2024 Wilderness Risk Management Conference

Attorneys Leah Corrigan and Kristen Burke will discuss how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to recreation and adventure organizations with respect to program participants and organization employees. After first describing what qualifies as a “Disability” under the ADA, the presenters will discuss how creating Essential Eligibility Criteria (for participants), Essential Functions of a position (for employees), and reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities can mitigate risk and improve an organization’s programs and employment practices. The presentation will conclude with breakout sessions in which attendees will apply the presentation’s concepts to employment and participant scenarios.

In August 2022, two NOLS students were struck by lightning and one of them died in the field. This presentation describes the facts of the incident, NOLS’ response, and the strategies used to manage the situation. Topics will include the field response, NOLS’ crisis plan, response team roles, psychological support of those impacted, communicating with and supporting the family and others, responding to media inquiries, conducting the investigation, and legal issues.

More and more programs are dealing with misconduct in the field including drug use, sexual activity, and inappropriate language. If students are expelled, administrators often have to respond to angry parents. This presentation discusses what you should say in your enrollment materials and how to manage these kinds of incidents in the field. How much proof do you need? Can you search students’ bags? Can you or should you confiscate drugs and other contraband? Are you required to contact the police? Come hear answers to these questions and how to communicate with parents.

With approximately 20% of people worldwide experiencing a mental illness at any given moment, including rising numbers of mental health concerns across adolescents and young adults, it is vital for programs to be knowledgeable about and prepared to support participants with mental health conditions. Misinformation is a barrier to knowledge and to the ability to effectively provide support, and unfortunately runs rampant with respect to mental health conditions– what they are, and what they mean for the participant, as well as for program staff. Harmful misinformation about mental health conditions also breeds stigma, which in turn often leads to elevated fear that the impacted person will become unpredictable or dangerous, and an inclination to keep a distance from that person or to treat them differently rather than as an equal to others on the program. Conversely, accurate knowledge and empathy best position us to meaningfully connect with our program participants, contributing to an optimally successful program experience for participants and staff alike. In this session, Michelle Lange, Psy.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist, will debunk common mental health myths and misconceptions, providing you with knowledge and skills to confidently and empathically work with program participants who experience common mental health challenges.

How do journalists and the public know the difference between good programs and a harmful one? Do you understand what the term “troubled teen industry” means and where your program is positioned in the outdoor programming marketplace? Negative press in any outdoor sector impacts all outdoor programs. As the adventure therapy field and therapeutic programs navigate public criticism around ethical care, this session covers understanding and working with a journalist’s perspective and strategies for proactive PR. The session aims to give practitioners tools and strategies to help clarify programmatic purpose, common or inherent practices, who regulates programs, and how standards are determined. Join Sarah Hoye, a past recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award for her work in journalism, and Denise Mitten, Ph.D., a thought leader and ethicist specializing in mental health counseling, in this thought-provoking session. Participants will come away with a deeper understanding of how to work with media, a positive press release about their program, and the importance of and how to write ethical standards applicable to their programmatic context.

Stress in outdoor and wilderness education is inevitable. Stress injury doesn’t have to be. This interactive and engaging session guides the individual instructor, manager, or administrator through a set of awareness skills and supportive tools for the mitigation of stress injuries. Now more than ever, we need increased resiliency to support our best selves. Participants will leave this session with: (1) A shared and effective language to discuss stress injuries, (2) Two tools to support proactive stress injury prevention, and (3) An increased sense of resiliency in self.

“Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport” is the oft repeated phrase - but for many of us, walking through our day to day lives also involves inherent danger due to differences and prejudice based on race, class, disability status, gender, and sexual orientation, amongst others. For many folks in minoritized communities, the risk associated with climbing is one of the few that is firmly in their own control. We know there is value and dignity in taking risks - but who is allowed or encouraged to access that dignity? Join this panel with members from local affinity climbing groups representing various marginalized communities to discuss how minoritized communities experience risk in the outdoors, engage in risk mitigation practices, and ultimately manage risk while recreating in outdoor spaces.