American Camp Association Offers Context on CDC Study and Implications for Back to School

Martinsville, IN—July 31, 2020 Today’s Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) study of a single summer camp’s Covid-19 infections tells an incomplete story. To better understand summer camp safety in 2020, start with a clear understanding that thousands of camps are successfully operating this summer.

"Camps are at the forefront of child safety during this pandemic," said Tom Rosenberg, American Camp Association chief executive officer. "When camps consistently use the innovative, multilayered safety strategy outlined in our Field Guide for Operating Camps in COVID-19, we see that many of them minimize infections as well as the spread of COVID-19. However, infections increase if people become lax or inconsistent. The most important safety layer is a culture of compliance."

The American Camp Association (ACA) engaged leading experts to develop educational resources for camps to run safe in-person programming for summer 2020. This included the Field Guide for Camps in COVID-19, developed by an independent and external expert panel of specialists in pediatric medicine, infectious disease management, biological safety, industrial hygiene, organizational design, and more.

The early released version of the CDC study, "SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Infection Among Attendees of an Overnight Camp — Georgia, June 2020," only looked at what happened when a single camp did not implement all of the elements of the ACA Field Guide and the CDC’s guidance. "But more than 3,000 day and overnight camps are running in-person programming for children across the US this summer," shared Rosenberg. "We have so many success stories, from overnight camps who have not had a single infection, to day camps who have safely managed large groups of children every day, to virtual camps who made a profound difference for medically vulnerable children.

By the end of this summer, millions of kids will have benefited from positive and safe experiences at camps. The ACA can now answer:

  • What have we learned that we can apply to kindergarten, to 12th grade, and after-school programs?
  • What have been parents' top worries? How have camps met their concerns?
  • As schools decide between in-person classes and virtual learning, what have camps discovered about the pros and cons of both formats?
  • How will schools and extracurricular activities need to evolve to help pandemic kids? 
  • What sort of programming best counteracts the social, emotional, and physical damage to these "pandemic children"?
  • The evolution of children: 9/11 kids, to digital Gen-Zers, to COVID kids
  • Looking ahead to Camp 2021 — what should we expect? 

The ACA serves as a leading voice for child development and will soon have significant data to share. This summer, ACA launched several landmark studies to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on children, families, and camps. Study findings will be available later this fall.

"Perhaps the most important story of Camp 2020 is the least-reported story," said Rosenberg. "Camp directors reported that many children arrived feeling anxious, out of shape, or disconnected. They desperately sought — and ultimately found — the belonging, independence, and resilience they have needed for months. If schools are going to be successful this fall, they must act on what we’ve learned at camp this summer."

 ACA Safety Strategy 2020

About American Camp Association
The American Camp Association® (ACA) is a national organization with more than 12,000 individual members and 3,100 member camps. ACA is committed to collaborating with those who believe in quality camp and outdoor experiences for children, youth, and adults. ACA provides advocacy, evidence-based education, and professional development, and is the only independent national accrediting body for the organized camp experience. ACA accredits approximately 2,400 diverse US camps. ACA Accreditation provides public evidence of a camp’s voluntary commitment to the health, safety, and overall well-being of campers and staff. For more information, visit ACAcamps.org or call 800-428-2267.

Update from President/CEO Tom Rosenberg on COVID-19

Dear Colleagues:

I want to take a moment to reach out to you during these challenging times and remind you that the American Camp Association is here to support you as you work to plan for the summer through evolving guidance, information, and contingencies.

Camp Is a Beacon in the Storm

We are deeply inspired by the stories we are hearing about the way many camps are reaching out to their camper and staff families and engaging them with fun, virtual camp programs over Zoom and other technologies. Camp families are anticipating summer, and we have an opportunity to engage young people who are home from school and infuse some summer magic into everyone’s lives. These virtual programs (i.e., campfires, music, games, etc.) rekindle and build community by creating hope and happiness where there may be confusion and fear.

