Safety in the bush One of the things that the committee has been working on over the last couple of years is improving the safety of our walks. There are things a club can do to avoid emergencies, ideally, or to be prepared for them if they arise. The things which have been implemented or heavily promoted include:

• Using the emergency contact system This is now augmented by having an emergency contact assistance person who liaises with leaders to ensure the ECS is running smoothly.
• Subsidies or full reimbursement for leaders who complete a Level II first aid course. Quite a few leaders have now completed the First Aid Course run through the Federation of Victorian Walking Clubs (Vic Walk), of which YHA Bushwalking is an associate member. It is an accredited level II course and a lot of fun has been had in achieving the certificate. We encourage more leaders to apply to complete the course; it has been held for the last two years and usually comes up around May - stay tuned for further information.
• Providing comprehensive information on what to do in the event of an emergency, followed up by training nights.
• Providing comprehensive information on how to lead a walk, followed up by training nights Our 'Policy and Procedure' manual has been collated over the last couple of years with information mainly for leaders, but of interest to all walkers. This manual is in the yellow folder and always available at clubnight - just ask at the desk. Leaders have been provided with opportunities to attend our information nights to help make YHA Bushwalking a really cohesive group from the organisational point of view as well as the social!
• Providing mentors for new leaders to accompany them on their walks. This is a relatively new initiative and one we hope will take off well. If you are a new leader, or would like to start leading but feel a bit nervous, ask to have someone you can liaise with in the couple of weeks before your walk - earlier if you need to survey it - and to accompany you on the walk to give you confidence in your decision making.
• Navigation Training - you will see, from time to time, 'navigation training' on the programme. These are directed towards people of all levels of navigation skill, unless otherwise stated - and that includes beginners! An interest, a compass and a map are often all that is required! We can't ever be too good at finding our way in the bush. In the future we will be liaising more with Rogaining Victoria to help us train people to navigate. A Rogaining Victoria newsletter is often at the desk at clubnight - please ask for it if you are interested.
• 10 copies of the new edition of "Bushwalking and Mountaincraft Leadership" put out by the BMLC Training Board, the gold standard in leadership books, can be borrowed by leaders or participants - talk to the equipment coordinator if you would like to borrow a copy.
• Improving our armoury of helpful tools - we have two comprehensive first aid kits, one of which should be on any given walk, a GPS, an EPIRB, a club mobile phone and walkie talkies, most useful on the large day walks for the front and the back to keep in contact.

The committee also critically analyses things that go wrong on walks, or areas where things could have been better. We then put in place strategies aimed at avoiding the occurrence of similar situations in the future. If you have any suggestions for improvement or areas you think were particularly good, we welcome feedback so just let any of the committee know. Of course we rely on YHA Bushwalking participants to take care of their own personal preparation. This is critical, because it is impossible to check in the packs of all walkers to ensure everyone has the right gear - we rely on you for that. On some of the larger day walks it is enough for the leader to just keep everyone together. While we can aim to be prepared for events we cannot always prevent them. We cannot prevent weather - heat or cold is a large cause of distress for walkers. The old sprained ankle is not uncommon, blisters can be debilitating, all things over which we, as a committee, or leaders, have no control! We always encourage people to update the equipment they need - for the bad times, as well as the hoped for smooth run! Please refresh yourself by referring to the section on equipment in the main YHA Bushwalking website. The back of the programme also has some great advice. If in doubt, please feel free to call a committee member to discuss your equipment requirements.

Please also bear in mind that YHA Bushwalking is a volunteer run organisation without, necessarily, formal skills; just lots of experience, enthusiasm and motivation to learn!