by Pine Cove
Safety at Pine Cove is a big deal. Especially medical safety. We 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 at nursemanager@pinecove.com.
The most important place to communicate about your camper’s medical needs is the camper’s medical form. These forms become available to fill out a month before your camper’s camp session. You can access this form in your account.
If this is your first summer, you also filled out a short medical concerns form as part of your registration flow. This was for bigger picture concerns, like diabetes, and informed our medical staff at that time of your camper’s specific needs.
To protect the safety of all campers from having access to meds, all medications must be kept 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.
Exceptions are made for rescue inhalers, diabetic supplies, and epi-pens. Just be sure to mention your camper will need to carry these things with them on the medical form.
Please leave all non-prescription medications other than allergy medicine at home for the week. We’re well stocked with everything else they might need! See a full list of the medication we keep on hand at the bottom of this guide. Continue to pack your over-the-counter allergy medications (so much pollen at camp!) and turn those into the nurse. These include Flonase, Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra, and more. Save the hassle of packing the rest (and the space in your trunk)!
In 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, so make sure to give your camper their dinner meds early when you drop them off at camp. At Saturday breakfast we only give out prescription meds, so if your camper takes an over-the-counter medication daily at breakfast you can give it to them when you pick up meds at closing ceremony.
Make sure to communicate with your camper what meals (if any) they should expect to be taking meds, so they’re aware.
At Winterfest, medication is given out at bedtime Friday night through Saturday bedtime. At Sunday breakfast we only give out prescription meds, so if your camper takes an over-the-counter medication daily at breakfast you can give it to them when you pick them up.
Make sure you keep all prescription medication in its original container. It’s easy to get carried away when you are packing and put loose pills in a baggie or meds into pill sorters but resist the temptation! State regulations require all medication to be in their original containers so we cannot make exceptions.
Speaking of state regulations, we also cannot administer prescription meds that are:
Regulations require us to follow the directions on all medicines unless we have a note from a physician authorizing something different. So if a bottle says it is for adult use only and it is checked in for a ten-year-old, we cannot administer it. This is often a problem for Melatonin. Or if you request a higher dosage than what is listed on the medication directions, you’ll need a doctor’s note for that.
Due to the already large amount of medicines tracked and given out during the week, we do not administer essential oils or vitamins to campers. Please do not send them in your camper’s luggage.
Similar to essential oils, we do not administer CBD oil to campers, and we ask that you do not pack it in your camper’s luggage.
You can send it, but two important things to note. Your camper will be going hard all. day. long. So the likelihood of them needing something to help them fall asleep is low. In addition, by law we must follow the dosage directions on all medicines (including melatonin), unless we have a doctor’s note stating otherwise.
On Saturday you can pick up your meds from the meds pick up table before or after closing ceremony. Please don’t forget! Bring your photo ID so we can verify we are giving the meds back to the right person.
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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