When you're sick at camp...

[prettysocks]

Me being sick and having puked all day just made me think (because I think about camp all day) about when I was sick at camp last summer...

I was sick for about.. a day. I woke up in the morning (at camp) and felt not-so-hot, but decided to try and work anyways. So I got up, got the kids ready for an hour, while feeling dizzy. Then I said I wanted to take first period off after breakfast to nap. I tried to eat breakfast but that didn't go over, so I just went to bed then. I set my alarm to wake up before 2nd period, but when I woke up, I still felt horrible. So I went and asked to sleep until lunch, which I did. Then I woke up for lunch, had a bit to eat, and went to 3rd and 4th periods. Then around dinner, I started feeling dizzy and passy-outy again, so I was told to just go to bed until the next morning. I did, and when I woke up in the morning, I was A-OK!
When I was "off" they just sort of DEALT with it that I wasn't there. We have a huge staff anyways, so ratio isn't a problem, but it's hard to get things accomplished when you're missing staff that you're used to having. At my camp, if you're seriously ill, you'd probably go to the hospital, because we don't have a doctor at my camp (4 nurses). If a program staff goes home or is unable to do their program, it would either be replaced with another program, or a senior staff would run it for the day.

...Then it made me wonder what happens when you guys are sick. Do you get time off to make yourself better? Can you leave camp to go home (for overnight, local staff)? Do you stay in your normal bed, or at the nurses'/doc's station? How do they accomadate for ratio/program/staff if you are gone (supply staff? they do nothing? senior staff fills in?)

[runrachrunn]

Bri,

I don't have an answer for the overnight camp that I'll be working at this summer, but I know that for me, when I worked at the day camp over the last number of summers, I had to be on my deathbed before I took a day off. It was almost forbidden to do so otherwise, because then (gasp) someone would have to do my job for me.

I remember one Monday last July where i took the morning off to go to an appointment, and I came back in a terrible, terrible mood. My boss had absolutely no sympathy to my perhaps going home for the last 3 hours of the day, despite the fact that I spent the majority of that time crying in the bathroom. Sigh. Such is the life.

[Flukie]

Depends on how ill the staff member is. We had a 24-hour flu hit camp last summer that left a lot of unit staff sick. We didn't have space in the infirmary, so they were returned to their beds in their unit - their units had to function as best as possible without them. Ad-Staff covered anyone who was super short.

We also have a UL that suffers from severe migraines. When they start affecting her vision, we send her off to sleep and someone will cover her girls. The poor thing missed almost the entire last week of camp with being sick and a migraine - my tent is home to staff that can't be returned to and/or function in their unit. We also had a staff member get severely ill - she was sent home to our nurse's houes for part of the week just so she could be in a real bed, near a real bathroom.

[speedx5xracer]

As long as its not contageous you can stay with your bunk, if it gets to bad or is contageous you are put in the infermary (BIG I). I had to stay in the big i for 2 nights my first year since i got sick and was puking, my friend was in there the same time for similar symptoms. we were set in the quarenteen rooms for each ward ( because wer were staff and needed privacy). Luckily we were never short enought staff to require any major changes to the roster.

[Campy Measius]

Oh my goodness, my first year as a staff I was on sleepout and I woke up at about 6 and didn't feel too hot. I layed there for a minute then I realized I was going to be sick... I ran out of the cabin and there happened to be a plastic bag on the deck....
*I have a funny stomach and will randomly get sick sometimes...so I knew it wasn't contagious*
I went back into the cabin, layed down for a few more minutes... and felt sick again... I ran to the cabin next door and banged on the door (it was only like 3 steps away) and asked the counselor to watch my cabin while I went to get sick. I RAN to the counselors quarters (we have a really small camp so everythings really close) and got sick in the bathroom. I was heading back to the cabin when my director woke up, she asked me why I wasn't in the cabin with the campers... I ran back to the bathroom LOL she told me to stay there and she'd cover for me till everyone woke up and my co could cover for me. I grabbed my blanket and layed in front of the bathroom on the floor... (cause mine was a top bunk and there was no chance of me gettin out in time)
When the rest of the staff woke up, I was laying on the floor sooo sick, they took pity on me and put me in one of their beds (a bottom bunk... close to the bathroom) My director came back with some gravol, I never take pills so they really knocked me out. I didn't wake up until almost supper time. I felt much better and decided to go out with my cabin.
My girls were soooo cute, they swarmed me and told me how much they missed me and kept asking if I was ok, it was really sweet!
So that 's my sick at camp story, sorry it was so long, I felt pretty foolish, I hate getting sick, but thank goodness I had such a supportive director and staff!!

[Dave]

I've personally never been sick at camp. But we're told that we're allowed to go to the nurses too. I've seen some counselors at the nurse before. Since we're a day camp, if someone's throwing up or something they'd probably just send us home for the day and if we felt up to it we'd come back the next day.

[campCardinal]

We just have to make do. If staff are sick we either send them to bed or to the nurse to get better. If it's local staff they have the option of going home. The worst I can remember is a few years back we had a nasty stomach bug hit camp. The campers didn't get it but all the staff seemed to be sick from it. To counter that all the staff had to use hand sanitizer before entering the dining hall (even if you had already used soap and water). As for staff shortages -- we just figure it out. Staff usually gets several hours off a day and there is usually at least 1 cabin that has 2 staff members. So, we just cover for each other. Occasionally we'll call in for back up -- but that has only happened a few times.

