During this past week two campers and one counselor, in the same cabin group at Camp Friendship, were sent home on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 due to influenza like symptoms. On July 2, 2009, Robyn Erickson, our Director of Health Care Services, was informed that one of the individuals sent home had a confirmed case of H1N1 flu. Erickson consulted with the physician who made the diagnosis, Friendship Ventures Medical Director and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) who supported our actions to have all campers and staff in that cabin group isolated or sent home on July 2, 2009. Georgann Rumsey, our Vice President-Programs and Robyn Erickson our Director of Health Care at Friendship Ventures have been working closely with the MN Dept. of Health in reviewing procedures and policies to prevent and deal with any suspected cases of the flu. Our camp programs will continue as scheduled at all of our locations.

Friendship Ventures has been concerned with H1N1 flu since the beginning, and continues to take every precaution to ensure that campers and staff are healthy and safe, while still providing a positive camp experience.
· Friendship Ventures is providing to all parents and caregivers information for screening prior to arrival, best practices to reinforce universal precautions and additional updates as we receive them from the MN Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Association of Camp Nurses (ACN), and the American Camp Association (ACA) .
· We are staying informed. We are taking precautions outlined by the MN Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and reinforcing best practices such as hand washing, safe sneezing, and site and facility sanitation.
· Friendship Ventures camps are accredited by the ACA which requires accredited camps to have an established procedure in practice to carefully screen for illness, injury, and communicable diseases.

For more information on precautions and what to expect in the future:
Minnesota Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Association of Camp Nurses