and remove them from heat sources so the body can get back to normal • Get the person out of the sun and to a shady, cool spot • Seek medical attention immediately • Encourage the person to drink some fluids, but not a lot. Pushing a lot of fluids at once can change temperature too rapidly for someone whose body has resorted to heat exhaustion as its means of temperature control • Apply some water to clothes and skin and fan person gently • Raise the legs so the heart doesn’t have to work as hard • Make sure person rests for the rest of the day even if they feel better

8. Blisters • Q: What does it mean? • A: Your skin has been repeatedly rubbed in one spot enough that the body has produced fluid to try to protect the lower layers of skin from damage • Q: How does this happen on a bike ride? • A: Repeated motion in a spot you aren’t used to using (e.g., hands on handlebars, feet in shoes you are not used to) • Prevent blisters by wearing gloves and shoes that fit well • First Aid: • Cover the spot so it doesn’t get irritated any further and let it heal itself. • If “popping” the blister is necessary, wash the area first, and then use a pin that has been passed through a flame to sterilize it and poke a hole in the blister near its bottom

9. Bites and Stings First Aid: • Ticks: Wear gloves and use tweezers to pull a tick out gently and steadily. The goal is to have the tick come out with part of your skin in its mouth, which you will be able to see as a tiny white spot. This is proof that the tick’s head is no longer in your skin. If the tick’s head is left in your skin, watch carefully and have a doctor check for infection. • Fire Ants: These bites are very painful. Do not pop the blisters. Wash the area with soap and water and cover with a sterile bandage. Use a paste of baking soda and water and take aspirin to relieve the pain. • Bee, Wasp, or Hornet Stings: Ask the person right away if they have an allergy to these kinds of stings and where their medicine is; get them to a hospital immediately if they don’t have their medicine. If their throat swells up or they are having trouble breathing, assume they are allergic and get them to a hospital. For non-allergic people, remove the stinger by scraping it out (not by squeezing it, due to the venom sack in the stinger). Use ice to reduce the swelling.

10. Snakebites Coral Snake First Aid for Non-Venomous Snakes: • For non-venomous snakes, wash with soap and water, apply antiseptic, and cover with a sterile bandage. First Aid for Venomous Snakes: • Q:What kind of venomous snakes do we have in America? • A: Rattlesnakes, copperheads, coral snakes, and cottonmouth moccasins. Copperheads are the ones to look out for around here. • Coral snakes are shy but very pretty, with red and yellow bands; their venom operates on the nervous system. They are found mostly south of us. • Bite victims show slowed reactions, shortness of breath, convulsions, shock, passing out, coma • Rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouth moccasins have triangular shapes along their bodies. They also have triangular heads that have two pits on them to sense your heat. They have venom that operates on the circulatory system. • Bite victims show pain, swelling at the bite area, shallow breathing, blurred vision, shock • For venomous bites, get the person to a doctor as soon as possible. Meanwhile, have the person lie down and remove any restrictive clothing. Don’t give the person any medicine or do anything to the bite area. There is too much risk of causing more harm. Cottonmouth Rattlesnake Copperhead

11. LawsRead it all. Summarize it into your Workbook (Question 7) along with any questions you have. Copying from the guide is OK. That counts as studying.

12. Virginia / Fairfax Laws • If you are under 15 years old, you must wear a helmet when on a bicycle (Fairfax County law) • If you ride your bike between sunset and sunrise, • You must have a headlight visible to 500 feet • You must have a red reflector mounted on the back of your bike visible to 600 feet • For roads with speed limit >35 MPH, you must have a rear flashing light on either you or your bike visible to 350 feet • Q: What is the difference between bikes and cars in the eyes of the law? • A: None. You as a bicyclist have the same rights and responsibilities as does a car, and you have to follow the same laws. • What about riding on the sidewalk? • This is usually illegal; you should walk your bike if you are forced onto the sidewalk (For example, it is illegal in the City of Fairfax) • Q: Why is it illegal to ride on the sidewalk? I mean, come on, everybody does it. • A: Bicycle riders travel about 15 miles per hour, whereas pedestrians travel about 4 miles per hour. This means when bicyclists approach a crosswalk, the people driving cars who are about to turn right are looking for pedestrians, so they don’t look back far enough, and . . . they turn right and the bicyclist runs into the car as he tries to cross the intersection. This happens all the time. The law is there to prevent this kind of accident. • It is legal to ride on sidewalks that have been designated as a bike trail. This makes things a little ambiguous . . . How can you know if a sidewalk has been designated as a bike trail??? Answer: There are usually signs or little bicycles painted on the sidewalk. • If you see no signs or bicycles painted on the sidewalk, you should assume it is illegal to ride there. • Don’t be a dope. If the road is full of trucks and cars, it is better to pull off onto the sidewalk than to risk your life. Just be aware that if you are wrong, and the sidewalk is *not* a designated bike trail, you might get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk, so . . . • Don’t be a double dope. If the sidewalk is full of people or isn’t signed as a bike path, walk your bike. • Speed Limits • Your bike can hurt people. You are the one controlling your bike. Therefore, if your bike hits somebody and hurts or kills them, it will be at least partially your fault. As a Scout, you are old enough to understand the difference between games and real life and to begin taking responsibility for your actions. This is real life. If the little voice inside your head says “Gee, there sure are a lot of people walking, maybe I shouldn’t be going this fast” then do the right thing – slow down. • There are usually no speed limits posted on bike trails, but don’t go fast when you are on a trail with people. Just last week, an 80-year old woman was killed on the Four Mile Run trail by a bicyclist. The trail is open to both bikers and hikers. How fast do you think the bicyclist was going? Answer: Too Fast.