Whatever the source of supply the drinking water should be tested by the Health authorities before camp opens, and at any time there is any question concerning it. Springs and wells should be cleaned out and the former protected with boards or screening if necessary.
Too much thought cannot be given to the question of the water, as to its purity and quant.i.ty. Children drink a great deal in hot weather and much has to be used for cooking and washing. If there is any danger of the drinking supply giving out, to prevent waste, allow only one or two people to draw water and then only when necessary.
Keep covered tanks or coolers of drinking water in shady places, convenient for the campers. Caution all as to wastefulness and if in case of an emergency there is only a very little, place a counsellor in charge of it and deal it out by the cupful, seeing that all have an equal share. Of course, only individual cups should be used.
Should there be any doubt as to the purity of the water, boil it for twenty minutes, place in earthenware or agate vessels, cool, cover and lower the vessels down the well, or put them in the ice box, or some cool place for the water to get cold.
Water for cooking can be taken from a lake or stream. It is generally boiled.
If the only source of supply is a brook or stream, water for drinking should be taken above camp. All vessels in which it is carried or kept should be thoroughly washed each day.
No camp should remain open if the water supply is not what it ought to be.
If a camp is supplied with running water and plumbing has been installed the location and covering of the tank and the cesspool are important things to consider.
The drain pipes connected with sinks or tubs should be flushed occasionally with disinfectants, the sink drain cleaned daily with boiling water and washing soda.
Marsh land near a camp site which is otherwise desirable, if treated with crude oil or the water drained off by ditches, will not prove a menace.
Latrines
Every camp must be provided with adequate latrine service. One unit for every eight or ten people is considered necessary. The type of latrine to be used will depend on existing conditions at the camp site, but whatever it is the greatest care must be taken to keep them clean. Seats and covers should be scrubbed every day, houses swept and toilet paper provided. Covers should not remain open, and it should be considered a misdemeanor to throw cloths of any kind into a latrine. As a place must be provided for them it is suggested that a small portable incinerator be kept in a closed box stood in one corner of the latrine house, and that the incinerator be removed every day to a near-by open place and the contents burned.
[Ill.u.s.tration: VOLLEY BALL]
Latrines should be cleaned out before camp opens and the ground around them left perfectly clean. As a precaution make sure that no part of the contents is deposited anywhere near camp. If the ordinary out-of-door closet is used, see that chloride of lime is sprinkled in the pit daily.
If a small group is to be provided for in a temporary camp and a latrine must be built, the earthen closet will probably give the best satisfaction. This is made by digging a trench 2 ft. wide, 3 ft. deep and in length 2 ft. for each unit. Over the trench place a box seat 17 inches high, with holes having hinged covers. Bank earth around the bottom of the box and in front of it place a board walk. Protect the seat by pitching a tent over it or encircling it with a strip of canvas 5 ft. high, fastened to posts, the ends of which pa.s.s each other forming a protected doorway. A box of earth and a small shovel should be kept in the tent and every time the closet is used earth should be thrown into it. Lime should be used daily. When necessary to dig a new trench make sure that the old one is properly filled in. A latrine of this kind must not be placed near any water supply.
A type of latrine which is being built on permanent camp sites in the Palisades Interstate Park and which has been developed by the engineers of the Park Commission, is giving such satisfaction that an outline of its construction is herewith given.
Dig a pit in which is built a concrete tank 3 ft. wide, 3 ft. deep at one end, and 3 ft. 8 inches at the other, and 17 ft. in length for eight units, the concrete 6 inches thick.
Build over it a house 6 or 7 ft. wide, the rear and one side wall of which rest on the rear and lower end wall of the pit. The deep end of the pit for 18 inches is left outside of the house. This opening, which must have an adjustable cover, is used when cleaning the pit.
Floor the building to within 20 inches of the rear wall. Cover the opening in the floor with a box seat 17 inches high leaving in it properly made toilet seats, 2 ft. apart from center to center, with covers.
Make four agitators, one for every two units, by fastening a wooden paddle 5 x 7 inches onto one end of a 5-ft. length of 2-inch iron pipe.
