Why do they ask for all of this?

[lovetoscrap]

Both my girls leave for camp tomorrow. I am finishing up their forms. It just boggles my mind why they feel they need some of this information, especially the medical related stuff.

DD13 is going to camp 5 hours away. They want the name, address and phone number for her doctor and her dentist. WHY? The doctor isn't going to talk to you because of privacy laws if you call. Why do you need the dentist's address??? If she has a dental problem you aren't going to drive here 5 hours here to have it fixed! You are going to call me to come and get her. And with all the medical things, if the nurse can't fix it then either I am coming to get her, or you are calling 911 to get her to the ER. They don't need that info either between the time she gets there and when I get there.


DD9 is going to the local GS camp 20 minutes away. They want a complete physical (within the last 24 months) form filled out and signed by the Dr. Why? Why do they need to know exactly what her hearing and vision were at her visit 14 months ago? I just filled out an entire page that asked ME if she had any hearing or visual difficulties. Do you not believe me? Do you think I am sending a deaf child to camp and not bothering to tell you hoping maybe you won't notice? How does my dr. telling you what the condition of her nose and throat were 14 months ago have any usefullness to you next week? If she needs to be seen in the ER they don't care! I don't take a signed health form to them if she has broken her leg or developed some horrible illness. Camp is 20 minutes away. I will be at the hospital in 10!


And both want the Medical Insurance information-- Name, address and policy numbers. I think the hospital can wait the few hours it may take for me to get there with the card. Heck we all know they won't do a darn thing about insurance unless you show the card and they get a copy. Camp won't be billing my insurance company. Why do they find it so important to have the information? At least the insurance company no longer uses our Social Security number as our ID number.

Sorry, just tired and can't believe I have to answer a whole bunch of inane, useless questions.

 

[Sparx]

i did 4h for 8 years (from 4th grade-12th grade) and no matter what event we went to, day event or two weeks long, we had to have this fully filled out EACH time. some years my mom must have filled this form out 10-20 times.

i'll never understand why they need all that information.

 

[Feralpeg]

In the unfortunate case that your child does need to be taken to the ER, they can give the information to the ER doctor. The ER doctor would, then, be able to contact your doctor to check on any underlying conditions, allergies, etc. It is just a precaution. They might not be able to get hold of you right away.

IMHO, you should be glad that they are asking for this information. It means they are concerned about your child's welfare. I'd be leery of any place that did not ask for this type of information.

 

[kirbsam]

Both my girls leave for camp tomorrow. I am finishing up their forms. It just boggles my mind why they feel they need some of this information, especially the medical related stuff.

DD13 is going to camp 5 hours away. They want the name, address and phone number for her doctor and her dentist. WHY? The doctor isn't going to talk to you because of privacy laws if you call. Why do you need the dentist's address??? If she has a dental problem you aren't going to drive here 5 hours here to have it fixed! You are going to call me to come and get her. And with all the medical things, if the nurse can't fix it then either I am coming to get her, or you are calling 911 to get her to the ER. They don't need that info either between the time she gets there and when I get there.


DD9 is going to the local GS camp 20 minutes away. They want a complete physical (within the last 24 months) form filled out and signed by the Dr. Why? Why do they need to know exactly what her hearing and vision were at her visit 14 months ago? I just filled out an entire page that asked ME if she had any hearing or visual difficulties. Do you not believe me? Do you think I am sending a deaf child to camp and not bothering to tell you hoping maybe you won't notice? How does my dr. telling you what the condition of her nose and throat were 14 months ago have any usefullness to you next week? If she needs to be seen in the ER they don't care! I don't take a signed health form to them if she has broken her leg or developed some horrible illness. Camp is 20 minutes away. I will be at the hospital in 10!


And both want the Medical Insurance information-- Name, address and policy numbers. I think the hospital can wait the few hours it may take for me to get there with the card. Heck we all know they won't do a darn thing about insurance unless you show the card and they get a copy. Camp won't be billing my insurance company. Why do they find it so important to have the information? At least the insurance company no longer uses our Social Security number as our ID number.

Sorry, just tired and can't believe I have to answer a whole bunch of inane, useless questions.

funny, but you asked about 7 questions in your post of why they ask so many questions.

 

[lovetoscrap]

But that doesn't explain why they want the address? And I have already filled out several pages for each on underlying conditions, allergies, past hospitalizations and illnesses and everything else. I have filled out less medical information when I have taken them to the dr, er or urgent care.

And with HIPPA can't the Pediatrician not even give that information to the ER Doctor without my written consent?

Part of me finds it funny and part of me finds it annoying. If they are in such a condition that they are going to the ER I think calling anyone but me will be the last thing on anyones list. I am sure the ER will treat first to get them stable and then ask questions later. And my cell phone won't be leaving my side next week!

