Dear Camper Families,

We are very excited that you have chosen Pine Cove as the youth camp for children and look forward to them coming this summer.

We know that you have entrusted your child to us, and we take that responsibility very seriously. With that in mind, we want to update you on a decision we made at one of the Pine Cove youth camps earlier this summer.

As you are probably aware, we suspended camp a few days early at our Towers Youth Camp during week 4 because of widespread illness among our campers. Some of the campers have been diagnosed with having a common stomach bug, others have tested positive for seasonal Type A Influenza and some families have informed us that their physician has notified them that their child has tested positive for Swine Flu, also known as H1N1.

Regarding Novel H1N1, we have no confirmed reports at this time from the Department of Public Health Services; however since we have had many week 4 camper parents tell us that their child’s physician has confirmed the H1N1 flu, we are operating as if this is true. Please click here to watch a video of our Medical Director's comments on H1N1.

Here is important information for you to know as a camper parent:

• We have modified our camper check process for opening day at camp. All campers will have their temperature taken as they complete their cabin meeting on Sunday afternoon.
• We have adjusted our medical protocols to identify and treat fever at 100.5 or greater. If your child presents this temperature, we will require immediate quarantine and contact you as their parents or guardians. The purpose of the contact will be to send your camper home.
• We have separated our health centers to deal with this in a different way than before. In conjunction with our current quarantine rooms inside our health centers; we have added separate fever rooms to isolate all fevers immediately. Nausea and vomiting will be monitored separately.
• Additional nursing staff has been arranged to compliment our 10 full time positions to help monitor and treat campers and staff effectively. This will allow our nurses more time to communicate directly with parents should their camper present in the health center with a fever.
• Per Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, antiviral medications will not be automatically administered. Should your child present with flu like symptoms, our physicians will be contacted and medical decisions will be communicated in conjunction with parents’ consent.
• We expect all parents to keep any camper home that has been sick with flu like symptoms in the past 7 days. If your child has been sick, we are expecting that you not send your child to camp until they are symptom free for at least 24 hours. The CDC reports that they are no longer contagious 24 hours after all symptoms have been resolved. If you have to keep your child at home due to sickness, we will gladly reschedule your child for another week of camp later this summer.

At this time, all camp activities are running as planned for the balance of the summer. To minimize any future incidences we are continuing to undertake an aggressive cleaning and sanitizing routine at all of our camps.

This routine includes but is not limited to:

• Deep cleaning every cabin and cabin bathroom. This will entail using an EPA approved anti-microbial cleaning product on all floors, countertops, and faucets, light switches, door knobs, etc. (Even the thermostats!)
• Cleaning and disinfecting the Dining Hall and Kitchen. Dining hall carpets at the Towers, Ranch Timbers, and Shores have been professionally steam cleaned. We are also cleaning all table tops, counters, door knobs, windows; etc with an EPA approved disinfectant. Each hand washing station is being cleaned, including the surface of the soap dispensers and the water knobs.
• Cleaning every activity area. This includes disinfecting all ropes equipment (harnesses, carabineers, helmets, etc.), all sporting equipment, all rocks on the climbing wall, all lifejackets, all inflatable’s, and all saddles and helmets used for horseback riding.
• Quarantining staff that present with symptoms in our health clinic and treating them by either our RN or one of our Physicians or Physicians Assistants.

For more information on our cleaning efforts, watch our summer staff sanitizing the Towers Camp.

We realize that some of the symptoms we are currently treating are a result of soaring temperatures in east Texas. We have already seen several days above 100 degrees. We are continuing to stress fluid intake at all of our camps and have added Gatorade and water stations throughout camp to encourage campers to stay hydrated.

Many of you have inquired as to how Week 5 has been progressing on the health front. We are encouraged to report significant improvement at our camps compared to our previous week. Our health center reports seeing the normal amount of illness that we traditionally treat during any given week.

Our deepest desire is to provide a healthy, safe, and fun camp experience for all of our campers. We appreciate you choosing Pine Cove and look forward to having your child at camp.

Again, thank you for allowing us to minister to your children.

Sincerely in Christ,

Mario Zandstra
President & CEO
Pine Cove