My home was open for friends to do laundry and take hot showers and we had many slumber parties with those that needed A/C. Jeepers, we didn’t even have ballistic vests back then and our main entry tool for breaching during a search warrant was an eight-pound sledge hammer the sergeant brought from home. If you’re using a primitive range, then trade in that third tree on the left and rent a good, clean port-a-potty if you can or at least clean the one that is already there. Then check on it in a reasonable and timely manner and make sure you get back to them! We, and you, are not running a five-star hotel, but make sure you present yourself, your materials, and your facilities as professionally as you can. Make sure your equipment is clean, usable or at least in good repair, and professional. There are also other things such as flashlights, batteries, knives, lighters and other survival equipment is also supposed to be in the kits. Identify alternative travel routes that are not prone to flooding.

Ask if there are any safety or medical concerns you should know about as an instructor before or as the class starts. Also, I think it is just being a responsible instructor to get some basic, if not advanced, first-aid training and appropriate first-aid supplies on hand. They are shown where the first-aid kit is, the bathroom, the telephone, etc. Students who feel safe feel comfortable and confident in their instructor; and safe, comfortable and confident in their instructor learn more effectively. First-aid and CPR training and certification are a good start and I recommend further training like some type of trauma first-aid training as band-aids and two-by-two patches of gauze are not going to fix a gunshot wound. First aid items usually include bandages, aspirin or other pain killers, gauze pads, tweezers, and antibiotic ointment. The first time I have new students on the range and they have loaded their guns I usually call a cease fire and have them unload their guns to see if they can do that safely. Just ask Cory over at Range Time. The heals received from bandages are significant, but they are done over an eight second span, which is time that you could have used to kill the enemy rather than trying to out heal them.

I know how to show a gal a good time! When you attend training and instruction yourself, you can learn a lot about being a good instructor by observing, both good and bad, habits of other instructors. That little exercise will tell me a lot about my students and their current skills levels. The best credentials you have are your current reputation and you are continually building it. 8. Chimney Tops Trail, on the Newfound Gap road on the Tennessee side, is one of the most popular trails in the Smokies, so if you want to beat the crowds, it is best arrive early in the morning. No one wants to take a course from the instructor who shot himself in the leg or had a student accidentally shot. As an instructor you need to provide a safe learning environment in the classroom and on the range. You need to be competent in the skills and knowledge you are instructing and be competent in being an instructor.

You need to practice safety as if you had a zen-like, fifth-degree blackbelt in safety. Just like every NRA Range Officer is taught, even in the classroom, I begin with a safety briefing. If you’ve ever had a diabetic student with a gun in their hand faint and collapse on the range like I have, you’d know what I’m talking about. Like a tepee without a cover, these lighthouses had iron skeletons that let the elements blow on through. I tell students to let me know if they ever see something or feel that something is not safe. It gives you some starting credentials and a framework to use as a foundation and lets your students know that you have at least met some kind of minimum standards. While waiting for my screening process I played a trivia game with the girls, allowing them to use their “Blood Facts” sheets and they quickly learned a lot of information. There is a sign in the classroom and at the shooting range that lists the local emergency numbers, the property description, the contact names for emergencies, and other pertinent information. That being said, there is a reason the NRA uses the word “BASIC” in most of their course titles.