• About midway through, assess the health and safety goals set at the season’s start. Are things on track? Any emerging hot spots? Talk about progress — or lack of it — with staff. Normalize conversations about these topics. End-of-Season Accountability: How’d We Do? The strategies described in this article, as well as others, have the potential to involve the entire staff in camp health and safety. Each staff member’s behavior impacts the camp’s injury-illness prof ile, the camper experience, and the staff member’s ability to do his or her job. If leadership has set things up so individuals retain responsibility for their health and safety decisions — or lack of them — then endof season summative reviews will include evidence of that effort. The camp will, over time, see improvements not only in tangible areas like injury-illness rates, but also in attitudes and safety-mindedness. Conversations about things that go well will happen with greater frequency than those that explore negative outcomes. Keep in mind, however, that we’re dealing with humans at camp. They’ll bleed and throw up upon occasion. We’ l l never eliminate all health and safety challenges. The wisdom lies in recognizing the times when intentional action, especially on the part of staff, makes a difference. Wisdom also lies in recognizing when the things we do control, like the schedule we give to people, the rules we ask (or don’t ask) them to follow, and the facility we provide, are the cause of problems. If the problems lie in these areas, then we have an obligation to address them. With a bit of forethought, it’s possible for camp professionals to shape the camp experience so it promotes the health and safety of everyone. That effort is well worth the outcome. Photo on page 33 courtesy of Camp Howe, Goshen, Massachusetts. References American Camp Association (2011). The healthy camp study impact report 2006-2010. Martinsville, IN: American Camp Association. Coutellier, Connie (2007). Camp is for the camper. Monterey, CA: Healthy Learning. Garst, B.A., Erceg, L.E., Baird, S., & Thompson, S. (2010). Ten steps to a healthy camp. Illinois Parks and Recreation Magazine, 41(3), 20-24. Garst, B.A., Erceg, L.E., & Walton, E. (in press). Injury and illness benchmarking and prevention for children and staff attending U.S. camps: Promising practices and policy implications. Journal of Applied Research on Children. Papageorgiou, P., Mavromatic, G., & Kosta, G. (2006). Summer camp injuries: A tool for safety planning at the summer camp. World Leisure, 3, 54-61. Robertson, L.S. (2007). Injury epidemiology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Chris Smith, MEd, is the director of Camp Horizons in Virginia and father of two camp-aged children. As a parent and director, his interest in health and safety at camp comes naturally. Linda Ebner Erceg, RN, MS, PHN, is the associate director of Health & Risk Management for Concordia Language Villages and executive director of the Association of Camp Nurses in Bemidji, Minnesota. Tracey Gaslin, PhD, CRNI, CPNP, FNP-BC, is currently the medical director at the Center for Courageous Kids. She is the president and board chair for the Association of Camp Nurses and serves on the Healthy Camp Education and Monitoring Program for ACA. CAMPING magazine • March/April 2014 37
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