 

[lovetoscrap]

funny, but you asked about 7 questions in your post of why they ask so many questions.

 

[LisaR]

I filled out TEN pages, yes, TEN pages of information for my DD's orthopedic appointment. Some of the questions they asked were utterly ridiculous. It was filed electronically so you had to answer every single question or it wouldn't allow you to submit it.

But the best part was that when we arrived for the appointment, the nurse asked us half the questions again! She said she had the forms we filled out but it was too much of a hassle to wade through all of them to find the answers so she was just going to ask me again.

 

[Imzadi]

And with HIPPA can't the Pediatrician not even give that information to the ER Doctor without my written consent?

Ifr your child were brought in unconscious and needed immediate attention, do they need to wait for your written consent?

 

[gymboqueenkaylee]

We had to fill our similar info for my 4 yo daughter for Day Camp....which is 10 minutes from where I work. I would probably get to her before the stinkin ambulance god forbid something god that bad. I feel your pain about the medical forms!

 

[Disney Doll]

They are asking for this information because if something happens to your DD (or someone else's DD) while they are at camp and they didn't look like they made every effort to be thorough in their "admission" process, you or some other parent is going to sue them.

It's called CYA, and unfortunately, thanks to the litiginous nature of the world today, everyone does it.

 

[golfgal]

HIPPA laws do allow dr's to share information. If your child ended up unconscious in the ER and they had all that information they could contact your child's dr and get any background info needed. Besides, wouldn't you WANT your dr involved in her care even if it is long distance. As for getting his address, etc. it is one way to verify they have the right dr, the right information. There are plenty of dr's with the same name.

As for the insurance information, they most certainly can contact your ins co without your card being present. They take a copy of your card to keep in the file but they can call the ins co with just your number. They do this so they know what is covered and what is not. Say your insurance covers a CT scan but not an MRI wouldn't you want them to do the CT scan vs the MRI or are you ok paying $1500 out of pocket for the MRI knowing that the CT scan would have been fine and you wouldn't have had to pay anything??

As for your other child's needing the vision and hearing info, yes, some people WILL send their kids to camp with various issues and not tell the camp.

I am at a loss why you wouldn't want the camp to have as much information as possible if something happened to your child?

 

[englishteacha]

I'm a camp dean and a camp counselor. I just got back yesterday from a week at camp. (it was so rainy!) We get kids from all over Maine. Sometimes, they get sick. We have taken kids to a local doctor's office when they've been sick but not needing urgent care. We had a camper a few years ago who developed strep throat. That's not an ER thing. She ended up going home due to the strep, but if it had been less serious, she could have stayed at camp. Having that info was useful to the doctor.

I've also had parents not fill out the health form completely, and refuse to disclose things about their child. We had a camper come to camp with ONE hand. No where on her health form did her parents mention that she had only ONE hand. Would have been nice to know, don't you think? We have had campers arrive who have mental/emotional issues like ADD, depression, etc., but the parents don't share that info with us because they're afraid we'll treat their child differently. We treat all kids with love and care! If we know they have an issue, we can plan for it to help the child have a good week. If we don't know, then there can be more problems.

I know the forms are ridiculous, but they can be useful to a nurse/camp staff. I have to fill them out for myself as a volunteer, along with reference forms, background checks, and about 12 other pages of paperwork. Blech.

 

[clh2]

My DD has been to many camps...both day camps and overnight camps. I definitely feel your pain on the paperwork...and wouldn't it be nice if there was one stinking form that could be filled out, photcopied and sent to each camp???

I am in Wisconsin, and we have the 24-month rule for having been seen by a physician for overnight camps, and there is a simmilar rule for daycare. This just doesn't bother me at all. It, in a way forces me to get the appointments in. Next Friday - DD has a physical specifically to get her high school sports-physical paperwork signed.

And - for needing the dentist's name...I put in the orthodontists name instead - and clearly indicate it is her orthodontist. I'm glad they ask! What if there is a problem with her braces??? Besides - the orth has the regular dentist name too.

I HATE all this paperwork too. Really hate it. In the coming weeks - i've got to fill out essentially the same info for a leadership camp, a high school church youth group trip, and her high cross country info. And in August, I will be filling out the same gosh darn info for high school that I filled out last year.

I am not able to be at all these functions/places...if something happens to my daughter, I want whoever is in charge to have the most current contact/health/insurance info available to them.

And...I will tackle this from another point of view...I was a coach for a high school group in May, we went to a competition that was 14 hours away. I had one girl who had a peanut/treenut allergy. While I am glad there where not a need for this information- I did have it available, as well as the info for the rest of the team. The girl's mom showed me how to use the epi-pens, and fully informed me what needs to be done if there was a problem. All team members knew of the peanut allergy as well as if they were not by me and there was a problem to call 911.

