Summer Camp Surprises: Preparing For A Head Lice Outbreak
Most people love surprises but as a parent, surprises can be a little scary and sometimes parents just wish for uneventful days because that means nothing crazy is going on. And that means that there won’t be any less than pleasant surprises (the worst kind). We’re all crossing our fingers that there will be no surprise head lice outbreaks at summer camp this summer as we send our kids off to make friends and create wonderful memories. Not only would it be a huge hassle for our kids to get head lice at summer camp but we would hate for that to ruin their experience, especially because you already paid for it. Please, please, no surprises!
What We Can Do
We can help! There is a pretty high chance of a head lice outbreak at summer camp just because there are so many kids there. Whether we coordinate with your summer camp to screen and treat kids on the first day of camp or we treat as many kids as we can in our clinic beforehand, we can help avoid a lice outbreak at summer camp. When it comes to head lice at camp, the key is preventing an outbreak before it happens, so that it doesn’t need to be treated at the camp. Although having a procedure in place just in case is always necessary. It’s important for parents to know the policies and procedures of the summer camp. How do they handle head lice outbreaks? How many nurses and medical professionals do they have on site? Do they know their facts about head lice and how to identify them? We recommend parents being informed and prepared, that way there won’t be as much panic if you get that awful call because you’ll know exactly what to do and how it’s going to be handled.
Teach Your Children
It’s also a good idea to teach your kids a little bit about head lice and how to avoid it such as not making direct contact with other kids and not sharing their items. You can never be too careful and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Although, getting head lice really isn’t the end of the world because it can be easily treated at our clinic. Other treatments such as over-the-counter ones do not effectively treat lice, so sending your kid to camp with a lice shampoo is pointless.
Summer Camp Is Popular
Lots and lots of children attend summer camp each year, whether it be an overnight camp or a day camp, a religious camp or an academic camp. There are all different types of camps and they offer wonderful opportunities for children. According to acacamps.org, camp is an $18 billion industry with more than 14 million kids and adults attending camp in the U.S. Camps employ more than 1.5 million camp staff to work in various camp positions. So, if you’re sending your child to summer camp, you’re certainly not alone. Parents have been sending their kids to summer camp for years and lice have made an appearance at quite a few of those summer camps.
We sincerely hope your child doesn’t get lice at camp and that if there is an outbreak, he or she doesn’t fall victim to it. But the good news is that if your child does bring home lice from summer camp, we can definitely treat them.
