Free Camp Medical Form Template (and Who Should See It)

On the first morning of camp, a parent leans across the check-in table and says, "He's allergic to peanuts. It's on his form." What happens next depends on where that form is. In a binder in the office? In an email attachment? Or already in front of the nurse and the kitchen?

A camp health form has two jobs. It has to get complete, honest answers from busy parents, and it has to put those answers in front of the few people who need them, quickly, without showing them to everyone else. This guide covers both, with a free template you can download at the bottom.

What to ask

Most camp health forms cover the same ground. Ask for what your staff will actually use, and leave out anything nobody will read.

• Allergies. Food, medication, insect stings and environmental. Ask what the reaction looks like and what to do about it, not just the name of the allergy.
• Medications. Name, dose, time of day and what it is for. Ask whether the camper takes it on their own or needs help.
• Conditions staff should know about. Asthma, diabetes, seizures, heart conditions, anything that changes what the camper can do or what staff should watch for.
• Dietary needs. Kept separate from allergies, because the kitchen needs this list and the nurse needs the other.
• Activity limits. Swimming ability, recent injuries or surgeries, anything that affects the ropes course or the lake.
• Behavioral or emotional notes. Worded gently: "Is there anything that would help us support your camper?" gets better answers than a checklist of diagnoses.
• Doctor and insurance. The physician's name and phone, the insurance company and policy number.
• Emergency contacts. Two adults with phone numbers, and who is allowed to pick the camper up.
• Permission to treat. A signed statement allowing first aid and emergency care if a parent cannot be reached.

Keep it short for parents

A parent with three campers will abandon a four-page form halfway through the second child. Three habits keep it bearable.

1. Ask a yes or no question first, then the details. "Does your camper have any allergies?" If no, the parent moves on. If yes, a details box appears. Most campers answer no to most questions, so most parents see a short form.
2. Ask family questions once. Insurance, the family doctor and the permission to treat are usually the same for every child in a family. Ask them once per family, not once per camper.
3. Reuse last year's answers. A returning camper's doctor and allergy list rarely change. Show last year's answers and ask the parent to confirm or update them.

Decide who sees what

This is the part most camps skip. Health answers are the most sensitive thing you collect, and by default many systems show every answer to anyone who can log in.

Write that table for your own camp before you build the form. It tells you which questions to group together, and it gives you a clear answer when a parent asks who will see their child's information.

Collect it before camp, and keep it current

• Put the health questions inside registration, so a camper cannot be registered without them. Chasing forms in June is the most avoidable job in camp.
• Let parents update their answers up to a cutoff date. A new medication in May should not need a phone call.
• Send a reminder two weeks out asking parents to check that the health information is still right.
• Ask again at check-in: "Has anything changed since you filled in the form?" It takes ten seconds and catches the thing that matters.
• Decide how long you keep health records after camp, write it down, and tell parents. Your state or accrediting body may set the minimum.

How to build this in Regify

1. Add the questions. On your event's Questions page, add each health question for every camper. You can type what you need in plain words ("ask about allergies, and if yes ask for details and what to do") and Regify drafts the questions for you to review.
2. Add the follow-ups. Set a details question to show only when the earlier answer is yes. Parents who answer no never see it.
3. Set what is asked once. Mark insurance and the family doctor as once per registration, so a parent with three campers answers them one time. Emergency contact and authorized pickup adults are built-in switches on the same page.
4. Add permission to treat. Use a Consent question with your wording. Turn on the signature if you want a signed record you can download (signed waivers use the premium rate).
5. Limit who sees it. On the Registrants page, create a Health & Allergies view with your health questions and limit it to the people or roles you choose. Those answers are then left off the main registrant list, exports and the check-in screen for everyone else. Add a Meals view for the kitchen with just the dietary questions.
6. Flag what is serious. In a view, mark a flag such as "Food allergy" as serious. It shows as a red chip, and an answer of "none" or "n/a" does not count.
7. Let parents keep it current. Turn on attendee edits with a deadline, and parents can update answers from their confirmation link.
8. Next year. Copy the event and turn on returning-attendee prefill. Families see last year's answers and confirm or change them. Consent is always asked again.

More on forms is in our guide to questions that only show when they apply, and the full camp setup is on the camp registration page.