Ajax Sleepaway Camp
Emergency Protocols
Emergency protocols are always top of mind for us. Here is everything you need to know about how we prepare and respond.
Fire Safety
Fire protocols & evacuation
Our Approach to Fire Risk
In our current world, fire will increasingly affect more and more populations. Therefore, we must be ready in the event of a fire in the distant vicinity, medium vicinity, and immediate vicinity. We work with the local fire district to establish our internal fire protocols — including cabin fire sprinklers, fire extinguishers and training, a single campfire location (propane campfires only), and regular safety talks.
Fire Drills
Fire exit drills will be held often enough that all occupants are familiar with the drill procedure and their conduct during a drill is a matter of established routine. Drills will be held at unexpected times and under varying conditions to simulate the conditions of an actual fire. Drills will emphasize orderly evacuation under proper discipline rather than speed. No running or horseplay should be permitted.
Evacuation Routes
We are lucky to be in an area that is not a dead end. We have 2 established evacuation routes used in order of preference:
Primary
Down Fryingpan Road to Basalt
Meet point: Basalt Elementary School
Secondary
Take Eagle-Thomasville Road to Eagle
Meet point: Eagle Library
Communication
How we stay in touch
Parent Notifications
In the event of an evacuation, we have an email and text service that will send alerts to all the session’s parents with the evacuation plan and timings. If the Starlink internet fails — which has never happened to us given we have 3 different Starlink internet dishes and two backup batteries to power the dishes in the event of a power outage — we will send communications from the Thomasville Fire Station, which is at the bottom of our dirt road.
Staff Radios
All of our staff carry two-way radios 24/7, which allows us to react quickly in any sort of emergency situation.
Weather & Fire Monitoring
Weather reports found on Open Snow seem to provide the most accurate weather reports for our area, so we typically follow their predictions for rain. For fire, the Basalt Rural Fire Protection District rangers and Marshall keep in touch with us in the event of an emergency.
Severe Weather
In severe weather, campers take shelter in one of the bunk areas, eating porches, tipis, or other structures. If a natural disaster occurs while at base camp, all campers and staff will follow the direction of the director on duty and the natural disaster plan for that building.
Other Emergencies
Additional procedures
Lost Children
If a child is lost, the group in which the child was a part of will immediately be called together. The counselors will immediately call the director on duty at the office and do a brief search of the nearby area while all other campers participating in that activity remain in one designated space. The director will in turn contact all other available staff members and directors to alert them of the situation and ask if they have seen the child. All resources will be put into locating the lost child. The appropriate authorities will be contacted ranging from the municipal police to Search and Rescue. The parents/legal guardians will be contacted to alert them of the situation.
Off-Site Emergencies
If an emergency occurs on a trip away from the base camp, counselors will keep the entire group together, assess the situation, and make all efforts to return to base camp. They will contact the director on duty in the office and report the situation. The director will provide all necessary support and will contact the authorities or parents if appropriate.
Emergency Gong
The gong will continuously ring for 1 minute. This signals an emergency and for all to gather in the base camp area. Children will gather in bunks and bunk counselors will take roll.
Child Abuse Reporting
If child abuse is ever seen by staff, it will be immediately reported to directors, who will then notify the appropriate authorities and parents. Any caregiver or staff member who has reasonable cause to know or suspect that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect will immediately report such fact to the county department of social services or local law enforcement agency. Each staff member is required to read and sign a statement clearly defining child abuse and neglect pursuant to state law and outlining the staff member’s personal responsibility to report all incidents of child abuse or neglect according to state law.
Further questions?
Please feel free to ask further questions — we are happy to talk through anything.