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Hi All,
Do you have a clear policy for lice treatment at your camps? Do you start with in-camp treatment with shampoo and combing, and then offer parents the option for additional off-campus treatments (like the heat treatments offered by companies like “Nits End”?) Do you do any prophylactic treatment for an entire cabin?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
Oh wow, well I have only been a camp nurse for one summer (2021). We didn’t have this problem. Is the camp policy to have the campers stay at camp if they have lice?
– Anne
We have a company that comes in and checks everyone on opening day and treats anyone with lice. It is a circus on opening day and expensive (cost of treatment is passed on to the parent.) The company guarantees their work so if later any lice are found, they will come back and deal with it.
It is well worth it to use a service like this if possible! We love them.Sarah:
Great to hear from you and for posting this question. As you know lice can be a real challenge if not caught at the beginning of camp. Most camps have a lice protocol – usually including some type of screening and then if found, a plan for treatment. The AAP and ACN recommendations for lice are to “treat and keep”. Remember that lice is not an infection, it is an infestation. No one is going to become ill if they catch lice, but they will be irritated and uncomfortable. Either way – it would create a “less than optimal” camp experience.
Some camps do use companies, some camps just do the screening themselves and then have some Nix or other product on hand in the event they need to treat. You can determine what might work best for your camp, but we do encourage you to include lice screening in your opening day procedures if possible.
Glad to discuss more
Take care
Tracey GaslinThanks for the responses! We do a big lice check on day one, but last summer we had a few outbreaks at our girls camp despite the day one screening. I have a few follow up questions if anyone has any thoughts:
1. For Nix/Permetherin treatment – do you do the treatment only once or do you repeat this on day 9 (recommended by UpToDate)? How often do you continue combing/checking the infected camper?
2. Do you inform all of the families in the cabin about the lice outbreak?
3. Do you call parents and ask for consent to treat in camp with Nix? Or do parents sign off on potential lice treatment beforehand (as part of a healthcare form)?
Thank you!
In the past, our camp has used Lice Treamtment Centers which inspect every counselor and camper’s head on the first day of camp, especially looking for nits. We then treat each camper at camp (pending parent’s approval by calling; if not they need to pick them up and treat them at home before they come back to camp). All parents approve of the inspection, but they don’t automatically the treatment (because there is a cost which tends to be reasonable we do ask but I don’t think we’ve had anyone refuse it). They use a natural shampoo/conditioner and then afterwards nurses/counselors help with oil for 7-10 days and combing of hair to get rid of any nits that were unspotted for some reason. We don’t inform the other bunk members unless they are found (which would be in middle of summer by a nurse) and only if they have it because we have measures if someone does end up with lice in the middle of the summer as well (contact that child’s parents, start treatment, special washing and disinfecting of bunk and linens inside bunk). Hope this helps!
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