It's Camp Sweat-a-lot

On hottest days, campers trade sports for cooler pursuits

CLAYTON -- For the lodgers of Camp Mary Atkinson, the daily routine of life in the semi-rough has been retooled to protect them from this week's sweltering heat.

Facing high humidity, ozone-laced air and temperatures that will brush the century mark through Thursday, counselors at the Girl Scout compound have introduced daylight-till-dusk changes in camp life.

Some strenuous outdoor activities have been dropped, said camp director Jennifer Carter. Instead, time in the camp's pool and lake has been doubled, a misting tent set up and games involving water balloons and wet sponges introduced.

When it comes to keeping cool, dousing with water is good. When it comes to high heat, drinking water is even better.

Campers are asked to down two glasses at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The rest of the day, they tote water bottles everywhere.

"I hate drinking water," camper Lizzy Smith, 12, said Tuesday. "When I leave, the first thing I'm going to do is get a Mountain Dew."

Across the Triangle, camp directors and recreation officials say they have taken similar precautions to protect children and teens from the health risks posed by excessive heat and deteriorating air quality.

That's smart, said Dr. Clay Bordley, medical director of the pediatric emergency department at Duke Hospital. He said children at play often don't notice the signs of dehydration and won't stop to take in fluids. Meanwhile, teens at athletic camps or working at outdoor jobs might skip a water break to prove they're tough or to knock out another section of roofing, pavement or yard work.

"The key is prevention, and the camps really have to be on the ball," Bordley said.

Pediatricians say infants and young children run a higher heat risk than adults because their smaller bodies absorb heat three to five times faster. Children also lack the judgment of teens and adults.

"Children don't necessarily show the early symptoms of heat," said Dr. Christian Nechyba, a Raleigh pediatrician. "While an adult will stop and rest, children will actually get more active. They won't halt their activity until they feel bad."

At the Cary Tennis Center, where more than 500 players are competing in the weeklong N.C. Junior Closed Tennis Championships, tournament officials doubled the mandatory rest break between matches to two hours and set up more water stations throughout the athletic complex, said Linda Smith, a supervisor at the facility. Signs reminding players to drink fluids and eat were also posted.

Despite these precautions, heat cramps struck some players Tuesday. And Monday afternoon, a female player in the 16-and-under division was transported to WakeMed Cary Hospital complaining of heat-related symptoms but was treated and released, Smith said.

At Camp Kanata, a 150-acre compound near Wake Forest owned by the YMCA of the Triangle, strenuous outdoor activities such as horseback riding have been moved to the morning, said David Bell, camp director. During the hottest hours of the day, the facility's 150 day campers and 250 residential campers are either swimming in the lake or watching a movie in the air-conditioned dining hall.

"We are in it, and we are dealing with it," Bell said, noting that the camp's cabins don't have air conditioning but are shaded by tall trees during the day.

In the face of the sweltering heat wave, Bell said counselors have been given a simple mantra: "Hydration, hydration, hydration -- it's making these kids drink water."

At Camp Mary Atkinson, a counselor brought a flush-faced young camper to the air-conditioned infirmary just after lunch Tuesday and told the camp nurse, Alice Rowland, that the girl had vomited.

"Did you get just a little too hot?" Rowland asked. The girl nodded as the nurse led her to a bed. An hour later, after a rest and some ginger ale, the camper had recovered.

Meanwhile, the other campers headed for the pool, where a stereo blasted pop music. There was none of the usual toe-testing hesitation -- all marched down the broad ramp at the shallow end right into the water.

Some beached themselves like overheated crocodiles, part in and part out of the water. Others wanted full immersion.

The heat Tuesday even threatened that most iconic of camp experiences: A fireside s'mores-making session late in the morning was dropped in favor of trying out messy avocado-milk-banana facials with cool cucumber-slice eye covers, all while lounging under the ceiling fans in the airy screened dining hall.

The campers were agitating for a later s'mores session, and they'd probably get it, Carter said.

"I don't know how they'll stand the fire," she said.