Rethinking the Health Center - camp health centers

Camping Magazine, March, 2001 by Nancy S. McMillan

Assessing your health center and setting goals

The health center is a critical link in developing and maintaining a safe environment for your campers. However, providing adequate care to an active young population can be challenging. How should your health center be set up to best serve your campers? The following ideas will help you evaluate your health center and determine how you can provide adequate care while teaching campers personal responsibility.

Assess Your Situation and Set Goals

When evaluating your health center, your first step is identical to the nursing process and begins with an assessment. Followed closely behind is the redevelopment of goals. Ideally, both the camp director and camp medical director or nurse should be involved in the process.

Population served

Questions that need to be addressed begin with the desired level of care the camp will be capable and willing to provide (e.g., a basic first-aid station and triage center or a more complex level of a care requiring sophisticated equipment and a highly skilled staff of professionals). Part of this decision will be based on the population you serve, the length of camp sessions, and the activities offered. Will your population be mostly "well" staff and children? Will you expand to include differently abled children? If so, have you determined the review process and facility changes necessary to make their stay successful? Does your camp specialize in one particular type of illness or syndrome? Does your camp provide off-camp experiences? Do you offer unusual activities that might require special endurance or medical clearance?

Size of center

A determining factor for the size of your health center is accessibility of medical care in the surrounding community. Are you located in a rural area with only basic emergency care provided or is there a trauma-level hospital offering timely life flight services close by?

Contract of care

Another important piece of data collection is your contract with the parent for the level of care you provide and the type of disabilities and chronic illnesses you can reasonably support. Even if you are working with only "well" campers, you will need to be able to manage both environmental disasters, such as hurricanes and tornados, and medical disasters, such as an epidemic or a mass trauma.

Assess the Areas of Camp Impacted by the Health Center

Once you have established goals for the health center, the next step is to look at all the areas of camp the health center impacts.

* Campers and counselors: The health center provides medical support and supervision as needed, including medication management, temporary and long-term treatment of common episodic injuries and illnesses, and problem-solving difficult behavior and adjustment issues.

* Administrative staff: The health center keeps legal health records, maintains contact with parents when appropriate, and responds to urgent situations as they arise.

* Program staff: The health center ensures activities are planned safely and makes recommendations based on accidents treated. The health center might also provide first-aid kits specially designed for each activity with the specific supplies needed per predictable injury for that area and basic first-aid supplies and problem-solving support through radio consultation of sick or injured campers for off-camp experiences.

* Kitchen and housekeeping staff: The health center staff works closely with these individuals to ensure the public health of the camp.

* Camp budget: Providing appropriate medical care is not an inexpensive endeavor. Though a health center can be run frugally, it is no place to cut corners.

Properly Positioning and Equipping the Health Center

When planning the physical placement of the health center, the first area of concern is location within the general layout of the camp. A location that is central to the cabins is preferred over one that borders the camp. This location affords easy access in the middle of the night if the need arises, especially given the limited outdoor lighting of most camp settings. Plus, it has the added benefit of an "extra pairs of eyes" during the daytime for supervision. The facility needs to be kid friendly and easily accessible, yet at the same time not be mistaken for anther activity on camp. For many campers, the idea of seeking out help for their health-related needs is part of the learning experience of camp.

The health center building

The building needs to have flexible space. Keep in mind that during sick call as many as 5 to 10 percent of the camp population may be present for evaluation. The front area of the building requires an open space that allows for evaluating campers' illnesses and injuries, a contact area for parent calls, and a storage area for charts and paperwork. Throughout the health center, locked storage space that protects supplies and equipment from the elements and camp critters is well worth the investment.

Space for semi-private outpatient examination and evaluation areas need to be set aside. The number of outpatient examining areas needed depends again on your present goals and number of campers. These areas should allow for evaluation and treatment of the camper and should be equipped with locked storage if medications are kept in the area. Many injuries at camp require soaking for cleansing and enhancing the health process, so you may want to designate an area for foot soaking. Each exam area should also have access to a sink for hand washing to control the spread of infection.