Stay Positive & Keep Planning for the Summer

We are in a dynamic situation and things are quickly evolving. While we can’t predict the future, there is currently no reason to believe with certainty that camp won’t happen this summer. Now is a time for patience, hope, and planning. Continue to watch for guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and your state health department. Look to the resources that we are sharing with you every day, and consult with your peers and advisors, before making decisions that could have lasting impacts on your camp operations.

Over the decades, camps have confidently and flexibly dealt with communicable diseases, earthquakes, wildfires, and more. We do this through careful planning and the use of best-practices in crisis management. This is one of our core competencies as a field.  The camp community has faced challenges in the past and we have emerged smarter, stronger, and called to work in the field of camp with a deeper sense of purpose. We will persevere; we will plan for camp and the millions of campers we collectively serve. While every generation has faced uncertainty and change, camp experiences are more important and strategically necessary for this generation to thrive in the years to come. As many industries communicate with anxious speculation, it is important for the camp community to role model self-certainty around what we know best — our camps, our campers, their families, and the importance of our camp community. Our youth and their families are counting on us.

Federal Recovery Funding for Camps

The camp community provides critical leadership for millions of families, and we at ACA are doing our best to advocate nationally for your programs and for financial assistance should it be needed. We have been assured, for example, that for-profit and nonprofit camps will be able to apply for federal Small Business Administration Coronavirus Disaster Relief Loans (PDF) through their individual states. The ACA advocacy team is also communicating with the White House and Congress, working hard on your behalf for greater relief for our field. Our advocates are in Congressional offices, at the White House, and working the halls of government on your behalf right now.

Focus on Summer Staffing

We know the recent decision by the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to pause cultural exchange visitor activity until May 12 may affect summer staffing. We encourage you to hire supplemental staff, in addition to continuing to patiently plan for cultural exchange visitors as they are able to participate. We are hopeful this pause will end as scheduled. Millions of American college students will likely now be spending the summer in the US, rather than abroad, and many who had hoped for internships (that might not now materialize) could be employed by summer camps.

Resources and Education for Camp Professionals

While some of ACA's in-person conferences and events have been canceled, we are offering a collaborative series of useful webinars and helpful new content resources regularly. Look for more information on our coronavirus web page and in our ACA Now e-newsletter each week.

Camp – Now More Than Ever

In challenging times like these, I am reminded of Albert Camus’s famous quote: “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer . . .” As camp professionals, we are experts at building optimism and community in the face of fear and uncertainty. Our summer experiences teach resilience, determination, kindness, and teamwork. America needs all summer camp programs now more than ever before. Thank you for all you are doing to ensure that millions of children, teens, and adults have transformative camp experiences across our nation this summer in every way possible.

With Deep Gratitude and Admiration,

Tom's signature

Tom Rosenberg
President/CEO

Camp Meals Tax Relief

When the Tax Cut and Jobs Act became law in 2017, many camp professionals were surprised to learn that their federal taxes would be going up, and for unexpected reasons. Camps that were subject to federal income tax discovered that all of the costs associated with preparing and serving the food that they routinely provide to their staff during mealtimes at camp had suddenly become taxable, resulting in a significantly higher tax bill at the end of the year.

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act included a change to the tax treatment of all costs associated with meals provided to employees by their employer. They were now only 50 percent deductible, when they had been fully deductible before. This change was made with the intent to raise revenue to offset other tax cuts. Meals provided to employees were considered “perks” — not essential. While taking aim at the high-end corporate cafeteria or hi-tech company sushi bar, our lawmakers inadvertently included counselor meals in this new tax revenue pot.

As camp managers know, food service is often the second highest expense for most camp operations, usually second only to staffing costs. With low camper-to-staff ratios, the unintended consequence of the bill was a significant federal tax increase to many camps, often in the five- or six- figure range. Even worse, the non-deductible amount was set to increase to 100 percent at the end of 2025, doubling the tax hit to camps.

