We take water safety VERY seriously and campers are under constant supervision from both our staff and the lifeguards at our destination.
Here are a few of the safety measures we take:
· We always have at least 1 staff member for every 5 campers. (often it’s a 1:3 ratio!)
· Each staff member is assigned specific children to supervise.
· Staff members are in the water with campers, or at the water’s edge. They are constantly counting the children in their own group and have them in their direct line of vision at all times. In addition to each staff member counting their own group, we do periodic checks of the total number of campers.
· All campers must wear their bright green camp t-shirts (provided by SEDP) at all times – even in the water. This greatly increases their visibility.
· We don’t allow swimmers to wrestle, chicken-fight, or hang on each other in the water.
· The lifeguards at Hopkinton state park require all swimmers to get out of the water for a 10 minute break once per hour. This is yet another opportunity for us to count our whole group. It also gives every swimmer a rest whether they think they need one or not.
· The lifeguards limit the number of camp groups in the water at any one time if they feel they cannot safely do their jobs. When we arrived one day the lifeguard explained they only had 2 guards on duty and could not have more than 2 camp groups in the water. We were asked to stay on the sand for about 15 minutes (and after a few groans from the campers, they all got busy playing with our huge bag of sand toys). After that time one camp group left AND a third life guard arrived at the beach and we were allowed to go into the water. Though I was temporarily annoyed that we booked this trip and weren’t allowed to swim, I was pleased that the Hopkinton lifeguards have clear strict guidelines for safety.