As Summer Camp approaches and our weeks fill-up I would like to take a moment to address a commonly asked question. “What does SpringHill do to provide safety for campers?” While this question is very broad and can be broken into categories of emotional safety, physical safety, mental safety and spiritual safety, I will present some processes we have in place and how they addresses these areas. As always, if you have further questions please feel free to email, post a comment or call the office at 812.497.0008.
The safety of children is the number one concern for parents as well as that of SpringHill. We cannot accomplish our mission if we are not first providing a safe environment. Our first line of defense, as well as the most important, is our extremely low camper to staff ratio. In a given week we will average 450 campers at our Seymour Overnight location. During that same time we have 170 (or more) staff members on site. This means that for every 2-3 campers there is one staff member. This allows us to demand of our staff that no camper is ever left alone. I contrast this with my experience as a camper at a camp in New York where there was 3 hours a day when we were “free” to do as we wished. We were given three full hours where we saw no staff members and our counselor did not even stay in the same cabin at night with us. By lowering our ratios and increasing our expectations we instantly lower our campers risk in all areas.
Obviously when we talk about safety the first thought to come to mind is that of physical safety. We address this area with a multi-tiered approach. On the ground level, all staff are trained in basic first aid and illness awareness. They are able to respond to minor issues as well as spot potential sicknesses that campers tend to hide. The next level is that of leadership staff. All leadership staff are trained and certified by the Red Cross in First Aid and CPR. This means that about 60 staff have this training and are always spread out around camp. Our final level is that of our Health Services staff. In our health office we have college students majoring in health sciences (most seeking nursing) as well as 1-2 Volunteer Registered Nurses. Along with all of this great nursing expertise we also have an on-call doctor who also makes regular visits to camp.
The environment of camp and the activities we employ present some inherent risk. However there are many steps we take to ensure that all controllable areas are well controlled. Our High Adventure activities are all inspected annually at the opening of the season to ensure they are safe for usage. We bring in an outside authority to do this inspection, Experiential Systems Inc. This same firm inspects all of our equipment used in this area. We also inspect all High Adventure activities and equipment on a daily basis in-house. All activities that are done on or in the water require a lifejacket. Our lifeguards are fully trained and certified by the Red Cross. We also inspect all water activities daily. There are many rigorous standards we must meet in order to have Red Cross lifeguards, ESI Certified High Adventure areas as well as to be certified by the American Camping Association. If you would like more information about these standards please check out the ACA’s website.
The final component I would like to discuss is that of communication. We operate on quite a large piece of land and interact with a vast audience, thus communication is a challenge but extremely crucial. If you have ever been to SpringHill you might have noticed yellow boxes everywhere. These yellow boxes are our “Call Boxes” and they enable us to connect to all areas of camp instantly. These call boxes allow anyone to get in contact with the main office or a full time staff member at any time. We also have loud speakers installed around camp that also connect to our radios so we can broadcast needed information instantly. These systems are vital to our communication during weather related events. All staff are trained to react to code words used over these speakers and respond accordingly. Communication is also very important when it comes to the interaction of camp and Parents. We strive to be in communication with parents whenever a camper is seen at the Health Services office and employ software to document this process. I will also be posting daily video blogs throughout summer so that parents will be able to see what is happening on camp.
Obviously this is just a snapshot of a much larger more intricate system with which we strive to ensure the safety of every guest. We are constantly looking to improve and grow in all areas of our camp, however this area receives consistent attention. We truly view the safety of campers as part of our mission and imperative in being able to present the message of Christ. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
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