Summer Camp Medical (signed only by Mom?)

[pinkflame]

I am a family physician and a parent. Although I do physicals for the troop, I do NOT do my son's physical and infact try NOT to treat him (OK, I will call in ointment for pinkeye and stuff like that, but my teenage son needs his own doctor that he can discuss WHATEVER he needs to discuss without worrying about the mom-filter). The other doctors and OA's and NP's in our practice do the same thing with their children.

 

The child in question in this post is younger so may not have teen isues to discuss (although that will soon happen) and probably has a host of sub-specialists who look after his shunt. The names on the medicine bottles that go to camp will tell that story, although I guess technically it is no one's business but the family.

 

Nevertheless, having a vertriculo-peritoneal shunt is a BIG DEAL. I find it fairly scary that this boy has been on campouts before without the adult leadership knowing about the shunt. Shunts can clog and fairly rapidly lead to serious neurological compromise. Shunt infections can also begin and lead quickly to meningitis. None of that should exclude the oy from camping and pther Scouting experiences, but the adults present need to be on the lookout for even subtle changes in behavior, coordination or vision.

 

As he gets older he will probably be able to self-monitor. It would probably be an excellent growth experience if he could learn to discuss these issues with a non-parent adult ("how ya doin'?" "no headache?", "keep me posted")--all natural, just like we would with a boy with migraines or some other medical issue where they want to be at camp but might need a little extra support or monitoring. After all, this is going to be a lifetime issue and he will need to learn how to be comfortable with it and with sharing his own information on a "need to know" basis, in order to function independently as an adult.

 

As for staying licensed, it costs MONEY. In Texas it is over $500/year, and that's not counting CME (continuing medical education). Inactive status is less, but then you really aren't keeping up in the loop so I probably wouldn't want that person pretending to take care of me. And hey, I CAN write legibly, but on prescription signatures I purposely do not. My scrawl is a lot harder to duplicate than a perfect penmanship signature. In fact, the way we often catch people forging prescriptions is when the pharmacies call saying the signature is too legible so they know I couldn't have written it.

[pinkflame]

OOPS!, I meant PA's not OA's.

 

Apparently I can't even type legibly

[nolesrule]

And here I thought you were using the OA as a pool of potential employees.

[nldscout]

Our troop solved the phyiscal issue years ago by using the local pediatrician to do all our annual physicals. We schedule a saturday morning with him, we have a couple of EMT's/RN's in the parents to assist with paperwork, weights, and that stuff and he gives the boys the once over. This MD does all the school physicals for sports and other activities plus he is the doctor that 80-90% of the boys see anyway. Takes a couple of hours at the most and there all done.

 

We started doing this with him in 2001 for the NSJ and been doing it ever since, works good for both of us. We feed him cobler a couple times a year as payment

[SMT224]

Pinkflame - Thanks for your perspective. This kid allegedly has ADHD, and appears to be on meds for that as well as the hydrocephalic issue. In my brief observation of him, he seems to be in la-la land most of the time with a goofy smile on his face. Nothing wrong with that, and as long as the Scouting experience is good for him, I'm fine. But, I do question whether or not he could report any kind of physical anomaly as he appears to be so heavily medicated that I'm not sure he wold notice.

 

Nevertheless, I fully intend to get written directions of his med use and what signs I and the other adults coming to camp should watch for if he is experiencing issues.

[Beavah]

Yah, all kinds of weird legal speculation here. Relax, folks. You're making up ghost stories.

 

To my mind, the issue is a boy with a serious medical condition and a hard-to-manage drug cocktail. When you get a medical form like that, I think yeh want to make sure it's detailed and legible, and then review things with the parent and physician so that you're sure you know what the boy's needs are. Havin' a medical practitioner on your committee who knows the program and can look over these things can also be a big help.

 

Then you need to think carefully and honestly about whether yeh can accommodate the boy's needs, or what additional resources you'll need to be able to support the lad. Sometimes, if the conditions are serious enough and your level of medical knowledge is limited, yeh might have to say "we're not comfortable with your son participating unless we can get X, Y, and Z."

 

Beavah

 

[The Blancmange]

Then you need to think carefully and honestly about whether yeh can accommodate the boy's needs, or what additional resources you'll need to be able to support the lad. Sometimes, if the conditions are serious enough and your level of medical knowledge is limited, yeh might have to say "we're not comfortable with your son participating unless we can get X, Y, and Z."

I think that's a great approach generally, especially for unit outings,but if this is summer camp being discussed, shouldn't the camp's medical officer at least be consulted, and possibly even make the final call?

[scoutldr]

Thanks, "white eats". That's what I said back on Page 1.

[The Blancmange]

Sorry. Long thread - I just skimmed some of it.

[bacchus]

Edit. Glad it got worked out (This message has been edited by bacchus)