Health Care at Camp…
In order to attend Camp Rotary, all campers must have a completed an online health history (parents can fill this section out) and evidence of a physical exam by a doctor that has happened within ONE year of their first day at camp for the summer of 2022. Upon arrival at camp, the camper will be screened by our nurses or their designees for any communicable diseases and for any recent changes regarding the campers health.
IMPORTANT Re. Medications!!
(medication administration policy, who is administering, storage and EPI pen use)
Any camper who is currently taking any prescription medicines or anticipates needing any over-the-counter medications on a regular basis MUST bring their medications to the nurse and pass them in upon arrival. All prescription medications MUST be in their original container issued by the pharmacy with the camper’s name, the name of the medication, the date of the medication and the dosage all clearly visible. We cannot accept medications that are brought in anything but the original container.
Any over the counter (OTC) medication that your camper takes regularly should be brought in its original store packaged container to the nurse upon arrival.
There is a nurse on duty and on site 24 hours/day from the opening to the close of each session, as well as the stayover weekends. We also send a nurse with the field trip each week.
- Plan for administering medication
Parents sign an authorization for the camp to administer any medication that the parent knows their child will need during their stay at camp. Additionally, we keep most “non-prescription”, over-the-counter medicines in stock in the infirmary to assist with any unexpected ailments that might arise. Anyone receiving any type of medication (prescription or not) will first have their health history checked for any allergies. Then the nurse will make an educated decision as to whether the camper or staff person requires any type of medication. If the nurse opts to administer any medication for any reason, she is required to record the date and time as well as the person’s name, types of symptoms, and type of medical response taken. Any instructions to the patient should also be recorded.
All medications that are prescription medicine or non-prescription medicines that are taken contrary to the instructions on the box will require a written order from a physician or a nurse practitioner. The nurses at camp are not allowed to vary the prescription times or dosage from what is printed on the pharmacy label without a written order from the prescribing doctor.
Those campers who receive medications on a routine basis will be administered their medication at the infirmary. Scheduling of medications will be discussed with parents at the time of the health screening prior to the camper’s admittance to camp. The camp nurse will always pour and administer medications. In an emergency situation, if the nurse is unavailable, the Director or other trained senior adult staff member will administer the medication.
- Plan for administering medication – self medication
For any camper who is attending camp with an epi-pen, the camper may carry the epi-pen with him/her with the following conditions:
- The parent must sign off asserting that the camper is responsible for securing the epi-pen and capable of self-administering the epi-pen
- The parent must bring an additional epi-pen to camp that will be kept in the infirmary in case the child cannot access the epi-pen that he/she carries on their person.
- If for some reason the camper is unable to self-administer, the parent gives permission for the first trained staff person on the scene to administer the epi-pen, if needed.
- Storage / disposal of medications
All medicines (prescription and non-prescription) must be locked at all times in the medicine cabinet at the infirmary. No medications are allowed to be kept in any camper cabins. The one exception may be a camper with a severe case of asthma or allergy. In this case the health care manager may authorize the camper to keep his/her inhaler / epi-pen on the camper or in the cabin, however s/he must keep a back-up of the medicine in the infirmary. In these cases, parents must sign a consent form affirming that the child is capable of self-administration and has permission from the prescribing doctor to self-administer and the director / counseling staff will be informed. All medications will be returned to the parent upon their child’s checkout. Any parent who fails to pick up their child’s medicine will be called by the nurse on duty. If they are unable to return to pick up the medication, the medication will be destroyed by the nurse with a witness present to document the destruction.
- Sunscreen Policy…In an effort to protect our campers and staff, Camp Rotary encourages all members of the Camp Rotary community to regularly apply sunscreen. Since most of our campers are old enough to competently apply sunscreen (with reminders and guidance from their counselors), usually this will suffice. If you have a very young camper or one who you know will need help in applying the sunscreen, we ask you to provide an appropriate sunscreen, labeled with your child’s name. At check-in, please give the sunscreen to the cabin counselor with written instructions as to what type of assistance you would like from the counselor. Our policy is that two counselors be present when one is applying sunscreen on a camper.