I could go on and on...the forms ask you for what you think are stupid questions. The forms allow for this information to be asked in a consistent manner, so that if the camp directors need to find something quickly - they know exactly what they are looking for.

 

[Kallista]

Both my girls leave for camp tomorrow. I am finishing up their forms. It just boggles my mind why they feel they need some of this information, especially the medical related stuff.

DD13 is going to camp 5 hours away. They want the name, address and phone number for her doctor and her dentist. WHY? The doctor isn't going to talk to you because of privacy laws if you call. Why do you need the dentist's address??? If she has a dental problem you aren't going to drive here 5 hours here to have it fixed! You are going to call me to come and get her. And with all the medical things, if the nurse can't fix it then either I am coming to get her, or you are calling 911 to get her to the ER. They don't need that info either between the time she gets there and when I get there.


DD9 is going to the local GS camp 20 minutes away. They want a complete physical (within the last 24 months) form filled out and signed by the Dr. Why? Why do they need to know exactly what her hearing and vision were at her visit 14 months ago? I just filled out an entire page that asked ME if she had any hearing or visual difficulties. Do you not believe me? Do you think I am sending a deaf child to camp and not bothering to tell you hoping maybe you won't notice? How does my dr. telling you what the condition of her nose and throat were 14 months ago have any usefullness to you next week? If she needs to be seen in the ER they don't care! I don't take a signed health form to them if she has broken her leg or developed some horrible illness. Camp is 20 minutes away. I will be at the hospital in 10!


And both want the Medical Insurance information-- Name, address and policy numbers. I think the hospital can wait the few hours it may take for me to get there with the card. Heck we all know they won't do a darn thing about insurance unless you show the card and they get a copy. Camp won't be billing my insurance company. Why do they find it so important to have the information? At least the insurance company no longer uses our Social Security number as our ID number.

Sorry, just tired and can't believe I have to answer a whole bunch of inane, useless questions.

Both of these issues are a safety issue for the children. I know those long forms are tedious, but it helps the camp take care of the children.

They need the physical/medical history information so that they can pull it out and hand it to a doctor and the doctor can get a quick overview of the child's medical information. It's very difficult for a doctor when a parent isn't there to answer medical history questions in an emergency. The medical history/physical forms fill in for the parent not being there. In an emergency, they may not have 2-5 hours to wait for you to get there to answer questions. Doctors need definitive "yes" or "no" answers to questions like "Does this child have a drug allergy?" and shouldn't have to wait 2-5 hours to find out.

They need the insurance information because hospitals are not obligated to take non-paying patients. Some hospitals only stabilize uninsured patients and then transfer them to other hospitals. If the camp can't hand the hospital your child's insurance information, the hospital is going to send your child to another location. To me, I really would prefer that my child not be transferred between facilities because the camp doesn't have my insurance information.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The one summer I was a camp nurse, we had a child drown in the pool.

The next 30 minutes were a whirlwind of chaos and I was extremely grateful to the nurse who'd been there the year before me who'd gotten the ball rolling on keeping excellent medical records (and I followed her lead).

After the fire dept took him away, within minutes I had the ER on the phone demanding information about the child, ie what we in the medical profession generally refer to as "report". What was his name, address, parents names? What was his past medical history? Allergies? What medications was he on? Bam, bam, bam. They needed the information right then and there.

Please, I know it's a chore, I have to do it myself. But if there's a medical emergency, it needs to be there.

 

[merryweather20]

But that doesn't explain why they want the address?

Some Dr's have the same name, and some parents don't spell the name of the Dr correctly and other parents don't print neatly enough so that you can guess the correct spelling of the Dr's name. In an emergency all they have to do is type the name of the Dr into their database and choose the one with the correct address (at least thats how it works in Canada).

I love my Dad dearly, but if the Dr's office called he would never distinguish between my ped Dr Smithson and my specialist Dr. Smithenson. And thats my Dad who knew both Dr's he would still leave a message that said call Dr. Smith~insert scribble~. Do want to try that with 100's of campers?

The general idea is for them to have a safe, happy, camp experience, and to never ever need the inforation on the forms, but every piece of information on their could save time in the event of an emergency. They consider that filling out a few pages is a small price to pay to speed things along in a life threatening situation. And it is.

I'm allergic to a medication, and I shiver as a side effect. This is something that my Mom didn't see as being of note (and she's someone who is very diligent in filling these things out)but my Dr included it as part of my medical history for such a form. It ended up being pretty helpful. Sure my Mom could have told them when she got there 20 minutes later, but do you want you kid to wait 20 minutes, when their health is on the line?

