Health and Safety

Sick or Absent Participants

• For the health and safety of all children in our programs please do not send your child to YMCA programs if they are ill.
• If your child is ill or must miss camp, please notify the adventure center. If no one is available to take your call, please leave a message.
• Children must be free from symptoms for at least 24 hours before returning to the YMCA and any contagious illness should be cleared by a doctor.
• Parents/Guardians must notify the Camp Director if their child contracts a communicable disease, as soon as diagnosed. When a communicable disease occurs, the YMCA will notify other participants in writing, including cause and symptoms.
• To dispense medication, a signed Medication Form must be submitted.

Injury or Emergency

• YMCA staff will call 911, perform immediate First Aid, and contact you
•  After 911 has been called, it is then up to the emergency response team to decide what actions will be taken.
• If a parent/guardian is not able to be reached, we will continue to call through your designated emergency contact list until contact is made.
• YMCA staff will also accompany the child to the hospital and stay until the parent/guardian arrives if emergency transport is required.

• Please apply sunscreen and bug spray before sending your child to camp.
• We will remind participants to reapply sunscreen and bug spray throughout the day and will monitor as appropriate. 
• Additional forms are required by Wisconsin Licensing for children ages 4-6.

Outdoor adventure comes with a degree of risk. To help you identify the skills you will need to successfully participate in an Overnight or Teen Wilderness summer program, the YMCA of the North has created the following Essential Eligibility Criteria (EEC).

Understanding a participant’s medical history is one of the best ways we can mitigate risk in the wilderness. We review all participants' medical information before their arrival. Once on-site, this information is also reviewed by the on-site Health Officer with your participant’s guide. Our goal is to make our wilderness trips accessible to as many participants as possible while maintaining their physical and emotional safety.

Secure Health Records

YMCA of the North has partnered with CampDoc, the leading electronic health record system for camps. CampDoc is secure, encrypted, and password-protected to ensure the privacy of your child’s health information. Please see CampDoc’s Privacy Policy and Security Policy for additional information.

Updating Health Records

We require yearly updated health records, including dietary needs, to help keep your participant safe and healthy.

Please notify us if your participant shows any symptoms of illness before coming to camp. If your child is sick or injured while at camp:

• Participants that require non-emergency medical treatment while staying onsite receive first aid from an onsite healthcare provider.
• Participants who require non-emergency medical treatment while in a backcountry wilderness setting will receive first aid from their Trail Counselor, trained in professional-level wilderness first responder skills.
• Suppose a more serious injury or illness occurs. In that case, a participant staying at a YMCA adventure center will be taken to a local clinic or hospital, and a parent or guardian will be contacted.
• When necessary, the YMCA will work with local contacts to remove ill or injured participants from the backcountry and transport them to medical care. 
• In the event of an illness or injury that precludes a participant from continuing with our programming, a parent or emergency contact will be called to make arrangements for pickup.

YMCA adventure centers operate on the policy of “no news is good news.” To preserve every participant’s wilderness experience, groups only contact the adventure center if they require assistance or additional resources. 

The adventure center’s administrative team also follows this policy in communicating with families. We will not contact you unless we have a pertinent update on your participant’s experience.

We are equipped with over-the-counter medications, but your camper should come to camp with any scheduled medication. We can also work with you and your child’s medical providers to create a plan or explore reasonable accommodations.

Preparing Medications

All medication will be turned in to the Camp Health Provider upon arrival at camp. Medication should be in the original container and labeled clearly with dosage, frequency, and participant's name. This includes both prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Be sure there is enough medication for the entire session at the beginning and one night at the end of the participant’s session. Please send extra doses if they get wet or damaged while on the trail.

Please reach out to your adventure center team if your participant requires assistance administering their medication or if medication has special or complicated directions.

Administering Medications

Camp will administer medications following the prescription from a medical provider. Please make sure your camper's Health Records and prescriptions are up-to-date.

Medications Requiring Injections

We understand that campers may need to take medications that require injections. Our staff cannot administer medications via injections except Epinephrine via auto-injector or vial/ampule and syringe. All trail guide staff are trained in the proper administration of Epinephrine via auto-injector or vial/ampule and syringe.

