Describe your med pass!

[CloudySue]

Hi, Last year I worked at a camp that had a "drive thu" window out the med room. We prepoured our meds, lined them up off to the side on Rubbermaid spice rack step risers and kept the CampMeds ticket with the meds so we could keep them straight. The kids lined up after breakfast (two seatings), after dinner (two seatings) and then again after evening activity (two waves, younger and older activities ended at different times). There was a sign that they had to state their name EVERY time, even if they thought we knew them. The counselors kept the lines in order, and we spaced the campers with painted footprints on the deck so they wouldn't crowd the window. It went like clockwork. The only problem was that random kid who would forget to show up. Then we'd have to locate his bunk and/or have the office page him, which I kinda thought violated privacy being called to the health center.

How do meds get passed at your camp?

[katierobin23]

We had two carts on wheels, one for the boys and one for the girls since they sat on different sides of the mess hall. We had a room called the vitamin shack where we stored the meds, then we would load our carts by age group (that's how they were seated) and then we'd start at the youngest kids and walk down to the oldest kids and pass out their meds at their tables. We did this for breakfast and dinner, we only had a couple lunch meds, so I'd just grab the few and being them to the kids in my hand. Bedtime meds were kept in the infirmary, and we had a cart there too, the kids would come in and take them on their way back to their bunks for the night :) makes me miss camp thinking about it lol

[DeniseFLA]

We would pull meds, place them in small envelopes with names, time on it alphabetize them, put them in a rubber bin, set a table up outside the dining hall at a table and hand them out as the kids came in at meal time. Kids would stop by Health Center for night meds. It a camper was missed at meals, the nurse would just hunt them down during the meal. If a camper didn't stop at night after activity, we would radio the Head boys and girls counselors and they would make sure that the camper came down for their medication.

Worked well for us. A lot better than having the kids come to the health center for their meds. When we used to do that we would spend so much time trying to find the campers, interrupting activities, etc.

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

We take all the meds that are camp meds (packed in unit dose plastic packages) and tape them inside the MAR for that child. Then we load every other med into two rubber maid cleaning caddies (the kind hotel maids use) then two of our nurses go down and set up shop in the lodge beside the dining room. The kitchen provides us with special needs (I need my Miralax in ice tea, or I only take my pill with whipped cream) then for each of the three searings they call for upper and then lower level. Each level has half the boys and girls in the dining room, so it works out. When I'm by myself I have them call boys and girls. The only meds we dispense out of the health center is first dose antibiotics, rescue inhailers (when the parents have not sent more then one, if there are two on camp on is kept in the local HQ) and GBH shots.

[CloudySue]

Al, the kid will only take his meds with whipped cream? Wow, how nice are his parents!

[Alex Egan, LPN, EMT-B]

It was totally worth it for him to take his meds. He was riddled with the ADHD. :)

[Nurse Connie]

The camp I worked in was divided into groups by activity so I organized their meds by group, each group having their own bin. I kept PRN meds separate but also organized by group. I also organized the MAR that way. The groups would come one at a time to the infirmary before breakfast, lunch dinner and bedtime depending on when they needed to take their meds. I never handed out meds in the dining hall. If a kid missed their med, I would call their head counselor (all the counselors have cell phones) who would then bring them to the office. I've had to track down a few kids for their missed med at the beginning. Last summer I would dispense the meds as they came in but I think this summer I will take the time to put them in envelopes ahead of time to make things go more smoothly.

[MrsMig, BSN, RN]

Fromm what I've been told, meds are passed @ meal times and evening meds @ infirmary

[MrsMig, BSN, RN]

It was totally worth it for him to take his meds. He was riddled with the ADHD. :)

Oh yes, what ever works! I have some of these in the school district

[m0lasses]

We would pull meds, place them in small envelopes with names, time on it alphabetize them, put them in a rubber bin, set a table up outside the dining hall at a table and hand them out as the kids came in at meal time. Kids would stop by Health Center for night meds. It a camper was missed at meals, the nurse would just hunt them down during the meal. If a camper didn't stop at night after activity, we would radio the Head boys and girls counselors and they would make sure that the camper came down for their medication.

Worked well for us. A lot better than having the kids come to the health center for their meds. When we used to do that we would spend so much time trying to find the campers, interrupting activities, etc.

This is similar to how meds are done at my camp. Is this a legal practice? I was taught to do it like this, but could never get a straight answer on it.

[arronlpn]

On Sunday when the campers come in we go to the campsite and review the health forms. The adult leaders are in charge of locking the medications in a lock box or in their trailer. If they have an inhaler or epi-pen it is policy that the scout must have it on them or if a leader must be with them at all times. Refrigeration medications are stored in the health lodge. Most of the camper self administer their injections i.e. insulin.

So to sum it up we have no med pass. We coordinate storage and/or locations to administer medication

[Don Gloves]

Two nurses pass meds to two shifts of 225 campers and counselors at breakfast, one lunch (not many meds passed at lunch) and dinner meds for 450+. (Not every camper gets meds.) One nurse does sick call at breakfast and dinner; the other stays behind at the infirmary with the "inpatients." Bedtime meds are given at infirmary by two nurses. Some of the campers rush to my cart requesting their meds NOW, when my med pass is organized by where the cabin sits in the dining hall. Lots of kiddos in the same cabins with the same first name, so it's a med error waiting to happen. The kids are in and out of their seats getting seconds and so forth; some leave or switch tables entirely...when they know darn well to be expecting their meds.

My camp DOES NOT use Camp Meds. Instead, we have a team that bubbles meds in blister packs to be dosed at breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime. Liquid meds are dosed individually during each med pass, and are organized by cabin along with inhalers, patches, topical creams and eye/ear drops. We kindly request that parents bring the individual packets of Miralax to camp, but most do not, possibly because it's way cheaper to buy a big bottle of the generic stuff and let us deal with it. So, we have to measure every single Miralax dose into little pill baggies. According to the "rules," daily OTC meds must be accompanied by a physican's note. Parents know they won't be turned away, so they bring Flintstone vitamins, fiber gummies, energy bars and bottled milkshakes for picky eaters, along with supplements (which campers and parents refer to as "medicine") from those vitamin stores in the mall. Who knows WHAT'S in that stuff?!?! One parent brought several boxes of TWINKIES, requesting us to give her son two at bedtime, "because he needs to gain weight." We accept it all, because the camp philosophy is "make those parents happy."

Whatcha think?