Sports Camp Health, Medication and Food Planning

Collect useful information before camp

Ask for an emergency contact and the health information needed to provide safe care. Explain why you need it, who can see it, and how it will be protected.

Ask about important allergies, relevant health conditions, medicines used during camp, activity limits, and written emergency plans.

Do not ask for an entire medical history just because a large form has room for it.

Give customers a way to update information. A new medicine or injury may change the plan after booking.

Have the right trained people

Name a health or first-aid lead and a backup for each operating period. Confirm the training, qualifications, supplies, and cover required for your program.

First-aid training does not make someone a doctor. Do not let staff diagnose conditions, change prescriptions, or give medical advice beyond their role.

For complex needs, arrange a plan with the participant, guardian where appropriate, and qualified health professionals before participation. Check your legal duties and insurer's requirements.

Make medicine handovers clear

Use a reviewed medication policy. It should cover permission, the original labelled medicine or approved packaging, the prescribed instructions, storage, access, who may help, and the record of what was given.

Check the actual medicine and instructions at handover. Do not rely only on a booking note from months ago.

Follow local rules and the person's care plan for self-carried medicines, such as emergency inhalers or epinephrine. A blanket rule locking every medicine in a distant office can create danger.

Keep emergency medicine accessible to the people authorised and trained to use it. Protect it from unauthorised access and unsuitable heat or cold.

Do not change a dose, share medicine between people, or give a staff member's medicine to a participant. Follow the approved process for missed doses, errors, or missing supplies. Obtain urgent help when needed.

Take serious allergies seriously

Build an individual allergy plan where needed. Know symptoms, the prescribed emergency device, storage, who can help, and the emergency route.

For suspected anaphylaxis, follow the emergency plan and use epinephrine promptly as trained. Call emergency services. Do not replace epinephrine with an antihistamine or wait for a parent's reply. Medical assessment is still needed even when symptoms improve.¹

This paragraph is not device training. Arrange proper training and a written plan before camp.

Do not promise an “allergen-free” site unless you can genuinely meet that claim. Explain your actual controls and limits, including shared facilities and outside food.

Make food a managed service

Decide whether people bring food, buy food, or receive food from you. Check permits, food-handler duties, storage, transport, cleaning, and supplier requirements for that model.

Follow official food-safety guidance for handling, keeping, cooking, and serving food. Use the required equipment and checks rather than guessing from smell or appearance.²

Have a plan for dietary requests and cross-contact. Cross-contact means an allergen gets into food through shared hands, tools, surfaces, or ingredients.

Do not guess whether a food is safe. Keep ingredient information available and use the agreed process when information is missing.

Make illness decisions fairly

Write a policy using current local public-health advice. Explain symptoms or conditions that require staying home, when someone may return, and what happens to fees.

Plan safe supervised care while an unwell child waits for pickup. Preserve privacy and protect the rest of the group.

Staff also need an illness and replacement plan. A worker should not feel forced to hide symptoms because no backup exists.

Your task: Review the health process from registration to final pickup. Practise finding a care plan and getting emergency medicine without delay.