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Outdoor Action

Leadership Starts Here

Leader Training Requirements

How Do I Become An OA Leader?

OA Leaders are role models and mentors for more than 60 percent of the incoming class. The leadership skills used on the trail are the same ones the OA Leaders bring back to campus as leaders of student organizations, athletic teams, and clubs. We have trained over 300 OA Leaders (on campus now) making Outdoor Action the largest leadership group at Princeton. Become part of this special Princeton experience and train to become an OA Leader!

OA's Leader Training Program is considered one of the most comprehensive in the nation and has been used as a model by schools across the country. In the Leader Training Program participants develop skills in leadership, group facilitation, outdoor safety, first aid, and valuable wilderness travel skills. Don't consider yourself outdoorsy? You don't need to have any previous outdoor experience to become an OA Leader. We provide all the training you need to learn to lead and facilitate groups in the outdoors. We are looking for a diverse group of students, graduate students and staff who can provide leadership for incoming students. Upon successful completion of the program you are eligible to apply to lead OA trips. The different training requirements are outlined below and all sign-ups are on the OA TripStore

CPR (with AED training)

CPR is one of the core Leader Training requirements. OA teaches both Adult CPR and Basic Life Support (BLS). Certification in adult CPR is all that is required for OA Leaders and includes CPR and Automatic Electronic Defibrilation (AED) training from the American Heart Association. OA also teaches a more advanced course--Basic Life Support (BLS) which includes CPR for Adults, Infants and Children as well as AED. This course is a requirement for lifeguards, EMTs...

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HEART (Health Education and Rescue Training) Wilderness First Aid is an intensive course that covers patient examination and evaluation, body systems and anatomy, wound care, splinting, environmental emergencies, and backcountry medicine. Hands-on simulations provide first-hand training in treating patients. This is an excellent course taught by experienced Wilderness First Responders and Emergency Medical Technicians and is highly recommended to all wilderness travelers. People who pass the...

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Understanding how to use epinephrine in the treatment of anaphylactic reactions due to insect bites or food allergies can be an immediate life-saving measure. Under the NJ Higher Education Epinephrine Emergency Treatment Act colleges in New Jersey are permitted to train students and others to provide epinephrine injections in the event of a life-threatening emergency. All OA Leaders are required to complete this training.

The “Higher Education Epinephrine Emergency Treatment Act,”...

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The Leave No Trace Awareness Workshop is a two -hour class focusing on the 7 principles of Leave No Trace practices in the backcountry. This is required for anyone going through OA Leader Training and is typically offered in conjunction with the Technical Skills Course.

See the My.Princeton.edu for dates and times and to sign up.

Leading a group on a backcountry trip requires extensive training in wilderness camping skills. The Technical Skills component is designed to teach the outdoor skills necessary to lead multi-day trips in the backcountry. Topics covered include route planning, navigation, outdoor cooking, and campsite selection and set-up. The text for the course will be The Backpacker's Field Manual, written by Outdoor Action Director Rick Curtis.

See the My.Princeton.edu for dates and times and to...

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Developing effective Leadership and Group Facilitation skills are essential for all OA Leaders, and anyone serving in a leadership role. There are two workshops offered by OA which focus on Leadership Development. You will learn about your personal style of leadership and how to modify your leadership style to work with the specific needs of your group. You'll also learn important concepts like building an effective group contract, listening and debriefing skills as well as fun team building...

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Creating a safe space to operate programs, both physical safety and psychological safety, requires understanding the dynamics that create unsafe situations. The Managing Safety Workshop will provide you with an understanding of how to evaluate and manage risk potential by identifying hazard factors and implementing safety factors that address increasing risk levels whether it is creating a safe environment in a physical setting like a team project, international travel or outdoor trip, or if...

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Leading a group on a multi-day trip either in a base camp setting or a backcountry setting requires extensive training in outdoor camping skills, effective first aid, judgment and decision making, leadership and group facilitation. The final part of OA Leader Training is the Leader Training Trip (LTT), a 6-day trip which pulls together all of the skills you have been learning all semester. During the trip participants will be Leaders-of-the-day and in charge of the group including route...

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