No young boy or girl wants a parent to tag along with them to summer camp. Still, parents need to undertake those measures that help to keep a young camper safe.
Strategies parents can use to prevent injuries to a child at summer camp
• Consider buying extended coverage on the child’s health plan.
• Buy accident insurance.
• Visit the camp and study the equipment. Does it look well-maintained?
• Make sure that the child has suitable clothing, including footwear that has been designed for use by those taking part in recreational activities.
• See that the camper has sunscreen and any necessary medications.
• Prepare a son or daughter for taking part in camp activities. It helps if the child knows how to swim.
• Take the time to acquaint members of the camp’s staff with the child’s allergies or special needs.
Recognize the situations that are most apt to trigger the occurrence of an injury or illness
• Poor swimmers drown in a lake or river.
• Campers get too close to a campfire and burn their skin.
• Some new counselor behaves in abusive manner, when dealing with those under his or her care.
• Infectious disease spreads through campsite.
Parents should know what actions to take, if a child does get injured at camp
• Get to the camping site as soon as possible. Write down the name of the hospital or clinic to which the injured camper has been taken. Get the names of the doctors at that same facility.
• Talk to members of the staff, in order to get a detailed account of what happened. Take notes and save them, after the date of the note-taking has been recorded.
• Speak with the parents of any other child that was injured at the time of the same incident.
• Take pictures of the spot where your child got injured. Take pictures of your child’s injury.
• Find out if the camp’s leaders prepared an incident report. Find out if the camp filed a police report.
• Get copies of all the medical records, specifically all those created since occurrence of the incident that caused your child to get injured.
• Keep copies of all the bills that you have collected, since the day when you got contacted by someone from your child’s camp.
• Contact a personal injury lawyer in Calgary. Share with that attorney the pictures you have taken, along with the records that you have copied and bills that you have collected.
Actions to take after contacting lawyer
Find out if campsite can furnish transportation for child, if he or she must go to any scheduled medical appointments. You need to warn child about posting messages or pictures on a social media network. Encourage the child to follow each of the treating doctor’s suggestions.