[Fleur]

Staff who aren't feeling well can either go to the health centre to lie down for a bit (being a day camp, that's really the only option to rest up on-site) or go home, depending on how bad it is. All cabins and most specialty areas have at least 2 staff, so if someone is away, there is still someone there to run the cabin/activity. For our youngest cabins and for cabins who do need that extra staff around, either the assistant unit head or a specialist goes over to help out. In the few specialty areas where there is only one staff, if that person is sick then the activity is cancelled until they come back.

[ArtisticEric]

Well I can only speak for where I was last year but I only got really sick once. It was the last day of activities too. I had goten up about three in the morning and went to the bathroom and on the way back deciced that I didn't feel so good an then ran back into to the bathroom to through up... So i told one of my co-counselors and went to the Health lodge. I remember thinking great here it is the last day of camp and i caught the 24hr stomuch bug everyone has... anyway when I got there I noticed a light on an people up.. for a big camp they hadn't anticipated the number to be sick at one time to be so high.. an another counselor an I slept in the entrance area of the building on matresses near the bathroom until the next morning ... unfortunatly didn't feel well enough to leave until dinner that evening which happened to be the camp banquet.. needless to say i only had time to to change an wasn't ready to eat real food and only could handle salad an rolls .
If you get sick your activity was either covered by the area head or another couselor... I know i filled in for another Arts an Crafts person when she was late back from a day off due to car trouble.... Its not normally a big deal with nights off co-counselors will cover and they just switch with the sick person .

Sorry longer then i intened

[Belay06]

This recent winer camp i got on the last morning. One of the campers had been sick earlier that morning too and had the same symptoms has me except i didn't even know about that until way later. Anyways. I woke up and i just had that icky feeling in the pit of my stomach. I got up, sort of got dressed (i left on the shirt that i was wearing) and i sort of did my hair (i ran my hands over it haha) and i went to the lodge before anyone else got there. I ran into my boss who hadn't been there during the session and i gave her a hug and she asked me how i felt and i said not to well. She told me to see how i felt after breakfast. If only i had made it that far. There was one boy at camp who really got attached to me and i had promised that i would sit with him during breakfast. He had saved me a seat so i sat down to him. I grabbed a bowl of yogurt and i tried me hardest to eat it, but i got no where. Then i got that "You're about to throw up" feeling in my mouth, you all know that feeling i'm sure of it. I was talking to a camper when i just hurled all over the floor. Without thinking i just got up and ran into the bathroom an grabbed paper towel. Then i went to my bosses table and i told the person who was sitting next to her (My second favorite person at camp) that i got sick and she offered to clean it all up for me and she gave me a hug. I was then sent to my cabin to try to sleep it off. I couldn't sleep though i pretty much just layed there and dry heaved for an hour and a half. Then i went outside and the kids were all playing "Capture the counselor" and they all RAN towards me when they saw me because they forgot that i was sick. Later that day we had our staff reunion and i was still somewhat sick which wasn't very fun. But yea it was really embarassing throwing up in front of a group of 7 8-10 year old boys haha. They were really mature about it though and when the person who cleaned it up for me went over there she said that they were guarding it so that no one could see it :)

[Sparkes]

We aren't allowed to stay in our bunk ever. If you wake up and aren't well, you shuffle off to the infirmary. Everyone gets sick at some point in the summer, so its not that big of a deal if you need the day off. I had to take off one last summer. However, you have to be sick. And not the olf I-was-partying-last-night-a-little-too-hard-and-now-I'm-ill sick. That ones not cool.

[runrachrunn]

We aren't allowed to stay in our bunk ever. If you wake up and aren't well, you shuffle off to the infirmary. .

Personally, I think this is the smarter way of dealing with things. I'm a big baby when it comes to being sick, so I'd prefer to be away from my campers so I could kvetch without having to censor myself. I hope that it's the same way at my camp. I remember throwing up one time in the middle of the night when I was a camper and spending (what seemed to be) the longest time trying to decide whether or not to wake up my counsellor.

Igotta remember to stress to my campers that they can wake me at anyhour.

[KiwiCRB]

I always have to tell the campers that if I don't wake up right away or tell them to go back to bed to keep trying. I sleep way too hard. One time last summer a camper woke me up with a nose bleed and I told them to go to the bathroom and take care of it... I have absolutley no memory of this. It kind of scares me that if something really did go wrong I wouldn't wake up to help... I just don't know what to do to sleep lighter.

[runrachrunn]

It kind of scares me that if something really did go wrong I wouldn't wake up to help... I just don't know what to do to sleep lighter.

My mother has remarked on several occasions that having children of her own made her a light sleeper, LOL. I don't think there's anything you can do to sleep less soundly. I always have someone poke me to wake me up.

[Melk]

I got kinda sick last summer and just really exausted (sp?) at one point. The time I got kinda sick was during general swim. So since I was only helping the WFD with supervising and helping with budy checks I asked him if I could go sleep and he let me. The time I was exausted my unit leader made me go to sleep. I slept in the heath center during cabin time and rest hour and some of snack. I had an AC with me so she just took charge of the cabin at the time. Usualy if staff get sick its no big deal. Our program staff fills in when needed and sometimes other staff get moved around but it has never been a problem as long as I have been working there