Safety at Summer Camp

Posted by Jeff Lorenz on February 25, 2010
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Millions of children go to Summer Youth Camps. Yet before you even commit to find that perfect place for your child experts suggest you make sure it is safe.

The American Academy of Pediatrics along with the American Camp Association created an official policy statement about camper health and Summer Camp responsibilities. Edward Walton, M.D. is lead author of the paper.

the key to this policy is parents need to thoroughly determine whether a camp is right for their child’. Don’t just assume its great because your childs friends are going. One need to assess if it meets their childs 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.

Homesickness prevention, the authors write, should start weeks before a child goes off to camp, and can be led by parents with the help of the doctor or other health care provider who performs the child’s pre-camp health assessment.

Walton, suggests “Parents should also avoid making pre-arranged plans with their children about picking them up if they get homesick. If parents discuss camp positively, avoid expressing doubts about a child’s ability to avoid homesickness”.

The new guideline recommends that the pediatricians get involved with their local camps to ensure sure that standing orders are up-to-date. They can also act as medical backups instead of the local emergency rooms at hospitals.

Asthma and allergies also bring new challenges for camps. Parents need to teach their children how to use rescue inhalers or EpiPens (allergy-calming epinephrine injection devices). With or with out the summer camp. Camps need to help children 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.

The new guideline does not give detailed recommendations for camps that serve only children with special medical circumstances, such as cancer, physical disabilities, blindness, deafness or diabetes. But it recommends that camps work with local pediatricians and health professionals to assess children’s fitness to take part in such camps, and establish programs specific to them.

To learn more about selecting the Right Summer Camp for your child visit a FREE resource Summer Camp Advice at Summer Camp

Swift Nature Camp is a Minnesota Summer Camp for boys and girls ages 6-15. Our focus is to blend traditional outdoors summer camp activities with that of a Science At Summer Camps that promotes an appreciation for nature.

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