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by Dawn Comstock, Ph.D.; Linda Erceg, R.N.,
M.S., P.H.N.; Gwynn Powell, Ph.D.; Marge Scanlin,
Ed.D.
Once upon a time, a camp decided to seriously
track the information that was recorded in its
health-care center log. An intern at the camp
simply charted the day of the week and time of
day that injuries were occurring. A pattern quickly
emerged.
Children and staff were injured at a much higher
rate during after-supper playtime and Sunday
afternoon all-camp activities. The awareness
of those times caused the realization that more
people were being injured during the less-structured
activity times. This knowledge, combined with
staff resourcefulness, led to a decreased injury
rate the next summer. Another camp looked more
seriously at both injury and illness. This camp's
medical director charted illness rates and injuries
of campers and staff for a three-year period.
This knowledge, harnessed by a comprehensive
risk management plan, led to a decrease in rate
of injuries, lower insurance costs, and a reduced
number of crisis events in campers with ongoing
or preexisting medical issues (i.e., asthma,
diabetes, skin conditions). The results showed
that staff had higher injury/illness rates than
campers and that intentional management of illness
risks could lower the rates for campers and staff.
How many times have you reviewed your camp injury
and illness logs? How do you review those logs?
What have you learned from that process? What
might happen if we collaborate across the county
to better understand what is happening in camps
and brainstorm together how we might make camp
a healthier place?
Camps are not alone in regard to their need
for injury and illness surveillance and subsequent
management. Most of us are familiar with the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
It is "charged with protecting the public
from unreasonable risks of serious injury or
death from more than fifteen thousand types of
consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction.
The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of
consumer products — such as toys, cribs,
power tools, cigarette lighters, and household
chemicals — contributed significantly to
the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths
and injuries associated with consumer products
over the past thirty years (www.cpsc.gov/about/about.html)." By
pooling data from hospitals across the nation
(accounting for rural, urban, and geographic
spread), the CPSC analyzes trends to get a big-picture
view of injuries that are occurring and uses
this information to make decisions that help
protect the public.
In addition, the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) maintains an Injury Surveillance
System (ISS). Injury data collected from a representative
sample of colleges and universities since 1982
has lead to safer conditions for athletes of
all ages (www.ncaa.org).
Safety Research Impacts Camp
There are many ways in which safety research
impacts camp. Safety equipment has become part
of everyday operations for some activities (helmets,
safety goggles, etc.); facility usage (smoke
detectors, bunk bed guard rails, etc.); and equipment
(safety guards, safety shut-off switches, etc.).
In addition, more effective ways to train staff
leads to safer environments.
In an effort to support the work of camp directors
to create a safer camp environment, the American
Camp Association and the Association of Camp
Nurses are developing a study with researchers
at Ohio State University and the University of
Georgia to more completely define the patterns
of injuries and illness among campers and staff.
The goal of the study is to establish an injury
and illness surveillance system that will allow
us, as an industry, to:
- monitor the rates of injuries and illness;
- identify the risk factors for injuries
and illnesses;
- provide data to help guide the focus of
camp risk management programs;
- help camps develop preventative interventions;
and
- guide the implementation of preventative
interventions and monitor their effectiveness.
The benefits of this process for individual
camps will be to acquire knowledge that can
improve the environment, improve staff effectiveness,
lower health-care costs, and improve the risk
ratio factor in order to lower insurance premiums.
In such a manner, camp risk management can
move out of the "gloom and doom" stance
into positive and user-friendly strategies
which will greatly enhance each camp's
bottom line . . . happier, healthier children
and staff.
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