You will need to bring insulin for your child for both the trip to and the trip home from camp. You will also need to bring testing supplies for your trip to and from camp in case it is needed, along with your glucose meter. During camp, we will provide insulin to your child. We will also provide meters and strips for testing during camp. Your child will be tested before meals, at bedtime and when necessary, even during the night.
Yes. We have some pump supplies donated to camp from the pump companies. We unfortunately do not have enough supplies for the week for the entire camp. Campers should plan to bring twice as much of their pump supplies as they would normally use. Campers routinely have more frequent site changes at camp due to sweating and water activities. This is especially true for new pumpers who have not quite mastered making insertion sites stick. If your child is on continuous glucose monitoring and you want to continue this throughout camp, those supplies must also be brought to camp for the week – we have no back up of these.
We strive to keep your child’s blood sugars in an acceptable range. However due to the set up and nature of camp, and the intense activity during camp, blood sugars can range from low to high. We test as much as needed to maintain your child’s blood sugars in a safe range while still allowing your child to have fun and enjoy camp. Meal times and snacks may also be different at camp but are overseen by a dietitian. We always have healthcare staff on duty during the night. Night rounds are done several times during the night to keep your camper safe. Please remember that the medical staff is responsible for the safety of all campers and staff and, as such, cannot provide the 24 hour, one to one care that you provide at home.
Yes. Your child’s safety is our priority. We have an experienced healthcare staff including RN’s, CDE’S, RD’S, ARNP’S, and MD’S. We also have Pharmacy Students, RN and LPN Students. We have experienced staff in Needlepoint 24 hours a day. During all activities the Healthcare Staff accompany the campers with backpacks filled with testing supplies, low blood sugar treatment supplies and First Aid supplies. We also provide blood sugar testing supplies and low blood sugar treatment supplies to all the cabins. The healthcare team will administer all medications you bring from home for your child. If there is a true emergency we are prepared to call 911 and stabilize the person. If necessary we will transport anyone needing further care to an Emergency Room or a Minor Emergency Center. You would be notified as soon as possible if this were necessary.
Our policy is that any camper who is below 120mg/dl or above 300mg/dl, on a pump whose site has been changed at bedtime testing or has had a pattern of unstable blood sugars will be placed on the midnight testing list. The healthcare team assigned to that night will then make the decision based on the above parameters or any problems that arise, whether or not to place your camper on the 2am testing list. If you wish to have your camper on the night time testing list routinely, regardless of the above policy, please notify the medical staff at check in. Only the experienced healthcare staff will make treatment decisions for your camper.
Yes. We do not offer “formal” diabetes education classes at camp. We do however provide one-on-one education as needed for your child, for example the use of an insulin pen or proper injection technique. We also have less formal education, such as tokens for the toy machine if a question is answered correctly for Diabetes Jeopardy during camp.
Yes. Every meal and the evening snack are posted in the health care team rooms. This includes the menu, the portion size, the carbohydrate amount and if there are portion limits. We also give tokens to the campers for the amount of carbohydrate they are eating and have taken a bolus for. One token is equivalent to 15 grams of carbohydrates. We use this system as an opportunity to teach the campers about well balanced meals, carbohydrates and portions. We provide 3 well balanced meals and snacks at camp. In addition we have low blood sugar treatment supplies in Needlepoint, the backpacks and in the cabins during the night. These are restocked daily.
Yes. There are at least 2 counselors assigned in each cabin, one of whom has diabetes. We do background checks on all the staff. We are an American Camping Association (ACA) accredited camp as such we adhere to strict guidelines about the safety and operation of our camp.