By Gaetana De Angelo
Family history is usually shared from one generation to the next. As
the information filters down, some of it gets lost or reinterpreted.
What, you are wondering, does family history have to do with camp insurance
and risk management? Well read on . . . it will all come together.
Each
year during the American Camp Association’s (ACA’s) National
Conference, the National Insurance Committee hosts a roundtable discussion
with our insurance business partners and other insurers of camps. At
the roundtable, we discuss trends in the insurance industry that may
impact camp operations, what types of claims were filed the year before,
and risk management issues. This year’s roundtable discussion,
as the ones in the past, has proven to be an excellent source for risk
management issues we as camp professionals cannot afford to ignore. The
National Insurance Committee has a charge to help educate members in areas
related to risk management, and the roundtable provides a starting point
for many issues. Following the roundtable, members of the Insurance Committee
report what was learned during an educational session at the national
conference, which many camp professionals attending the conference find
very enlightening. This article spotlights two of the topics covered
during the 2007 insurance roundtable, challenge course staff training
and medical-related concerns. The fall 2007 issue of The CampLine will
feature Part 2 of lessons learned from this important roundtable discussion.
Challenge Course Staff Training
One of the items that has come up for
several years is in-house training of challenge course staff. These staff
are referred to as second generation trained; if they in turn train someone,
they are considered third generation, and so on. History has shown that
when a claim is filed related to a challenge course injury, it can usually
be traced back to supervision by a second or third generation trained
staff member. Many of these claims were the result of avoidable mistakes,
mistakes that may not have occurred if everyone had received the same
professional training. As we enter a new camp season, here are some things
to keep in mind regarding challenge course staff:
- n Have lead staff attend
a training by a professional challenge course instructor conducted
on your own equipment (it’s even better if all challenge course
staff are able to do this).
- If necessary, have professionally-trained
lead staff train additional challenge course camp staff.
- Professionally
trained lead staff should frequently evaluate the performance of the
staff they have trained (sounds like a standard to me!).
- Never allow
third and fourth generation training; it gets too diluted.
- Every
few years have a professional challenge course instructor come to camp
to evaluate the skills of the staff running your challenge course—retrain
as needed.
Will doing all of these things ensure that you never have
another challenge course injury? Most likely no; however, if an accident
does occur, wouldn’t you want to have peace of mind knowing that
the staff you had on duty that day were properly trained?
Medical-Related
Concerns
AEDs
Did that last section cause your heart to do little flip-flops
from worry and make you wonder if someone needed to pull out the AED?
The Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a marvelous lifesaving
device that almost any adult can use with minimal training. If your camp
is not scheduled for an accreditation visit this summer, you may not
be aware of standard HW-17, the recently added standard related to assessing
the need at your camp for an AED. Some factors to consider when determining
the need at your camp for an AED include the age of your campers and
visitors, the type of activities that are offered, and how far your camp
is from medical response. At the roundtable, it was also noted that AEDs
are not often very helpful for backcountry or wilderness trips, as they
are intended to give a victim a chance for survival until immediate professional
medical assistance can be provided and are not intended to maintain a
victim for a long period of time such as when medical assistance might
be delayed. The use of AEDs is now included as part of lifeguard training
(see the article “ACA Standards . . . the FIRST STEP in Creating
a Safer Aquatic Environment for Campers,” on page 9 for more information),
and the cost of the devices has been slowly going down, but beware, you
get what you pay for and the cheapest is sometimes no better than none
at all. If you determine that you do need an AED at your camp, be sure
to check with your local Emergency Medical Service to see what type they
are using, because you should try to purchase a compatible machine.
Portable
Oxygen Devices
Another handy device that staff can be easily trained
to use and which is relatively inexpensive is a portable oxygen device.
At the roundtable, we learned that 20 percent of all near drownings result
in permanent neurological damage that can be directly traced to a loss
of oxygen. This was a topic of interest and resulted in some great dialogue
during the educational session at the conference. If you decide to make
portable oxygen available during your camp season, you should consider
leasing the equipment from a reputable company. Leasing the equipment
allows you the opportunity to have the most reliable, properly-serviced
equipment available. If you own the equipment, you must make sure to
have it inspected and serviced by a professional at least once a year,
especially if you put it in storage for the winter months. (For more
information about portable oxygen devices as part of the American Red
Cross Lifeguard program, see the article, “ACA Standards . . .
the FIRST STEP in Creating a Safer Aquatic Environment for Campers,” on
page 9.)
Medication Management During Wilderness Trips
How do you record,
store, and dispense medication when a group goes on a wilderness trip?
Careful consideration should be given to how you will maintain the integrity
of medication that must be kept refrigerated or protected from extreme
temperatures. Improper storage of these types of medicines could result
in disaster when administered. Check with your local doctor, hospital,
or pharmacy for suggestions on how you might be able to properly manage
the storage of these types of medicines.
Have I got you thinking? Good,
that was my intention! The Insurance Committee is pleased to provide
members with easily understood and useful educational resources related
to risk management and insurance. Questions related to your individual
insurance coverage should be directed to your broker or agent. However,
if you have an insurance-related question or concern that you would like
to dialogue about with an impartial party, feel free to contact one of
the Insurance Committee members. Visit www.ACAcamps.org/volunteers/insurance for committee contact information. For a listing of ACA partners and
business affiliates in the insurance industry and other helpful risk
management and insurance information go to www.ACAcamps.org/vendors.
Originally published in the 2007 Spring issue
of The CampLine.
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