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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.

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Walton says, “camps should provide parents with a complete picture of what their programs involve”. Look at the total package and be sure it is safe an healthy for your child.

Long before camp starts parents need to be talking about homesickness with their child. Parents need to use their resources like with the doctor who does the child’s pre-camp health assessment and fills out the health form.

Parents should also avoid making pre-arranged plans with their children about picking them up if they get homesick. This only gets kids thinking about the way out of camp. Only should parents discuss camp positively, avoid expressing doubts about a child’s ability to avoid homesickness.

With the new guideline, the AAP also recommends that its members — the pediatricians who treat many of America’s children — get involved with camps in their local area to make sure that health policies and standing orders are up-to-date. They can also act as medical backups to the nurses and paramedic-trained camp health officers on site at camps — instead of the local emergency room or urgent care center, which Walton’s study found was the case 75 percent of the time.

The guideline recommends that parents teach their children how to use rescue inhalers or EpiPens, before the kids go to camp. Parents need talk with camp directors about conditions that might require children to use their devices.

“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.

Selecting the best Summer Camp for your child is easier with a FREE resource Summer Camp Advice Find a Summer Camp

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

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