The health and safety of our campers, families, staff, and community members is our top priority. Every summer we ensure measures, protocols, and appropriate staffing are in place for everyone to enjoy their summer in a safe and healthy environment. Over many years, including through the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to work closely with our local Public Health unit to ensure our health and safety protocols and procedures are modernized and up-to-date. We also have a full-time maintenance team who work tirelessly throughout the year to ensure all of our buildings, pools, and equipment are in safe and working order.
HEALTH CENTRE
Our Health Centre is staffed at all times during the camp day by an experienced Registered Nurse and qualified first aiders. The Health Centre staff are on-site to respond to all medical issues, as well as administer required medication.
- It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the camp of any changes to the information provided on the Camper Health Form (at the time of registration) so that we have the most recent and accurate medical information for all campers.
- In the event your camper visits the Health Centre, depending on the circumstances of the visit, you will receive either a note home that evening or a phone call with details of the visit. If the camper needs to be picked up, a parent/guardian will be notified immediately.
Please do not send your camper to camp if it is suspected that he/she is not feeling well. If your camper has been home ill, please refer to our COVID-19 protocols on page 9 of this handbook or contact our Camp Office.
ALLERGIES – WE NEED YOUR COOPERATION
- It is our top priority to promote a safe, caring and supportive environment for all of our campers and staff. This is especially true for our campers with anaphylactic allergies. In order to support our campers with life-threatening allergies, we ask that all of our families read the following information carefully and share it with their campers.
- We provide all food and snacks during the camp day for our campers and staff to ensure everyone’s safety. The food and snacks we provide are free of all peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame products. No outside food or snacks are allowed on the camp property. Although this helps some of our campers, we understand that not all allergies are food-related and are conscious of these other allergies as well.
- Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that can be rapid in onset and can in worst-case scenarios cause death. It can manifest in different ways such as hives, itchy rash, vomiting, shortness of breath, or even throat or tongue swelling. This reaction is caused by being exposed to the person’s allergy. For example, if a person has a bee allergy, if they are stung it will cause a reaction. If a person has a nut allergy, ingesting or sometimes even smelling nuts can cause a reaction. The main way anaphylaxis is treated is by an epinephrine injection.
- We ensure that our staff are well trained and prepared to care for our campers. During our pre-camp training sessions, we ensure that our staff are educated in first aid, C.P.R., emergency procedures and epi-pens. Our health centre, unit heads, counsellors, pool heads, swim instructors, specialty staff, snack shack coordinator, and our kitchen director, are notified and briefed of camper allergies and restrictions.
- We also keep multiple dosages of EpiPens on site in case of emergency. Please ensure that your camper’s EpiPen contains the correct dosage and is up to date for the camp season (expiration date of September 2023 or later).
- Please check that your camper’s hands, face, mouth, and clothing are clean, especially from peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame products before arriving at camp in the morning.
Please support us in our efforts to provide the safest measures for all of our campers!
ASTHMA
- If your camper has asthma, it is important that we know and understand the symptoms they experience, especially what environments can make it worse (cold, exercise, campfire smoke, etc.).
- Please make sure that the correct medication is sent to camp with your camper(s), and you inform the camp of when you feel we should administer the use of an inhaler.
- The inhaler can be kept in our Health Centre or carried around in a fanny pack with the camper. Please connect with the camp office to chat further and let us know where you would like the inhaler kept.
MEDICATION AND MEDICAL CONDITIONS
- No medication can be given at camp without permission from a camper’s parent/legal guardian. This includes all prescription and over-the-counter medication.
- If you are planning to send medication, it must be in the original bottle labelled with the camper’s name, the name of the medication, the dosage required, and the time to administer the medication.
- Send enough medication for camp use only, leaving the remainder at home.
- Medication must be stored in the Health Centre and administered by our Registered Nurse.
- If you are going to send medication, please contact the camp office before the camp day begins to provide instructions for our health centre.
ILLNESS AND RETURNING TO CAMP SAFELY
In the event a camper is not feeling well, it is important that they take the time they need to feel better before returning to camp. For the health and safety of all campers and staff, please do not send your camper(s) to camp if they are experiencing symptoms of illness. This includes and is not limited to the following symptoms:
- Fever and/or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Decrease or loss of taste and/or smell
- Muscle aches or joint pain
- Extreme tiredness
- Sore throat
- Runny or stuffy/congested nose
- Headache
- Nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea
- Abdominal pain
- Pink eye
- Decreased or no appetite
Return to camp can occur if they do not have a fever and their symptoms have been improving for at least 24 hours (or 48 hours if they have been vomiting or having diarrhea). Alongside a parent, the camper will need to complete the School and Child Care Screening, or an alternative screening tool designated by the local public health unit, daily before returning to camp. We suggest you copy and paste the following URL and/or bookmark or save the link to the screening tool.
Running camp during the COVID-19 pandemic has been no easy task, but we have been able to create a safe and exciting environment. Summers 2020 through 2023 have all been a huge success! Please note that if a camper begins to not feel well at camp, you may be required to pick them up at the earliest possible opportunity, within one hour. Furthermore, if a camper tests positive for COVID-19 at home, we ask that you please inform the camp immediately. We will work with you to coordinate a plan for returning to camp that is safe for the ill camper, and the rest of our campers and staff.
HEAD LICE
We must take extra precautions to limit the transmission of lice at camp. Though bothersome, head lice will not harm children and adults, nor cause illness. Having head lice does not mean a person is unclean or the environment is dirty. Head lice are almost always transmitted from one person to another by head-to-head contact.
- Prior to arriving to camp, please examine your camper’s head and everyone else in the household for lice and nits. Start examining the head by beginning around the ears and at the nape of the neck and then the rest of the head. If your camper does have lice, begin treatment.
- If your camper is found to have lice or nits, they will not be admitted to camp until the situation is resolved. A parent will be notified immediately and will need to pick their camper up from camp. Campers will not be allowed back to camp without a certificate/note from a lice clinic or nurse, indicating that the camper no longer has lice and/or nits.
In case of communicable diseases such as Chicken Pox, German Measles, Pink-Eye, Lice, & Hand Foot & Mouth, please notify the Camp Office immediately.
There are children at our camp that could suffer a fatal reaction to communicable diseases. You MUST notify the camp if your camper is a carrier!
RAINY DAYS & EXTREME HEAT DAYS
- Our campers and staff are always ‘Sun Smart’. Whether re-applying sunscreen, keeping hats on heads, drinking water, refilling water bottles, staying in the shade, or keeping cool in our air-conditioned indoor facilities, all help beat the heat at camp! Staff are well trained to ensure campers’ safety at all times.
- In heavy rain or extreme conditions, programming continues like usual in our indoor, air-conditioned, state-of-the-art facilities.
- Please monitor the early morning weather reports and send the appropriate clothing and shoes for the weather.
Crestwood Valley Day Camp reserves the right to change our Health and Safety Protocols for summer 2024 as updates are made by the Ministry of Health and/or Toronto Public Health. Currently, for summer 2024 there is no mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy in place. If changes do occur, they will be communicated to Crestwood families and staff.