Medeba - Prepared for Influenza Like Illness

Medeba's Core Message with regard to Infuenza Like Illness:
Through Awareness, Prevention, Containment and Communication Medeba is committed to providing a safe, healthy and wonderful experience for our staff and guests.

At Medeba, the safety and well-being of our campers, program participants and staff is a top priority. In that respect, we are closely monitoring information about the Novel H1N1 influenza virus (swine flu) from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHTLC) and our local health unit.

We have been recently notified by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit of outbreaks of H1N1 in summer camps in their jurisdiction and that outbreaks may continue to occur in other camps over the summer. We take this matter very seriously. At this point Medeba has no known or suspected cases of H1N1.We have put in place the following safeguards designed and recommended by the MOHLTC to protect our campers and staff:

Safeguards before camp
1. Parents are required to keep their children at home and away from camp if their child develops these symptoms listed below. They can begin camp when they no longer have a fever and are feeling well enough to participate at camp.
2. Camp staff and campers will be screened for influenza-like illness (ILI) before entering camp and routinely monitored for symptoms throughout their stay. Influenza-like illness (ILI) is the acute onset of respiratory symptoms with fever and cough and one or more of the following symptoms: sore throat, muscle aches, joint pain, or weakness. In children under 5 gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea and/or vomiting) may also be present and fever may not be prominent.
3. Camp staff and campers presenting with ILI symptoms on initial screening will be sent home so as not to expose any other staff or campers. Our concern is not to expose any other campers or staff at camp.

Safeguards during camp
1. Safety and well-being is the top concern of our entire staff team. Camp staff and campers who are experiencing new ILI symptoms while at camp will be separated from other campers/staff as quickly as possible. Ill campers may be sent home depending on the severity of the illness, and at the discretion of camp health care staff and parents.
2. All camp staff will promote cough and sneeze hygiene among staff and campers, i.e. sneezing into your elbow or a tissue.
3. All camp staff will promote and encourage frequent hand washing to prevent the spread of germs. Campers will be asked to wash their hands after bathroom use, prior to eating and after sneezing or coughing. Alcohol based hand sanitizer dispensers will be strategically placed throughout the camp site for use when soap and water is not immediately available.
4. In the event that a camper or staff experiences ILI symptoms while at camp, he or she will be separated from others and action will be taken based on medical recommendations in consultation with parents.
5. Medeba staff are trained to monitor the health of campers and promote hand-washing to prevent the spread of germs. Everyone is expected to wash their hands after bathroom use and prior to entering the dining hall for meals and alcohol based hand sanitizer dispensers are strategically placed in entry ways.

We will continue to monitor new developments from the MOHLTC and we will remain very proactive by following the aforementioned recommendations.

Through Awareness, prevention, containment and communication Medeba is committed to providing a safe, healthy and wonderful experience for our staff and guests.