Medical Information
Med Staff
Gregory Fox, MD, FAAP is the Camp Surefire Medical Director. Dr. Fox has been volunteering as the camp doctor since 2000. Over the past 25 years, Dr. Fox has been joined by an incredible staff of volunteer medical professionals, including Cara Moeller, NP who serves as Lead Medical Staff.
The Camp Surefire Medical Staff is 100% volunteer. They each take personal time off from work to dedicate their time and talents to ensuring the best and safest experience for our campers. Across the team, there is over 100 years of Camp Surefire med staff experience! Camp truly wouldn’t be possible without this crew.
At Camp JORI, we have 10 cabins of campers grouped by age and preferred gender. There are typically 8-10 campers, 4 counselors, and 1-2 Med Staff members assigned to each cabin. The Counselors stay overnight in the cabin, while the Med Staff are housed in the adjacent Health Center.
Camp Surefire uses a camp wide EMR system (Views EMR) to monitor blood glucose levels, record insulin dosing and carbohydrate intake, and record any other medication administration or treatment. While dedicated Med Staff truly get to know the campers in their assigned cabin, they can cross-cover one another during daily activities and divvy up the overnight call over the course of the camp week.
Diabetes Management
Camp Surefire’s primary mission is to provide a safe overnight camping experience for children and teens with type I diabetes. Proper management of diabetes at camp is a multilayered process which includes, but is not limited to:
- professional monitoring of all meals and snacks
- medical history review
- medical staff recruitment and training
- acquisition of appropriate medical supplies
- monitoring of campers’ blood sugars
- treatment of hypo and hyperglycemia
- maintenance of campers’ insulin pumps and continuous glucose meters
Each camper registration form will include a comprehensive medical history. Prior to the start of camp, each record will be reviewed by senior medical staff and requests for clarification will be made as needed. At medical check in, assigned medical staff will review with camper family to update as needed.
Camp Surefire will maintain an appropriate ratio of medical staff to campers to provide safe, timely care. All staff providing insulin administration or adjusting insulin dosing will be supervised by the medical director and medical staff director. Each member of the medical staff will have appropriate medical credentials (MD, DO, NP, PA, RN) or be a certified diabetes educator. Training will be provided by the medical director and medical staff director.
Camp Surefire will monitor campers’ blood glucose levels using a multilayered approach with the following components:
- Clinical symptom monitoring
- Continuous glucose monitoring by counselors and activity staff
- Finger stick glucose readings
- Camp-wide electronic medical record monitored by medical staff
- Daily blood glucose review of each camper for trending and dosage adjustment
Diabetes Technology
Camper families are required to provide all pump and continuous glucose monitoring materials at medical check in. All devices and charging cords should be labeled with your camper’s name. Medical staff will monitor timing of site changes and provide support for such changes.
Camp Surefire uses a camp wide EMR system (Views EMR) to monitor blood glucose levels, record insulin dosing and carbohydrate intake, and record any other medication administration or treatment. Any campers who do not have a CGM will be provided with a temporary Dexcom sensor for use during camp.
Cloud sharing will be enabled for the Medical Staff, however families will be required to stop all sharing features while their child is at camp.
Cloud sharing with parent/guardian and any other alert apps must be turned off and disabled during camp sessions. (e.g., Dexcom Clarity, SugarMate, SugarPixel).
The camp cell phone will be turned off to parent/guardian phone calls and texts from 10 PM to 8 AM. We know it takes a lot of trust to send your T1D camper away overnight, but we have got the overnights covered!
Note: The camper’s log (emailed as a PDF file) will be available upon request after the end of the camp session.
Medical Supplies
The following medical supplies will be provided by Camp Surefire as appropriate:
- Insulin
- Blood glucose monitors and strips
- Syringes and pen needles
- Hypoglycemia treatments (glucagon, glucose tabs, juice, etc.)
- First Aid supplies
- Common over the counter medications
The following medical supplies will be supplied by camper families:
- Insulin pumps and pump supplies
- Continuous glucose monitoring supplies
- Daily and PRN prescription and over the counter medications
See Packing List for more information.
“I remember driving home after my first summer at camp and I was full of emotion. I knew that Camp Surefire was something special. Each summer, I learn from each and every camper, and I have the upmost gratitude that I am able to play a small role in keeping campers safe and happy. I’m a better pharmacist because of my time at camp and thirteen years later, I am so thankful to be a part of the Camp Surefire family.”
~ Erin, Camp Med Staff