by Pine Cove
We are continually evaluating the latest state and church recommendations for our procedures to protect the health of campers, staff, and parents. Major updates are summarized below.
Safety at Pine Cove is a big deal. Especially medical safety. We distribute over 200,000 medications each year and put a lot of time and energy into training our camp staff and medical staff to provide the highest level of care possible when it comes to storing, giving out, and overseeing medication.
Meds, understandably, bring with them a number of questions. We’ve put together this guide to help you know what’s what when it comes to camper meds.
If you have additional questions or concerns about your camper’s medical care, email us!
For our East Texas camps (Towers, Ranch, Timbers, and Shores), email etx-med@pinecove.com.
For our Central Texas camps (Silverado, Outback, and Ridge), email ctx-med@pinecove.com.
For our Southeast camp (Springs), email se-med@pinecove.com.
It is critical to communicate about your camper’s medical needs on the camper’s medical form. These forms become available in your account to fill out one month before your camper’s camp session. It’s important to have ALL medications (including daily over-the-counter allergy meds) on the medical form before we can accept them at check-in. Make sure that if you make any last minute changes to your child’s medication before arrival at camp, that you also update the medical form.
All medications must be entered into our system through your medical form. We can’t handwrite in new medications at check-in, so save yourself time from having to log-in and add medications at check-in, and do it beforehand!
If this is your first summer, you also completed a medical concerns form as part of your registration. This is the form where you will make sure to let us know about any bigger picture concerns, like diabetes or individual care needs your camper may have. It’s important to let us know about these needs as soon as possible before their camp session so we can make sure both our camp teams and medical teams are prepared to serve them safely.
State law requires us to store all medications at the health centers. This applies not just to campers, but also to our staff, so there’s no possibility of a camper getting into a staffer’s luggage and accessing medication.
All medication stored at the health center includes over-the-counter medications. Please do not store any over-the-counter (OTC) meds or vitamins in your camper’s luggage.* Your camper will have access to the camp clinic if they are need of occasional medication. There is a list of meds we keep in stock at the bottom of this guide.
*Exceptions are made for rescue inhalers, diabetic supplies, and epi-pens. If your camper is going to self-carry any of those items, please mention your camper will be carrying these things with them on the medical form and we encourage you to send a second item to keep at the health center for easy accessibility in case a camper forgets an item in their cabin.
If they take prescription medication, we’ll take care of making sure they get what they need! Read the question below about packing meds for more instructions on how prescription medication needs to be packed.
Please leave all non-prescription medications at home for the week. Standing in line for meds during mealtime is not most camper’s favorite thing to do, so if it’s not essential, your camper will thank you too!
If you believe your camper must have their own over-the-counter (OTC) medications, like a daily allergy pill, please bring it with you to drop-off and check it in with the camp nurse. We prefer daily OTC medications to already be in blister packs by the manufacturer or placed in blister packs processed and filled by a certified pharmacist. Be sure to allow enough time for them to be processed and available by camp.
Please also know that we are well stocked with most OTC medications for occasional use! See a full list of the medication we keep on hand at the bottom of this guide.
A blister pack is pill packaging that seals pills into individual doses and includes information about the medicine, like the name and dosage. Many over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, including most popular allergy medicine, already come packaged this way, but some do not. Pharmacies will create blister packs for you for OTC medicines for a small fee. Some require you to have purchased the medicine at their pharmacy and others do not, so call around before you bring medicine in. Most pharmacies need a few business days to get it done.
Make sure to keep all prescription medication in its original prescription container with current dosage instructions. It’s easy to want to consolidate when you are packing and put all their meds for the week into a baggie—we get it! However, state regulations require all medication to be in containers processed by a pharmacist or manufacturer. We cannot make exceptions.
It is helpful to our medical team if you only send the amount of medication necessary for their time at camp, and keep any extra at home. As noted above, it still needs to be in containers processed by a pharmacist or manufacturer.
We stock many over-the-counter (OTC) medications in our health center for occasional as needed use. You can see a list of these at the bottom of this guide. There is no need to pack any of those OTC meds with your camper – we’re fully stocked with them!
Regulations require us to follow the directions on all prescription medicine bottles and blister packs.
Speaking of state regulations, we also cannot administer prescription meds that are:
Regulations require us to follow the directions on all prescription medicine bottles and all blister packs, whether prescription or over-the-counter. Practically, this means that we cannot give a higher than recommended dosage of an over-the-counter med or vitamin.
Some parents use a week at summer camp to “take a vacation” from routine prescription medication, especially ADHD medication. We want to set your camper up for a successful, seriously fun, Christ-centered week, and keeping them on their regular prescription medication is an important factor for success. The camp environment is highly stimulating and most campers find they need the help their regular prescription provides.
During summer, medication is given out at meals from Monday breakfast to Friday dinner and bedtimes beginning Sunday night. Note that we do not give out meds at dinner on Sunday or breakfast on Saturday, so make sure to give your camper their dinner meds early when you drop them off at camp and their breakfast meds on Saturday when you pick them up.
Make sure to communicate with your camper what meds (if any) they should expect to be taking at mealtime, so they’re aware. It’s important that they know if they are supposed to stand in line for their meds prior to meals.
As part our safety protocols, campers are asked to scan their camper bands at meals before receiving medication. This allows our medical team to visually verify that the correct camper is getting the correct medication. Please upload a recent photo of your camper as part of their camper profile in order to help our team accurately identify them.
At Winterfest, medication is given out at bedtime Friday night through Saturday bedtime. At Sunday breakfast we will not give out medications, so if your camper takes medication daily at breakfast you can give them that medication when you pick them up.
Due to the already large amount of medicines tracked and given out during the week, we do not administer essential oils or vitamins, unless they are prescription (and in prescription bottles or in blister packs from a certified pharmacist). Please do not send them in your camper’s luggage.
Similar to essential oils, we do not administer CBD oil to campers, unless prescribed by a physician. Please do not pack it in your camper’s luggage.
We will administer allergy drops, but need a copy of the physician’s allergy treatment and clear dosage instructions on the bottle similar to a prescription (camper name, DOB, dose, how often to give it).
On Saturday you can pick up your meds from the meds pick up table before or after picking up your camper. Please don’t forget!
Posted Mar 1, 2022
Categories: Prep for Camp (Browse all)
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Tags: camp prep, medication, medicine, summer prep
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