Health and Safety

A Registered Nurse lives on site and provides general medical care and distribution of camper medications. Camp is 15 minutes from local clinics and about 45 minutes from a hospital. 

Our camp nurse reviews the medical needs of the campers prior to their arrival and conducts a general screening of campers on arrival day. This includes a conversation with each camper regarding questions on their health form, exposure to communicable diseases, how they are feeling, etc. Medications, if any, are collected at this time. A check for head lice is also conducted.

All prescription and over-the counter medications must be kept in the Health Center and will be administered under the direction of our camp nurse. Please send in original containers.  Campers may be able to keep an inhaler, EpiPen or ointment prescription with them at the nurse’s discretion. Send allergy medications even if to be taken as needed. Our Health Center is stocked with the usual over-the-counter medications listed on the Health Form and will be dispensed as outlined in our Standing Orders.

We will contact you by phone, text or email if your camper is in the Health Center for a period of four hours or more, overnight or seen by a physician. In an emergency, we do our best to keep you posted from the clinic or hospital and attempt to arrange for the physician to speak with you directly.  Follow up emails, phone calls or texts will also be sent and questions are welcomed.  

If your camper has individual needs that may require additional attention (more than 15 minutes per day) or specific arrangements while at camp, please reach out directly to Marie Schmid, Executive Director, prior to registering for camp if possible.   The goal is to partner with you to make camp successful for your camper.  Examples are a diabetic camper who needs a cell phone to monitor sugar levels, a camper who needs to speak weekly to a mental health provider, or a camper who needs to use a nebulizer frequently.  Communication is so important in giving your child a full camp experience. 

Health Forms

See the chart below for information about Health Forms that you will need to complete BEFORE arrival at camp.  Additional forms need to be filled out for campers with Diabetes, Asthma or Anaphylaxes Allergic Reactions.

Meals

Campers eat three, balanced meals each day. Our meals are served family style to tables of eight (one-two counselors, six-seven campers) or outside at picnic tables, on our picnic benches or at short tables sitting in our camp chairs. We serve a specific meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner but often offer options such as fruit, hot cereal and leftovers at the counter and have a salad options.

We insist that special dietary needs, including allergies or other concerns, are listed on the Camper Health Form. For special dietary needs, we ask that you speak directly with Marie Schmid, Executive Director, prior to camp. Depending on the need, you may be asked to send supplemental food to be served or prepared in our camp kitchen. Camp menus can be sent to you prior to camp at your request and we will do our best to prepare similar food items for campers on special diets. We deal with peanut allergies every summer but are not a peanut-free facility.

Ticks and Mosquitoes

To protect against ticks and mosquitos we advise that campers wear light-weight pants, long-sleeve shirts and a hat or bandana while in the woods or on camping trips. Before venturing into the woods, campers “tick up and tuck in” by tucking pants into socks and shirts into pants. Campers are encouraged to do regular “tick checks.”

If a deer tick (the type that may carry Lyme Disease) is embedded in a camper, he or she goes to the nurse to have the tick removed and documented. Parents receive written notification if a deer tick is removed from their camper. In addition to verbal reminders, there are posters in each cabin reminding campers to check for ticks.

Not all campers make the nurse aware of a tick (or even find these small ticks on them). If your child develops a localized rash or flu-like symptoms you may want to contact your family physician and mention that your child was at a camp in Crow Wing County, Minnesota. For more information: American Lyme Disease Foundation, Minnesota State Health Department or contact the Camp Foley Office.

Regarding West Nile Virus, which is transmitted from mosquitoes, research is finding that cases are both rare and mild. Symptoms include fever, headaches or body aches. For more information: American Academy of Pediatrics or contact the Camp Foley office.

Safety

Safety is a big concern for most parents when sending a child to summer camp. As an ACA Accredited Camp, we make sure that safety is taken very seriously at Foley. Counselors at the waterfront are lifeguard certified. All campers wear lifejackets when on any type of watercraft. On land, campers wear proper safety gear such as helmets, eye protection, harnesses and closed-toe shoes at necessary activities. 70% of Foley counselors are certified in CPR and First Aid.