Once you have chosen a camp, you’ll need to prepare staff to manage your child’s seizures. Ideally, they will have basic training in seizure recognition and first aid. If there are new staff or questions about what seizures look like, offer training materials to the camp director and nurse. Even if they know the basics about seizures, they won’t know about your child and his seizures. That’s your job. You will want to share your own observations and how you have managed things at home, in school or other settings. You may need help from the doctor and nurse who treats your child’s seizures to educate the staff, and have them help you develop a plan for managing his seizures in the camp environment.

To prepare camp staff

Print a copy of My Camp Medical Supplement to help you organize some key seizure and safety information. The camp nurse, doctor or director can then use this to make sure other staff will know what to do. Include information on:

• Type and frequency of seizures
• Seizure triggers and how to lessen their effect
• Other medical, social and emotional concerns and any special accommodations or plans to manage these
• Medicines and other treatments used to control seizures on a daily basis- include seizure medicines, dietary therapies such as the ketogenic diet, or therapies such as vagus nerve stimulation
• Plans for responding to seizures, including 'as needed' medicines to prevent emergency situations. If Diastat is part of the child's treatment plan, make sure all staff have been properly trained in how and when to use it.
• Side effects of all treatments
• Safety concerns – including risks with seizures, medicine side effects, injuries or other special needs
• Plan for managing safety, including any restrictions on camp participation, adaptive or safety equipment, or lifestyle/activity changes.
• What your child knows about seizures, if and how to tell others, and how your child reacts to the seizures
• Tools on www.epilepsy.com can be used to supplement training of staff, especially What is a seizure and Seizure First Aid.

• All About Epilepsy & Seizures
• What is a Seizure? (animation)
• First Aid for Seizures (animation)
• First Aid for Seizures
• Diastat 101
• Children With Vagus Nerve Stimulators (VNS): Issues At Summer Camp

Continue to Using Preparedness Plans

Topic Editor: Steven C. Schachter, MD and Patricia O. Shafer, RN, MN.
Last Reviewed:5/25/07