We do provide vegetarian options when serving meat but many participants have other dietary needs. To ensure we get your child the fuel they need, If they have any food allergies or other dietary needs, please include them in your child's health records and we will do our best to accommodate.

Sunscreen

Participants are encouraged to apply and reapply sunscreen daily. Staff will provide appropriate assistance as needed.

Ticks and Bugs

Vector-Borne illnesses are of growing concern in the areas we travel. Participants are encouraged to bring adequate and effective bug repellant. We recommend DEET and Picaridin. Additionally, you may want to consider treating your camper’s trail boots and clothing with Permethrin.

While on the trail, campers are encouraged us apply and reapply bug repellent daily. When traveling through tick-prone areas, campers will check for ticks daily.

Lice

Please carefully check your participant for nits and/or lice before driving them to camp or the bus stop. If your child has lice, they will be removed from camp, and your session will not be refunded.

YMCA adventure centers have weather radios and access to weather radar and monitor these resources. Onsite participants and staff will be moved to a safe location inside a building in the event of severe weather.

Parents, guardians, and participants should be aware that no place in the backcountry is safe from lightning and severe weather. Severe weather is an objective hazard of wilderness travel. YMCA counselors receive training on policies and practices designed to minimize this risk following industry best practices and NOAA’s recommendations on Lightning Risk Management.

YMCA adventure centers have a proven safety record of providing a fun, safe environment for their participants. While we cannot guarantee accident-free travel, our priority is the health and well-being of all our participants. Our attitude and investment in accident prevention and incident response enable our staff to respond appropriately and situationally. We train our staff members in professional-level wilderness first responder skills, provide them with a thorough knowledge of the areas we travel through and have established policies and procedures designed to reduce the likelihood of illness and injury. In addition, we provide communication devices to our trip leaders to allow them to access additional resources whenever technology and the environment allow. In the event of an illness or injury, it is important for parents and participants to acknowledge that communication with emergency medical services is not always possible due to the remoteness of our trips.

• Children 11 and under must be accompanied by an adult at ALL times.  
• Footwear must be worn at all times around camp unless in a designated areas (ex. Sauna, swim area, volleyball court). 
• Alcohol must stay at your cabin or tent site, you may not bring it to program areas, beaches or the saunas.  
• If you go out on a hike or paddle, please let someone in your group or on staff know where you are going and when you will be back.  
• Please use camp equipment only for its intended purpose, not doing so could result in injury to yourself or others. 
• In the case of an emergency please do not hesitate to contact staff for assistance. Camp emergency information is located inside of each cabin, tent site bear box and food cache.

• The waterfronts are not lifeguarded outside of scheduled times during age groups. Please use our waterfront areas at your own risk and be vigilant about watching the children in your family/cabin group. 
• Swimming is only allowed in designated beach areas unless you have received permission from the Executive Director or Program Director. 
• Watercraft are to be used only during daylight hours. 
• A personal floatation device (PFD), also known as a lifejacket, must be worn at all times on watercraft or outside of the swimming area. If you are unsure if you are wearing it correctly ask any staff member for help! 
• Fishing is allowed only in designated areas. Fishing in or around the swim areas is not allowed. MN fishing license is required for everyone 16 and older, we do not sell these at camp. You can purchase them on the DNR website or a gas station in Ely.

• A well-trained, enthusiastic staff is crucial to a unique and unforgettable camping experience. YMCA adventure center staff members are carefully selected based on leadership skills, prior experience working with children, decision-making capabilities, respect for the environment, and safety awareness. 
• All camp counselors are a minimum of 18 years old. 
• Each staff member goes through an extensive hiring process including a criminal history background check, reference checks, and an interview. 
• Staff members receive over 40 hours of training including training in camp program areas, relating to children, licensing policies, health and safety skills, and are First Aid and CPR certified. 
• Staff members are committed to being positive role models for participants. 
• Any staff run programming at the waterfront will be lifeguarded, however if there isn’t a staff led program the waterfront is at your own risk. 
• Emphasis activity leaders have special knowledge and training in that specialty area.