Once this became known, our ACA Government Affairs Committee and our DC advocacy team engaged with Congress and the Administration to explain the manifest unfairness of this change, and to seek a fix to what was now written into the tax code. They explained that as a matter of program design, the majority of camps rely on their staff to provide adequate supervision of their campers during mealtimes. Camper supervision and cabin management during meals are critical functions within the job description of a camp counselor. Even if they wanted to, many camp leaders could not excuse staff from meals and remain within state-mandated supervision ratios for youth-serving organizations. Further, even if staff were allowed time away during meals, they may not have had the ability to find meals within reasonable break times given the remote locations of many camps.

At first, our advocates were told that there was no fix to this problem other than passing a new law through Congress that corrected the code and provided an exception for camps. That is among the most difficult things to achieve in any Congress, and was a virtual impossibility given our current state of politics. Our team did not take “no” for an answer and pursued an aggressive advocacy campaign to confirm that camps and counselors were never considered when this particular tax increase was designed, and that the impact on camps was unforeseen and unintended. With that information in hand, our advocates held countless meetings with members of Congress of both parties, Treasury Department staff, members of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and many others to request that a creative solution be found to correct this manifestly unfair outcome.

Our arguments proved to be persuasive, as late last week, the US Treasury Department released new guidance regarding the meals and entertainment expenses included in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. As a result of the persistent advocacy efforts of the American Camp Association over the past two years, the Treasury Department is now allowing camps to use a slightly different section of the US code — a section that was not altered in the 2017 rewrite of the tax laws — to continue to be able to fully deduct all costs associated with meals provided to camp staff. In fact, they have issued written “guidance” that confirms this, using meals provided by camps to counselors and other staff as a specific written example. As long as campers consume more than 50 percent of the food provided to staff and campers, all expenses related to food and beverage provided to employees is fully deductible for camps.

The new guidance is retroactive to December 31, 2017, when the original tax reform bill was enacted. Any camps that paid additional federal tax due to the limited deductibility of staff meals should consult their tax professional about filing amended returns to receive a refund for this portion of the taxes paid. This is a huge accomplishment for ACA, and we are grateful to our Government Affairs Committee members and our DC advocates for their tireless work in achieving this amazing result.

Lilly Endowment Grant Supports Program Quality Initiative in Summer Camps

The grant will help strengthen and expand how summer camp experiences support learning and growth among children and youth.

 

Indianapolis (Jan 24, 2020) – Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a $991,800 grant to the American Camp Association (ACA) to explore and develop systems that support camp professionals in promoting positive youth development through camp experiences. Specifically, this project is focused on building systems that support program quality assessment and continuous improvement. Program quality refers to the unique ways campers experience camp, from how they engage in activities to their interactions with camp staff and peers. ACA will work in partnership with the Forum for Youth Investment’s David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality (Weikart Center) to identify the features of a quality camp experience, then design systems that support camps in their ongoing efforts to improve these features through continuous quality improvement.

The systems of focus for this project include: 1) a peer-led system of program quality assessment and coaching; 2) a community-of-practice approach to knowledge-sharing among camp professionals; and 3) a new program quality toolkit, which will include interactive workbooks, online and in-person training, and key messaging for camps to use to share the value of program quality efforts. Together, these components will complement ACA’s accreditation program, which is a separate, yet parallel, peer-led system focused on health, safety, and risk-management practices at camp.

The Weikart Center is a key partner in this project. For more than a decade, the Weikart Center’s program quality assessment (PQA) tools and supports have been used to build continuous improvement systems in youth-serving organizations across the country and internationally. Other contributors include American Institutes of Research, the University of Utah, and several volunteer committees of camp professionals to ensure the work is accessible and relevant across a vast and diverse camp community.

“We are honored to receive funding from Lilly Endowment so that we can partner with the Forum for Youth Investment’s Weikart Center in support of high-quality camp experiences for all children and youth,” said Tom Rosenberg, ACA’s president/CEO. “This generous grant builds on a longtime partnership with the Endowment that began with ACA’s first national outcomes study in 2004. With this support, ACA will expand the ways it supports camp professionals and their efforts to foster learning and growth through summer camp experiences.”


