Camp safety is in the spotlight after flooding killed dozens of campers and counselors in Texas. The state of Maine oversees the licenses for 168 summer youth camps and inspects them every other year to assess safety, sanitation, how food is prepared, and health.
The state just updated its regulations for camps in May for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Jennifer Jamison is the Associate Director of Community Health at the Maine Center for Disease Control. She said the biggest change to the camp safety section was for active shooter training. But she said her biggest concern this summer is heat.
"Based on climate change, I think it is the heat advisories," Jamison said. "The Maine CDC sends out advisories to the camps to let them know there's going to be excessive heat and what to monitor and when children need to be seen."
Maine's camp regulations also require emergency plans, communications protocols, and staff training.
Cullen McGough is Communications Director for Chewonki summer camp and school in Wiscasset.
"The biggest risks we have in this part of the country is a high wind event or a thunder or lightning strike," he said. "The risk of trees falling or limbs falling out of trees is probably the single riskiest that can happen in a Maine summer camp environment."
McGough said Chewonki uses an internal alert system for staff and outdoor bells and alarms to call children inside.
He said wilderness trip leaders are additionally required to have an Educational Trip Leader permit from the state that covers risk management, weather, safety and first aid.
State regulators and camp operators are reviewing disaster plans and communications protocols in the aftermath of the Texas flooding.