SAFE TEEN TRAVEL PROGRAMS
Safety is paramount to what we do. At the Road Less Traveled, we recognize that placing your children in our care is the highest form of trust. We do not take that responsibility lightly. The physical and emotional safety of our participants and leaders is a precursor to everything we do. However, we recognize that traveling, community service and adventure activities come with an inherent risk.
Safety starts in the winter with careful planning and preparation of each program. Our logistics team vets each adventure and service subcontractor before partnering with them. We renew each partnership on a year to year basis depending on feedback from participants, leaders and families.
Another way we ensure the safety of our participants is by hiring high quality leaders. We invest heavily in training and preparing those leaders in addition to supporting leaders wherever needed in the field throughout the course of the summer. Our team of Directors work tirelessly to hire leaders that we can trust in the field. Each leader has been interviewed twice and passed a comprehensive background check, including driving record verification. They have experience with youth in the past and have a knowledge of the type of adventure/service whether that is language, scuba, backpacking, experience with animals, etc. Our leaders are often teachers or youth development professionals and are an average age of 26. Many return year after year to lead programs with us.
In addition to hiring high quality leaders, we train our leaders to prepare for all the various types of situations they might encounter in the field. Our leaders attend a 10-day in-person staff training, obtain a minimum of 80 hours of wilderness medicine training in the form of Wilderness First Responder certification, complete with CPR and AED training, complete American Red Cross Lifeguard or equivalent training. They have to pass an in person driver safety course before driving with participants and tirelessly practice emergency medical and behavioral scenarios to ensure they have practiced the type of decision making required to lead our groups safely.
When incidents happen on a trip, our leaders are supported by a network of Directors who are on call 24/7 to discuss medical or behavioral concerns. RLT also works with an on-call licensed physician who advises medical concerns as they arise in the field. In the event of an emergency, each program has a comprehensive location knowledge and awareness through scouting trips, Emergency Action Plans, evacuation routes, and relationships with local communities to support emergency responses.
The Road Less Traveled works to balance safety, challenge and fun. We recognize that there is no such thing as being too prepared. We use many tools and safeguards to create as safe a trip as possible. If you are interested in hearing more about safety on our programs, please reach out to schedule a call with a Director today!