 

[disbridemimi]

Are you joking? It seems pretty obvious why they need all of that, since your kids are in their care. If there is a medical emergency, they need alll info and all contacts they could have to make sure your child is ok. Safety first!!!

 

[Oh Kay!]

In NY, camps and schools are required by the state Health department to have the complete medical forms for all campers/students. The state inspectors randomly come out to check the paperwork. I am sure other states have similar requirements.

 

[CajunDixie]

We had to fill our similar info for my 4 yo daughter for Day Camp....which is 10 minutes from where I work. I would probably get to her before the stinkin ambulance god forbid something god that bad. I feel your pain about the medical forms!

If your ambulance service is so bad why don't you do something about it? And if you did get there first do you have emergency medical training?

Both my girls leave for camp tomorrow. I am finishing up their forms. It just boggles my mind why they feel they need some of this information, especially the medical related stuff.

DD13 is going to camp 5 hours away. They want the name, address and phone number for her doctor and her dentist. Some parents see camp as a babysitter and tend to disappear. The doctor contact is needed to gather health history in a timely manner. If the transport to the hospital is lengthy the crew can give the info to the ER who in turn can call the Dr. When the ambulance arrives they could have a good history already. The address is needed as here I know we have a set of brothers and a father/son that are doctors with the same last name. WHY? The doctor isn't going to talk to you because of privacy laws if you call. Actually they will. Several factors would allow them to share info such as the patient is unable to relay information or the patient is a minor we can use implied consent. Why do you need the dentist's address??? If she has a dental problem you aren't going to drive here 5 hours here to have it fixed! You are going to call me to come and get her. Depends on the problem. If she's injured they'll call an ambulance and again the dentist can be called to meet ambulance at the ER. Saves time and get the patient the definitive care in the golden hour And with all the medical things, if the nurse can't fix it then either I am coming to get her, or you are calling 911 to get her to the ER. They don't need that info either between the time she gets there and when I get there. We do here as some of our camps are 15 minutes from the hospital. We can make quite a few calls along with the ER to get your child the quickest possible patient care possible.


DD9 is going to the local GS camp 20 minutes away. They want a complete physical (within the last 24 months) form filled out and signed by the Dr. Why? Why do they need to know exactly what her hearing and vision were at her visit 14 months ago? I just filled out an entire page that asked ME if she had any hearing or visual difficulties. Sometimes the "office" area gets one form to share with the counselors while the "Nurses" office gets the more detailed sheet to send with the ambulance Do you not believe me? Do you think I am sending a deaf child to camp and not bothering to tell you hoping maybe you won't notice? Actually parents do this! We had one child that went to scout camp that wore a headset hearing system that he couldn't wear to sleep in. At scout camp adults (unless its one camper with his own parent) cannot sleep in the same tent as campers. Camp staff can't either. This child's parents refused to go to camp, they wanted him to be treated as all the other kids. We ended up having to get a Boy Scout (teenager) to go to Cub Scout camp to accomadate him at night. It was the same when he swam...no headset so he couldn't hear the whistle or the staff directions while in the water. How does my dr. telling you what the condition of her nose and throat were 14 months ago have any usefullness to you next week? Recent past surgeries can be a very important piece of info so past history is important If she needs to be seen in the ER they don't care! Yes they do as does the ambulance crew I don't take a signed health form to them if she has broken her leg or developed some horrible illness. Camp is 20 minutes away. I will be at the hospital in 10!They can't simply ask if you'll be 10 minutes away 24/7 and then say ok you can skip the forms. What if something happens to you and you end up in a hospital? What if in your 10 minute drive to the hospital you get in an accident? You don't want there to be a delay in care for your child, do you?


And both want the Medical Insurance information-- Name, address and policy numbers. I think the hospital can wait the few hours it may take for me to get there with the card. Heck we all know they won't do a darn thing about insurance unless you show the card and they get a copy.I don't need your card to file anything! The card lets us verify the information if the insurance company comes back in 2 weeks and say you're not a policyholder, then we have a copy of the card as proof. Camp won't be billing my insurance company. Why do they find it so important to have the information? Because some campers are from out of state and they think they don't have to pay their bills....heck even the ones 10 minutes away think that. At least the insurance company no longer uses our Social Security number as our ID number. Don't get too excited about that. Many ask us for it when we call to inquire about our claims so they are still using it daily they just don't tell you.

Sorry, just tired and can't believe I have to answer a whole bunch of inane, useless questions.

I hope that helps you understand why the info is needed. Some parents are just looking for a way to get rid of their kids for awhile and don't care if anyone knows about their child's health conditions and if something happens they care even less if the ambulance or hospital get paid.