Board members of every outdoor organization should read this book, as well as administrators from every college and university with an outdoor adventure program. I doubt many of them will take the time to read this book, but there is no excuse for outdoor professionals not to read this book. This advice shouldn't be construed to mean that Lessons Learned is the last word in risk management, in fact it only touches the surface of many complex topics. Two topics which the reader will have to seek out more involved expertise are field practices and legal advice. Preparing content guides of this depth is a time consuming effort for any program, and although the authors don't insist that every organization must have this level of detail for every activity, the die is cast.
Legal advice is always difficult to offer and interpret.
Choosing a multiple author format imposes some limitations on Lessons Learned. The lack of an index is a drawback. It can be frustrating to locate a section on a specific locale, concept, or person when there is no index. The reader is forced to skim each of the relevant chapters hoping to locate the point in question. Similarly, there are few references cited throughout the text.