About ACA
The American Camp Association® (ACA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable, national nonprofit with more than 12,000 individual members and 3,200 member camps. ACA is committed to collaborating with those who believe in quality camp and outdoor experiences for children, youth, and adults. ACA provides advocacy, evidence-based education, and professional development, and is the only independent national accrediting body for the organized camp experience. ACA accredits approximately 2,500 diverse camps nationally. Accreditation provides public evidence of a camp’s voluntary commitment to the health, safety, and overall well-being of both campers and staff. For more information, visit https://www.ACAcamps.org/.

About the Forum for Youth Investment’s Weikart Center
The Forum for Youth Investment is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan “action tank” committed to changing the odds that all children and youth are ready for college, work, and life. The Forum connects leaders to ideas, services, and networks that can help them make more intentional decisions that are good for young people. In 2008, the Forum created the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality to strengthen youth programs and adult practice by building the capacity of public and private agencies to implement continuous quality-improvement systems that simultaneously foster professional learning and whole-child development. The Weikart Center’s research-based core products and services are currently used in over 4,700 out-of-school time settings nationally and internationally and form the basis for quality improvement systems in over 135 publicly and privately funded systems.

About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff, and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education, and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.

 

Photo courtesy of Camp Skylemar in Naples, Maine.

JCC Association Announces Commitment to ACA Accreditation

Martinsville, IN (January 14, 2019) – Communities nourish camps, and camps change lives. In an effort to strengthen community-camp bonds nationwide, American Camp Association (ACA)—a community of over 3,100 camps and over 12,000 camp professionals—has partnered with JCC Association of North America. Their aim is to fortify the health, safety, and risk management of JCC’s network of camps and facilitate all JCC Association-affiliated day and overnight camps achieving American Camp Association Accredited Camp® status by 2023.

As youth-serving organizations, ACA and JCC Association understand the value and importance of educational, developmental, and safe camp experiences. The ultimate objective of the partnership between ACA and JCC Association is to strengthen their collective work serving children, youth, and adults through positive, transformative camp experiences for all.

"Camp is one of the key entry points of families into JCC . . . and therefore its impact extends far beyond 7–10 weeks of summer camp," said Aaron Greenberg, vice president of camp engagement at JCC Association of North America. "When we help make our camps better, we strengthen the community as a whole—throughout the year and for many years. JCCs often engage their families on a year-round basis, using camp as the first point of entry. Becoming ACA-accredited demonstrates the excellence that each of our JCCs and camps continually strive for."

The partnership serves as public recognition that ACA-accredited JCC camp programs provide safer and higher-quality experiences. Eventually, the aim is for 100-percent ACA accreditation for JCC camp programs.

"For over 70 years the American Camp Association Accredited Camp® designation has been a parent’s only assurance in all 50 states that a camp meets the foundational standards for camps in the US," said Tom Rosenberg, ACA president/CEO.

Aside from the direct impact on ACA and JCC Association camps, the organizations also hope the partnership serves as a blueprint for other youth-serving organizations. The future goal is to encourage camp growth and alignment focused on ACA standards in support of health, safety, and risk management for the benefit of children, youth, and adults everywhere.

More information can be found on ACA's website.


About JCC Association of North America

JCC Association of North America leads and connects the JCC Movement, advancing and enriching North American Jewish life. With 1.5 million people walking through the doors of JCCs each week, the JCC Movement represents the largest platform of Jewish engagement on the continent. JCC Association is the convening organization of this powerful network, partnering with JCCs and camps to bring together the collective power and knowledge of the JCC Movement—which represents 6,000 full-time skilled professionals and more than 32,000 part-time seasonal staff—and supporting them as we enhance and strengthen Jewish life throughout North America together. Learn more at JCCA.org, or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

About American Camp Association

The American Camp Association® (ACA) is a national organization with more than 12,000 individual members and 3,100 member camps. ACA is committed to collaborating with those who believe in quality camp and outdoor experiences for children, youth, and adults. ACA provides advocacy, evidence-based education, and professional development, and is the only independent national accrediting body for the organized camp experience. ACA accredits approximately 2,500 diverse camps nationally. Accreditation provides public evidence of a camp’s voluntary commitment to the health, safety, and overall well-being of both campers and staff. For more information, visit ACAcamps.org.

