Safety at Summer Camp
Shortly, nearly 10 million children be going to Summer Children’s Camps. But before they go, health experts are issuing strong new advice to both parents and camp directors, and recommending new precautions to protect campers’ health.
The new guideline, published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics, was written by a team led by a University of Michigan Health System physician who specializes in camp health. Edward Walton, M.D., FAAP, FACEP, is lead author of the paper, which is an official policy statement of the American Academy of Pediatrics and was produced in conjunction with the American Camp Association.
The new policy statement for the first time advises parents to thoroughly assess whether a camp is right for their child’s mental, emotional and physical well-being, as well as their interests and skills.
That means, Walton says, that camps should provide parents with a complete picture of what their programs involve, whether it′s strenuous sports, rough wilderness camping, horseback riding — or intense music or computer practice. If an activity raises risk for kids with certain medical conditions, for instance scuba diving and asthma, camps should tell parents about those risks ahead of time.
Long before camp starts parents need to be talking about homesickness with their child. Parents need to use their resources like with the doctor who does the child’s pre-camp health assessment and fills out the health form.
Parents should also avoid making pre-arranged plans with their children about picking them up if they get homesick. This only gets kids thinking about the way out of camp. Only should parents discuss camp positively, avoid expressing doubts about a child’s ability to avoid homesickness.
With the new guideline, the AAP also recommends that its members — the pediatricians who treat many of America′s children — get involved with camps in their local area to make sure that health policies and standing orders are up-to-date. They can also act as medical backups to the nurses and paramedic-trained camp health officers on site at camps — instead of the local emergency room or urgent care center, which Walton′s study found was the case 75 percent of the time.
The increasing numbers of children who have asthma and allergies also bring new challenges for camps. The new guideline recommends that parents teach their children how to use rescue inhalers or EpiPens (allergy-calming epinephrine injection devices) long before the kids go to camp, and to work with camp officials to specify what situations might require children to use the devices. And camp officials are advised to allow children who know how to use such devices to carry them or have them nearby at all times.
“The delay that can occur when another camper or counselor has to run to the camp nurse’s office to grab an inhaler for a child who is having an asthma attack or an EpiPen for a child who has been stung by a bee can have real health consequences,” says Walton.
These guideline are set for traditional summer camps not for those camps with special needs. Yet it is recommend that all camps work with local pediatricians and health professionals to ensure that the best health care is in place for the children.
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Swift Nature Camp is a Illinois Summer Camp for boys and girls ages 6-15. Our focus is to blend traditional outdoors summer camp activities with that of a Science Summer Camp. that promotes an appreciation for nature.