When a serious injury or death occurs at camp, it is the camp director who has to know what to do and what to say, to ensure the future well-being of the rest of his or her staff and campers.
There is likely no worse fear for a camp director than experiencing the tragic death or serious injury of a camper or staff member, regardless of the circumstances.
Acknowledging that any such event will trigger legal, medical and insurance reviews, it will also require both humanistic and psychological intervention for those affected by the incident.
There are very specific steps that can and should be taken during crisis situations that will significantly influence how the incident will alter the lives of those impacted. This refers not only to those “in-charge” at a camp, but all participants who may experience feelings of guilt, increased vulnerability, fear and grief, just to name a few. One of the easiest steps towards mitigation of a negative impact is to provide those with positions of responsibility with the skills, knowledge and confidence to know how to respond should an event occur.
This is called pre-incident preparation, and refers to the thoughtful development of a plan (i.e., roles, responsibilities, communication protocols) prior to needing it and providing the necessary training and psychological preparation for those people with designated responsibilities. The provision of “predictability” (i.e., knowing what will unfold and how) grounds caregivers in their roles and projects a required confidence.
Fact gathering becomes step one in putting pieces back together. For those indirectly affected, the sharing of the facts should come from someone who has a trustworthy relationship with the group. For individuals who witness or participate in the incident, critical incident debriefings or defusing provide a process that allows individuals to understand more than their small piece and to normalize the experience. A trained individual must provide this intervention.
The following protocol can be immediately utilized for the handling of a crisis or tragedy.
Step 1: Gather the Facts
Factual information is the key to rumour control and the humane way to try and understand what may not make sense on an emotional level. The facts lay the foundation for making sense of the event and can reduce the sense of generalized or overwhelming vulnerability. The language used to convey the facts must be age appropriate, must be conveyed in logical sequence and must be real.
Step 2: Bring Like Groups Together
When sharing the facts of what has happened, individuals that have formed relationships with one another need to be together for support and reassurance. The person addressing the campers should be someone they are familiar with. In the event of a death of a camper who belongs to a specific group, visual contact between group members will provide reassurance that the incident is limited and has not claimed more lives than the facts have stated.
Step 3: Predict and Prepare
In the event of death or serious injury, those impacted will be in shock, may feel vulnerable regarding their own safety and perhaps feel responsible that they should have been able to do something. In re-establishing order from the chaos, it is useful to outline and prepare individuals for what will happen in 24- to 48-hour periods. Issues to outline depend on the incident and may include: the communication process from “this point forward;” any change in people who may be seen at the camp site (i.e., police, insurance investigators, etc.); interviews that may need to be held with camp participants; how and when parents will be contacted; what information will be shared with parents; what choices, if any, the campers have about going home or remaining at camp; and the opportunity to attend or participate in a memorial service when appropriate.
Step 4: Allow Campers to Talk
Upon hearing tragic news those affected will need to talk. The post fact discussion or “reality rehearsal” provides the venue for individuals to understand they are experiencing a normal reaction to an abnormal event. Discussion, typically, normalizes an individual’s worries, fears and grief.
Step 5: Seek Assistance
Every crisis involves complicating factors. Past and/or current events in people’s lives, individual resilience and individual coping ability all affect the level and type of intervention that should be provided during a crisis or serious event. Outside assistance, including consultation or direct assistance, provides objective, thoughtful expertise when clear thinking is critical.
Serious injury or death to a camper or staff member will be a life altering experience for those affected, including the camp director. It is worth knowing that your actions can make the difference in how well an individual copes years down the road.
Denise Still is a fellow of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, the co-ordinator of the Critical Incident Response Team for the Calgary Board of Education and is an associate of the Adventure Safety Institute.
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