Photo courtesy of Camp Tawonga in Groveland, CA.

ACA Facebook Migration from Pages to Groups

Recently, we have decided to move our ACA regional community* initiatives from Facebook Pages to Facebook Groups.  Here are the reasons why:

Facebook Group Pros

  • Efficiently communicate with Group members via chat, email, wall posts, messages, shared documents, and events.
  • Groups provide a platform curated towards communities/associations.  This allows for easier internal communications.
  • Common connections allow you to view your specific network.

For more reasons, view these sources

How to Join

All groups are linked under the parent ACA Facebook Page umbrella.  To join, you can find the full list of groups on our singular ACA Facebook Page under “Groups," or click on your specific region and click “+ Join Group” to be added. 

 

*This migration does not include ACA affiliate office Facebook Pages. 


Photo by ViewApart/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Department of Labor Announces Overtime Rule Decision

2019 Update

On September 24, 2019, the Department of Labor announced their decision regarding minimum salaries and overtime pay. Effective January 1, 2020, an employee must make a minimum of $684 per week or $35,568 annually to be exempt from overtime under the white-collar exemption. This is up from $455 per week or $23,660 annually. This limit will not automatically increase every three years like the previous proposal. Employers can include commissions, non-discretionary bonuses, and incentive pay when calculating the total salary, but these types of compensation can only make up 10 percent of the total salary calculation. The updated exemption also increases the classification of highly compensated employees from $100,000 to $107,432. This is the first change to the minimum salary requirements since 2004.

Employees still have to meet the duties requirement of the white-collar exemption. The updated exemption did not make changes to this part of the requirements. There are three areas under which an employee can qualify — executive, professional, and administrative. To determine if an employee qualifies for the exemption, an employer must look only at the employee’s job duties. Their title does not factor into the qualifications. Please refer to the Department of Labor for further details.

Note: This publication is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. The reader should consult with legal counsel to determine how laws or decisions discussed herein apply to the reader’s specific circumstances.

 

2016 Update

On Novemeber 22, a Federal Judge blocked the Department of Labor's "White Collar" Final Rule. The Judge issued a Prelimnary Injunction and as of now, the DOL's Final Rule will not go into effect December 1. ACA will continue to monitor and present the most current decisions and rulings. Check out this article for more information, which includes a statement from the Department of Labor and the full text of yesterday's court ruling.

Notably, this ruling has no effect on whether a camp does or does not qualify for the FLSA’s Section 13(a)(3) exemption referenced below. Also, the ruling does not preempt state or local overtime laws that contain overtime exemption requirements more stringent than those currently required under federal law.

Final Rule

On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor released the final rules regarding changes to the "white collar" exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 29 CFR Part 541. At the same time, there is a bill in Congress that would nulify the changes in overtime regulations and delay any similar efforts for at least a year. The new bill, the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act (PWAOA) (H.R. 4773, S.B. 2707, would require the Secretary of Labor to void the rules and/or block enforcing them. Read more about the PWAOA in Congress. As of November 7, 2016, this bill has passed in the House of Representatives and will now move to the Senate.

Background

On July 1, 2015, the Department of Labor released proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) 29 CFR Part 541 — specifically regarding Section 13(a)(1), the “white collar” exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay. The public had until September 4, 2015 to comment on these proposed changes. The DOL considered the more than 270,000 public comments and released their final rule on May 18, 2016. The change has no effect on FLSA Section 13(a)(3) — Exemption for Seasonal Amusement or Recreational Establishments.

White Collar Exemption

Currently, Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA provides an exemption from minimum wage and overtime requirements for any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity. To qualify for exemption, employees must meet certain standards regarding their job duties and be paid a minimum weekly salary. Camps may be utilizing this exemption for some of their year-round professional or administrative staff. It is important to note that when state laws differ from Federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the laws that best protect employees.

