Diabetes in camp | Imamother

amother

OP ↓

Sat, Nov 02 2024, 6:16 pm

Any of you have a child with diabetes who went to camp? What camps did you find were comfortable dealing with this and able to do a good job being on top of it? Or is the expectation the child will be totally managing on their own?

amother

Emerald

Sat, Nov 02 2024, 7:21 pm

amother OP wrote:

It was long enough ago that saying which camp wouldn't help... but the camp wasn't able to be super on top of it, but they were clear about that. They said not to send until a certain age at which the camper could take care of things mostly on their own. the counselors should be in touch with the parents directly (even though it was against the camps general rule) and of course educated about emergencies. but the kid was on top of things day-to-day.

amother

Denim

Sat, Nov 02 2024, 7:25 pm

I’m a camp director who has had a camper with diabetes attend for the past three summers. Our nurse was on top of it, counselors and other key staff were aware, and BH all was well. This camper was also really on top of managing things, so that helped. She came from finishing 8th through 10th grades. Our camp is under 100 kids though, so possibly easier to stay on top of. I would suggest speaking to any camps your daughter is interested in attending, and see what they say. You’ll get a good idea from their responses if it’s something they can handle. Hatzlacha!

amother

NeonYellow ↓

Sat, Nov 02 2024, 7:35 pm

As a camp nurse I can tell you that were happy to help and work with you but your dc has to be on top of it, and it needs to be well controlled. We can't police his diet, numbers etc.
I think most camps are similar in that
Choose which camp he would like to go to ( or couple of choices)and call the nurse and ask how it works

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 6:22 am

Thank you! I’m actually looking for options s for a client of mine not my own child. Mom telling me there’s no camp options annd I’m wondering if this is correct or not. Even though the child is relatively stable, she won’t always wake up on her own if she goes low at night. Those of you saying it’s been done in your camp—Would a camp nurse or other adult be able to follow and track her sugars overnight and make sure she wakes up if she does go low or that would be fully the child’s responsibility?

amother

↑ NeonYellow ↓

Yesterday at 6:33 am

I had one camper who tended to drop overnight and it would typically alert the mom who woke him up. What we did for camp was the mom would call the counselor to wake up the boy.
It worked but I and the counselor were not super comfortable..it's a big deal responsibility.. what if counselor is in the shower? Or in a really deep sleep?
I think parents have to assess all details. does it make sense/ is it worth it?
If he's 11 years old still has friends in day camp, still needs help figuring his diet and insulin maybe he should stay home.
If he's 16 and would have nothing to do at home, has been pretty independent managing his diabetes for a couple years just needs a place to store his supplies definitely go for it.

amother

↑ NeonYellow

Yesterday at 6:36 am

amother OP wrote:

A counselor sleeps in the room with them . But they're young and may not be comfortable taking responsibility
Most actual adults in camp are not so physically close. If I was getting alerts to my phone at 2am, I'd have to get dressed and walk across campus to wake up a kid? Not so practical.

amother

DarkMagenta

Yesterday at 6:36 am

amother OP wrote:

How old is the child? And is generally responsible managing her diabetes? What happens at school?
That would make a difference.

amother

DarkGreen ↓

Yesterday at 6:41 am

As I camp nurse in a boy's camp (which has younger boys) I had 2 campers with diabities.
(12 year olds)
The boys were pretty responsible and I discussed all the details with the parents, but together they hired somebody privately to have the device and to monitor for them.
As the nurse over the entire camp, it was hard for me to take full responsiblity of when they were low and needed to be alerted.
They hired a married counselor as an extra job(to my understanding it was covered by insurance as a health PARA). He had the extra sugar/ices in his bungalow and they were always able to go there at all hours and it was much more controlled that way.
But obviously, the child has to be mature and trustworthy for something like this to work.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 6:42 am

amother DarkMagenta wrote:

How old is the child? And is generally responsible managing her diabetes? What happens at school?
That would make a difference.

She is 12. In school she carries her iPhone which would be a must in camp because that connects to her device that monitors her sugars, and she would call her mother if she goes low or high for guidance, or if she isn’t sure how many carbs a food item has. She is prob 95% independent but needs help troubleshooting at times. Overnight the fear is that she may sleep thru an alarm for a low sugar. There would need to be a person as backup in case she sleeps thru, or in case she needs help figuring out what to do in a certain scenario.

amother

↑ OP

Yesterday at 6:43 am

amother DarkGreen wrote:

Wow that’s an amazing setup. The camp didn’t have an issue providing a bungalow for a married guy just for this purpose?

amother

↑ DarkGreen

Yesterday at 3:09 pm

amother OP wrote:

Wow that’s an amazing setup. The camp didn’t have an issue providing a bungalow for a married guy just for this purpose?

No, he had a regular counselor job but was paid separately as well as a Para.
To my understanding, I think his wife helped him with the monitoring so it wasn't a full time thing

amother

Aqua

Yesterday at 4:47 pm

My guess is slightly more modern places might be better with it. Kaylie is set up for extra needs if that could be a match for this child.