School and Youth Group Camp and Excursion Catastrophic Events on Land: Lessons for Prevention

Abstract

This chapter examines prevention of catastrophic outdoor education incidents, other than those involving water. It defines catastrophic incidents as having three or more fatalities. It considers the extent to which past catastrophic incidents could have been prevented if potential lessons from earlier incidents had been known and acted on. Sixty catastrophic incidents since 1900 are examined, involving several hundred fatalities. More than half of those killed were travelling by road, air, or ferry to or from a venue. Although all transport related deaths could be considered preventable, only some could have been prevented by those responsible for outdoor education programs. Similarly multiple murders, building fires, and structural collapses have at least in some cases claimed outdoor education victims but could not have been prevented by outdoor education staff. Preventable outdoor education catastrophes have occurred in a small number of distinct, recognisable circumstances. Most such deaths have been due to avalanches, blizzards, or storms. Incidents on steep ground usually claim one or two victims, but some catastrophic incidents have involved falls or falling rocks. When considered together with water-related incidents examined in Chap. 4, prevention of outdoor education related catastrophic incidents hinges on understanding environmental circumstances.