Potential Impact on Camps

It is important to note that when state laws differ from Federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the laws that best protect employees. The  change has no effect on FLSA Section 13(a)(3) — Exemption for Seasonal Amusement or Recreational Establishments.

According to the Department of Labor, Camps (and all employers) that utilize the white collar exemption from FLSA would be required to either:

  • Raise salaries: For workers whose salaries are close to the new threshold and who meet the duties test, employers may choose to raise these workers’ salaries to meet the new threshold and maintain their exempt status.
  • Pay overtime above a salary: Employers can also continue to pay newly overtime-eligible employees a salary and pay overtime for hours in excess of 40 per week. The law does not require that newly overtime eligible workers be converted to hourly pay status. According to the DOL, this approach works for employees who usually work 40 hours or fewer, but have seasonal or occasional spikes that require overtime, for which employers can plan and budget the extra pay during those periods.
    • For an employee who works a fixed schedule that rarely varies, the employer may simply keep a record of the schedule and indicate the number of hours the worker actually worked only when the worker varies from the schedule.
    • For an employee with a flexible schedule, an employer does not need to require an employee to sign in each time they start and stop work. The employer must keep an accurate record of the number of daily hours worked by the employee. So, an employer could allow an employee to provide just the total number of hours they worked each day, including the number of overtime hours, by the end of each pay period.
  • Evaluate and realign employee workload: Employers can limit the need for employees to work overtime by ensuring that workloads are distributed to minimize overtime and that staffing levels are appropriate for the workload.
  • Adjust employees’ base pay and pay overtime: Employers can adjust the amount of an employee’s earnings to reallocate it between regular rate of pay and overtime compensation. This method works for employees who work a relatively small amount of predictable overtime. The revised pay may be on a salaried or hourly basis (there is no requirement to convert workers to hourly pay status), but it must include payment of overtime when the employee works more than 40 hours in a week.

Does This Rule Change Apply To Your Camp?

It is important to note that when state laws differ from Federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the laws that best protect employees. The  change has no effect on FLSA Section 13(a)(3) — Exemption for Seasonal Amusement or Recreational Establishments.

There are a number of exemptions already detailed in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This proposed rule change is only in reference to 29 CFR Part 541 Section 13(a)(1), the “white collar” exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay.

The proposed rule change is not applicable to any “Seasonal Amusement or Recreational Establishment”. You might operate year-round, but still qualify as a seasonal business. To qualify, you must:

  • not operate for more than seven months in any calendar year, OR
  • during the preceding calendar year, your average receipts for any six months of such year were not more than 33-1/3 per centum of your average receipts for the other six months of such year.

Resources

For additional information, contact:

Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division
Toll free information and help line: 866-487-9243

 

CampDoc Launches Three-Year Research Partnership with the American Camp Association and the Association of Camp Nursing

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN — CampDoc, the leading electronic health record system for camps, is pleased to announce a three-year research partnership with American Camp Association (ACA) and the Association of Camp Nursing (ACN) to improve health and safety at camp through strategic research efforts.

As a Research Partner, CampDoc continues its shared commitment with ACA and ACN to enhance education for camps, to offer significant insights to reduce illnesses and injuries, and to address other health-related issues across all camp settings.

"We are committed to providing research-informed resources for camps and families that improve the health and safety of our camp community," said Tom Rosenberg, President and CEO of the American Camp Association. "We’re delighted to partner with CampDoc and the ACN to develop camp-related illness and injury insights, benchmarks, and tools."

CampDoc has collaborated on multiple camp health research studies, with publications in prominent medical journals and presentations at conferences for leading medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine, the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine, and the Pediatric Academic Societies.

This research partnership will allow CampDoc to leverage its extensive data repository to create camp-related illness and injury insights and benchmarks. Working with the Healthy Camps Committee, all three partners will use this information to develop additional tools and practices to promote improved health and safety for camps.

