Get Ready for Camp Series #5: Safety and Security at Camp

Keeping our campers and staff safe is our number one priority at all times.  Read on to learn more about our safety and security practices at camp!

How does Camp Gilboa ensure campers’ health and safety?

Camp Gilboa is accredited by the American Camp Association, the leading authority in the promotion of camp safety and quality. That means that we follow hundreds of standards ranging from sanitation to camper/staff ratio, to quality of programming. On our last accreditation day-long visit and assessment, we passed with a 100% score on all standards. That’s because at Gilboa, the health and safety of campers is not only our #1 priority, it is also everyone’s responsibility; from the group counselors and camp directors, to our kitchen staff, to our on-site nurse.

Our camp health center (mirpa’a, or marp for short) is staffed 24 hours a day with either a nurse or an EMT. If a camper isn’t feeling well, they will be assessed by the nurse and may either rest and recover in one of our health center camper rooms, or, if the nurse determines additional evaluation is needed, they might be sent to see a doctor in the town of Big Bear (20 minutes away). While in our health center, campers are treated and watched by the nurse, with additional care by the senior staff and frequent (nurse approved) visits by their counselors and friends. In addition to our health center staff, other key Gilboa staff are First Aid and CPR trained and certified. Staff with additional appropriate certification are present during activities such as kayaking, archery, and swimming.

We’ve had a full assessment of our site security needs done by the Los Angeles Jewish Federation’s Community Security Initiative (CSI), and have worked with them to review and improve our safety and security protocols, which all staff learn and practice during staff training. In addition, this year CSI is coming to our staff week to train our full team on advanced situational awareness as a proactive approach to security. We are also in touch with local emergency services in town (the Forest Service, Fire Department, local hospital and Sheriff) throughout the year, and meet with them before each camp season to make sure they’re aware of the details of our operations for that summer.

In addition, we have received two government nonprofit security grants to increase our physical security (such as installing an additional gate to our generator road) as well as internal and external communication abilities (such as a PA system, Starlink internet, satellite phones, etc).  Lastly, more adult staff have been strategically placed near the entrances of camp and the generator road, giving more presence in vulnerable areas.

We know that this summer, in addition to the usual safety concerns, our community is especially concerned about heightened tensions due to the ongoing crises in the Middle East. To address these concerns, we are very grateful to have received a grant from The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles and Jewish Federation Los Angeles to supplement the cost of a night watch guard, ensuring that there is always someone awake and aware at camp in case any issues arise.

How does Camp Gilboa make decisions about health and safety policies?

Gilboa is fortunate to have a dedicated Medical Committee composed of physicians, nurses, and other medical personnel who are also Gilboa parents, alumni, and past and present camp healthcare staff. Among our committee members are an infectious disease specialist, a family physician specializing in residential setting care, an emergency medicine physician, and physicians and nurses with camp and Gilboa-specific experience. The committee is preparing all policies and practices following CDC and ACA guidelines.

Before coming to camp this summer, our Medical Committee strongly recommends that all campers get the most recent covid booster (since October 2024). At Gilboa, one of our values is care for our community, and for the sake of our immunocompromised campers for whom covid can still be extremely dangerous, we request that you please keep your campers up to date with their covid boosters.

While it is not possible to screen for every single potential virus ahead of camp, we are stressing the importance of sending kids to camp healthy (and keeping them home if they have any cold symptoms whatsoever). To this end, you will receive a Health Screening Form ahead of your camper’s travel to camp, which will ask you to indicate if they have been experiencing a number of symptoms. If they have, a member of our Medical Committee will follow up with you to discern if they are safe to come to camp as planned or if a delayed arrival would be better.

Lastly, we are always working to improve our protocols for if any contagion is found at camp - such as earlier detection, increased hand washing, adding hand sanitizing stations, etc.

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This is our last Getting Ready for Camp blog post, we’re looking forward to a safe and fun summer! See you in 9 days!