Safety at Summer Camp

former Camper and Camp Director at Camp Unalayee, Currently Mom-at-Home

When it comes to running a summer camp (and therefore choosing one) safety is always #1 and fun is always #2. And actually it’s because we think so much about safety at Camp that we get to do so many fun things – things that might normally be considered unsafe. When I was director of Camp Unalayee, The Board of Directors and I spent a lot of time focusing on safety – we in fact have a whole Risk Management committee that reviews incidents, accidents, and other safety concerns and makes plans to address them and mitigate them in the future.

In my time as Director we had a huge amount of focus on protecting our campers and staff from the rapidly increasing threat of forest fires and the smoke that comes with them. We spent many hours developing evacuation plans as well as operational procedures for different levels of smoke – and it paid off! Since creating those policies and procedures, we’ve unfortunately had to use both of them, but having a plan in place made it easier to deal with in the moment, and low and behold also kept all of the campers and staff safe.

When it comes to safety at camps, another point I can’t stress enough is cooperation with local resources – whether that be local fire departments, medical services, the forest service, the sheriff, the health department, etc. these agencies are essential to ensuring the safety of camp staff and campers in the case of an emergency or crisis. Having relationships and established communication with these resources makes a world of difference when a crisis strikes.

Really I could go on and on about everything camp professionals do to ensure the safety of campers (and it’s much more than evacuation plans and emergency resource contact lists) – but I think the key is that the campers feel safe, and when you ask them if they do, it’s an obvious yes, in fact a second thought. What they are focused on is how much fun it is. And they are only able to focus on that fun, because they know they are safe and well cared for.

If looking for a camp and you want to assess if good risk management practices have been put in place, things to look for:

1. ACA accreditation
2. Written emergency procedures specific to different threats and activities at camp that the camp is willing to share
3. A commitment not only to the physical safety of campers, but also their mental and social safety
4. A process for review of safety concerns which includes oversight beyond the staff at camp that summer

Sarah L Camp
sarahlcamp@gmail.com

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