As summer approaches, many families are enrolling their children in summer camp programs. Our team at Northeast Pediatrics is committed to providing your children and teens with the highest level of care and service available. Many camps and summer programs require health forms. In order to serve you best, we ask that you follow these guidelines when requesting Camp Health Forms to be signed by our pediatricians.
Please read the following statement from our physicians about signing camp medications.
We have had several requests from parents of patients to sign forms authorizing Camps and Daycare Centers to administer various over the counter medications to their children in the event of fever or illness.
As physicians, to give written permission to administer a medication is an agreement to accept the responsibility for the outcome of that action. If we have no information about the condition of the child at the time that the medication is administered, we cannot advise that medication be given or take the responsibility for the consequences of giving the medication. The treatment of fever with antipyretics (such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen) for most children is not an emergency. For children with special conditions for which administration of antipyretics are important, specific orders and guidelines for antipyretic administration do need to be provided by a physician and we will continue to do so.
To illustrate why we are concerned; the administration of antipyretic medication to a child with bacteremia or bacterial meningitis could result in some transient improvement in symptoms, which might lead caregivers to delay seeking appropriate treatment. Delay of appropriate treatment in these diseases could have serious detrimental long-term health sequelae.
We will continue to provide written orders for those medications, which we have prescribed for individual children for specific medical problems. However, if there are medications that you do not routinely administer to your children, please do not request that we authorize the use of those medications as we will not sign non-specific orders for over the counter medication.
Northeast Pediatrics - Main Office
10 Graham Road West -
607-257-2188(Pediatrics)
607-257-5067(Adolescent Clinic)
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Trumansburg Road Office
1290 Trumansburg Rd -
607-319-5211
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