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Health Safety at Meetings & Camp

Updated April 24, 2003

SARS Screening / Precautions

The Scouting Motto is "Be Prepared" and in consideration of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SARS threat, we should take the following precautions:

If you are a leader, youth member, parent, visitor or guest - do not attend any Scouting activity (meeting, outing, camp, etc) if you:
  1. Have been to China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore or Taiwan in the last 10 days.
  2. Have been to any Greater Toronto Area Hospital in the last 10 days.
  3. Have been to the Scarborough Grace/York Central Hospitals in the last 10 days.
  4. Have had contact with a person with or under investigation for SARS in the last 10 days.
The following symptoms are not only associated with SARS but also with a number of other ailments.  At any rate they are symptomatic of general unwellness and the person displaying the following should stay home or seek medical treatment.

The purpose is to "Be Prepared" and take reasonable precautions to ensure the health safety of all our members.  Taking health precautions is not new; see also the health precautions to be taken at camp below.  Your cooperation is appreciated.

 

Thank You 1st Glen Cairn Scout Group for providing the information on this page.
E-mail Glen Cairn Scouting

What You Don’t Know Can Harm You
How to Reduce the Risk of Getting Sick from Camp

Most sickness is going to show up after camp when the child gets home and will be caused by a virus, bacteria, toxins caused by bacteria, or parasite.  You can reduce the risk of members getting sick by:
1) Being familiar with potential diseases and how they are spread, and
2) Taking precautions to reduce the risk of catching the disease and its spread.

I recommend you visit authoritative web sites such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), New York State Communicable Diseases and City of Ottawa Communicable Diseases for up to date reliable information.  You should minimally be aware of the following:

Giardiasis (Beaver fever) an intestinal illness caused by the microscopic parasite Giardia Lamblia.  You get it from drinking untreated surface water (there is no safe lake or stream), or contact with an infected person who has poor hand washing practice.  This parasite is passed in the feces of an infected person or animal to contaminate other water, food or persons coming in contact.

Lyme Disease is caused by a bacteria transmitted by the deer tick which can be found in grassy and wooded environments in the spring, summer and fall.  Not all ticks are infected with the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. They pick this up when they feed on small rodents that are infected.  Fortunately you can see these ticks which range in size from a poppy seed to a sesame seed.  Removal of the tick within 36 hours reduces the risk of infection and is accomplished by grasping the mouth parts as close as possible to the skin with tweezers, careful not to squeeze the body of the tick.

West Nile Virus is one of several diseases caused by contact with arthropods such as virus carrying mosquitoes or ticks.  Infected migrating birds carry the virus from one part of the country to another and are a source of infection for a few types of mosquitoes. We become infected if bitten by one of these mosquitoes.  Fortunately most infections do not result in any symptoms, while mild cases present with slight fever and/or headache and resolve with no complication.  However, severe infections are marked by a rapid onset of headache, high fever, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, paralysis or death.  See also the Ontario West Nile Site for good information regarding the application of "Deet" on children, as well as the City of Ottawa West Nile Virus site.

SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is somewhat reminiscent of Legionnaires' Disease many years ago - unknown virus, leading to serious pneumonia not respondent to drugs and leading to death in some cases.  SARS is contracted by close contact with someone who has it already, and the symptoms are a fever of more than 38.0° Celsius and a cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing.  Unfortunately large crowds (bus/train transportation, sporting/entertainment events, movie theatres, churches along with national and international travel aid in the transmission of the disease.

Salmonellosis, Trichinosis, E. Coli, and Tularemia, - are bacterial and parasite infections which can be picked up by improper handling of contaminated meat (ie. poultry, pork, beef, rabbit, wild animal meat) or contact with infected people or animals including pets.  Eating meat that is rare or inadequately cooked is the most common way of getting infected.  As well there are a whole host of diseases caused by contaminated food, water, handling disease infected animals or meats such as but not limited to: Botululism, Campylobacteriosis, E. coli 0157:h7, Norwalk Virus, Yersiniosis.

What Precautions to Take

Following these simple precautions at camp will go a long way to ensuring your Scouting members come home happy and healthy.

  1. Wash You Hands Well after going to the toilet, after touching farm animals, pets, or wild animals, and especially before eating or preparing food.
     
  2. Drink and use only safe water, this includes washing hands, teeth, dishes... Lake or stream water is NOT safe, and boiling it for two minutes should kill the disease organisms but will not help heavily polluted or chemically contaminated water.
     
  3. Always treat raw poultry, beef and pork as if they are contaminated and handle accordingly:
    • Wrap fresh meats in plastic bags at the market to prevent blood from dripping on other foods.
    • Refrigerate foods promptly; minimize holding at room temperature.
    • Cutting boards and counters used for preparation should be washed immediately before and after use to prevent cross contamination with other foods.
    • Avoid eating raw or undercooked meats.
    • Ensure that the correct internal cooking temperature is reached.
    • Avoid eating raw eggs or undercooking foods containing raw eggs.
    • Avoid using raw milk.
    • Encourage careful handwashing before and after food preparation.
    • Make sure children, particularly those who handle pets, wash their hands carefully.

  4. People who experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, or have a fever should not attend camp and definitely should not handle food for others.
     
  5. If you are staying in a cabin with evidence of rodent droppings, special precautions must be taken to clean up, to avoid contracting the Hantavirus by breathing in microscopic particles (i.e. dust) that contain viruses from rodent urine or droppings.  See Clean up precautions.
     
  6. Reduce contact with Mosquitoes and Ticks.
    • Use Insect repellent containing "deet"
    • Properly screened dwelling and tents (no holes, zippers kept closed)
    • Wear light covered clothing
    • Long sleeves & long pants tucked into the socks
    • Avoid camping in areas of high concentration (swamp)
    • Avoid outdoor activities in areas of high concentration especially at dusk and dawn

This information is not proclaimed to be complete, accurate or up-to-date.  It is intended to give you some general information and pique your interest to follow up checking authorative web sites like the ones suggested, and to take some minimal precautions to protect your Scouting members from getting sick.

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