How Camps Handle Medical Emergencies Without a Full-Time Nurse

Most camps, unlike schools, don't have a full-time nurse on staff. That doesn't lower the bar. American Camp Association (ACA) accreditation still requires a real health care plan, not a first-aid kit and good intentions.

What ACA requires regardless of staffing size

Accredited camps need first-aid facilities and trained staff available whenever campers are present, a designated person responsible for health supervision, and a documented health care plan covering how injuries and illness are handled at every hour campers are on-site, including overnight for residential camps.

What "trained staff" typically means in practice

Camps commonly designate a health supervisor role, filled by a nurse, EMT, or another credentialed staff member depending on the camp's size and session length, alongside baseline CPR and first-aid certification across the counselor staff. That way, care isn't dependent on one person always being present.

What a health plan needs to cover

• How a sick or injured camper is identified and reported by counselors, who often aren't medically trained themselves
• Where care happens on-site, and what supplies and facilities are actually available there
• When and how a camper gets escalated to outside care: local urgent care, an emergency room, or EMS
• How and by whom parents are notified
• How medications, prescribed, over-the-counter, and allergy-related, are stored and administered

Questions camp directors are asking

Do we need an RN on staff if we don't run overnight sessions?
Not necessarily. ACA's expectations scale with camp size, session length, and risk level, but every camp still needs a designated, trained person responsible for health decisions on-site.

What's the minimum training our counselors need?
Baseline CPR and first-aid certification is standard practice across ACA-accredited camps, even for staff who aren't the primary health contact.

How do we handle a medical situation that needs more than first aid?
The plan should specify, in advance, the nearest appropriate emergency care option and exactly how a camper gets there. That's a decision to make ahead of time, not in the moment.

How Joffe helps

Joffe's health coordination team has built health office systems for K-12 schools facing the same core challenge camps do: providing real medical oversight without a full-time nurse on every shift. The same structured approach applies directly to camp health planning.

Sources: American Camp Association, Safety at Camp; American Camp Association, ACA Accreditation