"Our work with ACA to develop the Healthy Camp Toolbox, sponsored by Markel Insurance Company, is very beneficial for camp directors and camp nurses to help address health and safety issues at camp," said Tracey Gaslin, Executive Director at the Association of Camp Nursing.  "Adding CampDoc as our Research Partner will greatly expand our insights and the tools we can develop for camp health staff."

The CampDoc platform allows camps to instantly access vital camper and staff health information, including allergies, medications, and immunization records, as well as track medication administration, and record illnesses and injuries electronically.

"We’ve seen the impact that our electronic health record has had on reducing risk and improving efficiency at camp," said Dr. Michael Ambrose, founder and CEO of CampDoc.  "In partnership with ACA and ACN, we’re continuing our mission to improve health and safety at camp, giving camp directors and camp nurses access to important research."

 

About CampDoc
CampDoc, a division of DocNetwork, is an international, comprehensive electronic health record system, offering solutions to improve efficiency and maximize safety in local camp communities.  A collaborative effort between camp doctors, nurses and camp directors, CampDoc helps summer camps manage health forms, allergies, medications, and illness and injury tracking.  CampDoc also offers online registration, travel and emergency medical protection, emergency text message alerts, discounted camp medical supplies, and one-way parent emails for children at summer camp. For more information about CampDoc and web-based health management, please visit www.campdoc.com or call 734-636-1000.

About American Camp Association
The American Camp Association® (ACA) is a national organization with more than 12,000 individual members and 3,100 member camps. ACA is committed to collaborating with those who believe in quality camp and outdoor experiences for children, youth, and adults. ACA provides advocacy, evidence-based education and professional development and is the only independent national accrediting body for the organized camp experience. ACA accredits approximately 2,400 diverse camps nationally. Accreditation provides public evidence of a camp’s voluntary commitment to the health, safety, and overall well-being of both campers and staff. For more information, visit ACAcamps.org.

About Association Camp Nursing
The Association of Camp Nursing (ACN) is a professional nursing organization working toward healthier camp communities by supporting the practice of camp nursing. Members and associate members of ACN are nurses, camp directors, camp leaders, organizations, and individuals interested in camp health services. The ACN releases a quarterly publication, CompassPoint, as a valued resource, and holds an annual Camp Nurse Symposium for timely educational opportunities and networking with other camp health professionals. For more information, visit www.campnurse.org.

Join ACA and Children's Cardiomyopathy Foundation for an AED Camp Scavenger Hunt

Join the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation (CCF) and the American Camp Association (ACA) on a summer-long scavenger hunt to locate automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in camps across the nation. Campers and staff are encouraged to join this national initiative to emphasize the importance of using an AED during a cardiac emergency.

Participate in the AED Scavenger Hunt

The CCF Camp AED Scavenger Hunt is fun and easy! Find an AED at your camp and take a selfie with the AED. Then post the photo with the hashtag #mycampAED, along with the camp name and AED location, on social media outlets (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter).

AEDs Can Save Lives

The CCF Camp AED Scavenger Hunt highlights the importance of emergency preparedness and early defibrillation in an adverse cardiac event. Quick action and knowing the location of the nearest AED is key to survival when seconds count.

Facts to Know

  • Approximately 7,000 children, age 18 or younger, experience a cardiac arrest every year.*
  • Cardiomyopathy is a leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest in children, especially among young athletes.*
  • Two-thirds of sudden cardiac arrest deaths occur without warning or prior indications of heart disease.**
  • Immediate CPR and early defibrillation with an AED can double a victim’s chance of survival.*

CCF continues to work with Members of Congress and federal agencies to increase awareness of the symptoms, risk factors, and family health history component of cardiomyopathy, as well as the risk of sudden cardiac arrest when cardiomyopathy is not diagnosed. CCF encourages you to reach out to your congressional representative to alert them of this important issue and to ask for their support of research funding and public education programs.

* American Heart Association
** Heart Rhythm Society

Download the AED Camp Hunt Flyer

 

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