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by Greg Cronin, CCD
Preparing
camp counselors for their role as staff members, community leaders, and
knowledgeable caregivers is a daunting task. Many staff members are themselves
students or adolescents unsure of the aspects of camp wellness, and they
bring different beliefs and varied backgrounds to camp. As a camp director
or administrator, you must teach them the importance of proper procedures
when it comes to safety, OSHA, and dealing with daily camp health issues.
Getting your health and safety message across to camp
staff requires that you understand the learner. Young people see themselves
as invulnerable. They rest easy with a self-determined sense that they
are safe from diseases. You need to recognize this so that your training
will accomplish the difficult feat of respecting their personal opinions
and self-esteem while translating the correct information in a format
that serves to protect and assist campers.
Some staff may already know current OSHA and first-aid
standards, but looking at the big picture, how are you going to implement
the safety procedures necessary to ensure a healthy summer?
Build Awareness Before Camp Begins
Inform your staff in precamp interviews, information
letters, and orientation exercises that health and safety issues are included
in the scope of things they need to learn about camp. Establish a format
where staff feels comfortable expressing ideas and concerns while simultaneously
learning proper procedures experientially.
Introduce camp wellness during
interviews
Your task as a director and trainer is to teach all staff to appropriately
respond when health issues are present. When you conduct your staff interviews,
be sure to speak of health issues as part of your program. Discuss the
specifics or realities of the job and make certain to address some areas
that are commonly associated with health and safety. Make sure to ask
a couple of open-ended hypothetical questions that involve crisis management.
Really try and push potential staff members’ "uncomfortable buttons"
so you can evaluate their response in a stressful situation. Take the
time to record reactions to these questions. The purpose of this is to
get a sense of their knowledge and to make them aware that camp wellness
is a priority.
Precamp Training
Staff orientation provides the perfect opportunity to
teach OSHA requirements in a cooperative atmosphere by using concrete
examples that lend themselves to successful safety training. The OSHA
portion of precamp training should begin with a written true/false test.
This test usually quiets the room as staff members will quickly realize
that typical camp medical situations can be more complicated than anticipated.
When staff members have had the opportunity to complete the test, review
the answers with the group and discuss the questions.
Expand knowledge with role-playing
Follow up with role-playing to expand your staff’s general knowledge in
each OSHA safety and health area. Role-playing also thrusts the new and
non-assertive counselors into the actual role they will have in a real
camp situation, i.e., on the spot, with everyone looking to them as a
leader with answers.
To enhance this concept, show a video (e.g., Coastal
Video C "A Lesson to Live By") depicting common incidents and
their recommended treatment. Also, seek out and incorporate new training
material on a regular basis.
Review basic first aid
During role-playing, review basic first aid while outlining your camp-specific
medical policies and procedures. The interaction is informative, fun,
and it involves everybody. This training is especially effective in getting
veteran staff to participate in otherwise familiar subjects. Training
in an actual location where a safety/health challenge may occur will also
make this drill a reality.
In the first few days of
camp, [camp staff should] spend
time actually doing things
that will cause them to act
knowledgeably in a crisis situation.
Here is an example of a typical
test question to ask the group: "The first thing you do for a bee
sting is scratch it with your fingernail — true or false?" Let them
all answer at once so that a pattern of participation will be established
prior to asking more complicated questions. Give them correct answer (false)
and follow up with role play to determine the appropriate procedures and
considerations:
- Identification of the problem.
- Use of disposable gloves from
a first aid kit.
- Determination of the allergy status.
- Comforting the child in distress.
- Handling other campers while first aid needs are met.
- Administering first aid.
- Follow up with nurse or health professionals.
- Clean up for one’s self.
Teach personal safety and care
To further prepare staff to handle emergencies, significant amounts of
time should be spent on personal safety and care. In addition to caring
for campers, the staff should be aware of precautionary measures that
protect them as caregivers. Be sure to highlight the proper procedures
for dealing with bodily secretions, blood-borne pathogens, and biohazardous
material.
Minimize Potential Problems
Offering first-aid and CPR classes is good for a general
knowledge base, but staff need to have basic first-aid equipment readily
available. One way to resolve this problem is to have each staff member
carry with them a fanny pack specifically filled with items that they
can use on a daily basis for minor and routine care. This creates a uniform
system of care for all health-related issues, and staff can deal with
each incident promptly with minimal patient embarrassment. The contents
of the packs should include: plastic bandages, disposable gloves, a pencil,
accident reports, after-bite, antiseptic towelettes, eye drops, etc.
Depending on your health care plan, a follow-up trip
to your health care professional may or may not be required. The end result
is that both staff and campers have realistic expectations that proper
procedures will be followed each time medical issues arise.
Hands-on Training
Because we ask staff to do so many things in the first
few days of camp, it is important that they spend time actually doing
things that will cause them to act knowledgeably in a crisis situation.
Here are a couple of practical examples that will help you to comply with
OSHA standards while reducing stress in everyday camp situations.
Practice fire safety
Have staff practice fire safety by locating existing fire extinguishers
on a map, which they will draw with a partner. After they are finished,
let them operate a real fire extinguisher (empty) by pulling the pin and
putting it in position to use in an emergency situation. If you have buildings
that require fire drills or evacuation walk-throughs, this is the ideal
time to schedule them. Do not forget to go over any other severe weather
procedures that affect your program.
Locate dangerous materials
Regulations require specific labeling and handling for potentially dangerous
materials. When you address the color coding of chemicals, have the staff
give you examples of where you might find them in camp. Be sure the discussion
includes pool filter rooms, maintenance storage areas, photography labs,
etc. By including these often overlooked
program support areas, you can effectively educate staff on where chemicals
are locate and discuss what types of problems might occur in using the
chemicals.
Offering first-aid and CPR classes
is good for a general knowledge base, but staff
need to have basic first-aid equipment readily available.
In-service Training
Safety and wellness education is ongoing and does not
end with the conclusion of staff orientation. Make sure that staff training
sessions have a prominent place in your summer training schedule. Topics
such as food-borne illness, safe food handling, protective clothing, personal
chemicals, sexual harassment, understanding the basics of heat stroke,
or being able to detect the early signs of child abuse are all issues
that staff need to be familiar with.
It is your job to make sure that the emotionally safe
atmosphere you are trying so hard to create at camp is supported with
some practical, practiced, and predetermined techniques. If you conduct
health and safety training in a way that teaches care and concern for
all, you can better prepare your staff to meet the challenges of today’s
changing times.
Originally published in the 1999 July/August
issue of Camping Magazine. |
