As you may have heard already, beginning in 2009 new State of California regulations governing "organized camps" (California Code of Regulations, Title 17, Section 30751) now require that "all counselors have been trained in the principles of first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation." As with the past two years, we are expecting that training for compliance purposes will be provided on Sunday evening of camp week to ensure that all of our Special Camp aides receive training in both CPR and first aid; however, such training will be abbreviated due to time and resource constraints. Because we feel that it would still be beneficial to have a good number of aides present at camp who are trained and certified in CPR and first aid, and in order to demonstrate due-diligence by JEMS Special Camp to comply with state regulations, we request that this year's Special Camp volunteers consider scheduling and attending CPR and first aid training (on one's own time and expense) if at all possible prior to the start of camp, to minimize the amount of additional CPR and first aid training time that would take away from other preparatory efforts for this year's camp.
Here are some possible avenues to explore for local CPR and first aid training opportunities in your area:
- Volunteer training for emergency preparedness teams at your company or school
- American Heart Association
- American Red Cross
- CPR classes at Sports Basement (free)
- Community colleges
- Online training courses, google "CPR and first aid"
If you are already trained and certified in CPR and/or first aid, or if you are able to schedule and complete CPR and first aid certificated training prior to camp, we request that you please e-mail us a scanned copy of your certificate of successful completion, so that we can offer that evidence as proof of our camp's readiness and compliance to these new state regulations. If you would, please e-mail your scanned certificate (as applicable) to:
If you already received training and certification in CPR and/or first aid in preparation for last year's camp, and if your certification is good through the last day of this year's camp, there is no need to e-mail your scanned certificate(s) to us again; we should already have a copy of your certification on file.
As we are made aware of additional opportunities for CPR and first aid training, we will inform you as we are informed. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in helping our camp to be compliant to the above-referenced state regulations and to provide a safe and secure environment for our Special Campers.