Unless you've been under a rock, no doubt you heard about the 4 Scouts that perished yesterday in the Tornadoes.

One thing that has come out of this tragedy is the value of Scouting.

I've seen countless interviews with 13-14 year olds talking about how in the seconds following the tornado strike. Every Scout, young and old alike, sprung into action and treated injuries with precision.

This no doubt held the death rate down. Many Scouts had massive wounds that were bleeding, the one thing that can save you in that moment is quickly stopping the loss of blood. I've heard many stories of people "bleeding out' after an injury in remote places. Fast action and proper procedures make the difference in life or death.

The "kids" spoke about how they KNEW how to apply pressure, make tourniquets and the all had First aid kits as part of their "10 Essentials" training. 12-13 and 14 year olds Triaged themselves while the professionals hacked their way through a mile of fallen trees and debris

The Kids themselves all spoke about how proud they were to be with the group they were with because of the training and the behavior exhibited by the other Scouts during the event.

I'm proud to be a Scout Leader. I'm proud that my two Sons are Scouts. The 15 year old is a Life Scout, working on his Eagle Rank. The 12 year old is a 1st Class working on his Star Rank.

I am a member of the Mid-America Council that includes the Little Sioux Scout Ranch. It's only an hour form us here in Omaha. I camped there many times while an active scout. It has been about 15 years since I was there but it hadn't changed very much in that time. There really was no place to go for those scouts. The buildings are not designed to be used as a tornado shelter. They are thin simple buildings used as mess halls or meeting places with cement floors and brick and rock chimneys. The deaths and most of the injuries were in one of the buildings that collapsed on the people in side. As a current Cub Scout leader I don't have much involvement with the older scout anymore but I still know most of the Council leadership. They haven't given us much more info than the news has but they are waiting for the families to get everything sorted out. If I find out any new information I'll pass it along.