Put the pipes through a slot in the seat between the two openings, the paddle at right angles to the length of the seat, and clearing the bottom of the pit by three inches. The agitators are held in place by clamps attached to the bottom of he seat which allows the pipe handle to be moved from side to side. Vent pipes 4 inches in diameter extend from the pit up through the seat back of each cover, and through the roof for 18 inches.
Charge the pit with 175 gallons of water and 240 pounds of Kaustine, a patented chemical compound. By moving the agitator handles from side to side whenever the latrine is used all solid matter is brought in contact with the Kaustine solution and decomposed.
As with all other latrines, the house must be kept clean and the seats scrubbed each day. It is not necessary to use any disinfectants in this type of house, but it should have two doors and windows.
2. FIRST AID
First Aid supplies are a necessity in camp and should always be provided. Some one person must be responsible for them and when possible this person should be either a trained nurse or a practical nurse.
Essential Supplies
Absorbent cotton Sterile gauze Bandages Iodine Vaseline Bicarbonate of soda Castor oil Alcohol and sugar of lead (for ivy poisoning) Hot water bottle Alcohol Aromatic Spirits of Ammonia Epsom salts Small alcohol stove and pan Cascara White enamel basin Towels
The nurse should have a tent or a corner in some building where a table and shelf covered with oil cloth and a bed can be placed and all supplies properly cared for. No one should be allowed to take any of the supplies without her permission.
3. FIRE PREVENTION
It is advisable to have in every camp, pails of water standing in the mess hall, in the kitchen, or in other accessible places, or small chemical fire apparatus to be used in case of necessity. A fire drill is also an essential provision.
Place the indoor camp stove on a concrete base with zinc back of it.
In building the mess hall chimney, be sure that two flues are built, in case one needs to be used for the kitchen stove pipe, as one flue cannot be used for two fires.
4. THE HEALTH WINNER IN CAMP
Before any child is admitted to a Girl Scout camp she should have been thoroughly examined by a competent physician. These examinations should be arranged for by the Local Councils. With very slight effort it is possible to enlist the interest of physicians, particularly women physicians, in making these examinations.
The accompanying certificate (p. 52) is particularly recommended as preferable to an informal statement. This certificate, properly filled out, should be of great a.s.sistance to the Camp Director in safeguarding the health of the Scouts in camp. It must be remembered that young girls are ambitious to do all that their fellows do, and very seldom are willing to admit any physical disability. The responsibility should not be on their shoulders. Camp life subjects each person to quite unusual physical exertion which in some cases may amount to a strain. The things to be especially guarded against are heart disturbances, either functional or organic; painful or too profuse menstruation; flat foot, weak backs and prolapsed intestine. Under-nutrition and anemia will usually be automatically corrected by life in the open and the consequent increased appet.i.te. No child who is markedly undernourished, however, should be allowed to take extraordinary exercise until she has begun to gain.
Before the Scouts start for camp they should be a.s.sembled and inspected in a group by a nurse, or some other person competent to detect body and head lice. No Scout should be allowed to come to camp infested with vermin, and yet this happens repeatedly unless definite precautions are taken. As a rule this cannot be left to the examining physician. If this examination is made as early as a week ahead of the time to start for camp the children"s heads can be cleansed.
To cleanse the head from lice, rub the scalp and saturate the hair with kerosene. Tie the head up in a thick, clean cloth held in place with safety pins. Leave the bandage on over night. After removing the bandage it should be plunged at once into hot soap suds, and thoroughly washed.
Wash the scalp and hair with castile or ivory soap, rinsing thoroughly.
Dry with clean towels. Combs and brushes should be thoroughly cleansed before using. It may be necessary to repeat this process once.
The ideal should be held before each Scout of having her health record while in camp a perfect one. Should any unforeseen trouble arise, however, she must report at once to the nurse or Director.
Whenever possible, sleep with tent sides and flaps up; never with the tent closed except in case of a severe storm.
Indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, headaches, bruises, blisters, strains and sprains, insect bites, sunburn and ivy poisoning are some of the common camp ailments that have to be dealt with.
Observing the Scout Health requirements as discussed in the Handbook, "Scouting for Girls," helps very much in establishing a healthy Scout camp and keeping out of it conditions which are often due to carelessness.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE FIRST AID HOUSE]
XII
FEEDING THE MULt.i.tUDE
1. PROVISIONING