June 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 59

ly, those states and localities with
the highest rates of non-medical
exemptions, such as New York and
the Pacific Northwest, correlate
with higher rates of measles infections and outbreaks. For those
states that find it very difficult to
eliminate non-medical exemptions
because of political pushback, parents of children who remain unvaccinated run the risk of being required to quarantine their children
for 21 days if an outbreak occurs in
their community, even if their children have not been exposed to the
measles virus.
The Washington Post recently reported that airlines are considering invoking a rarely used " do not
board " provision to ban people
from flying who have been confirmed to be infected or believed
to have a high risk of not being immune. Public health departments
are insistent that all such measures
may be required to prevent the potential spread of measles to unvaccinated children and adults.

What Measles Mean for
Parks and Recreation
Park and recreation agencies are
rightfully concerned about the
impacts the growing measles outbreaks in the United States may
have on their programs, summer
day camps, afterschool programs
and other park and rec-sponsored
activities where the potential for
exposure to measles could be high.
And no place is closer to ground
zero of the measles outbreak than
Westchester County just outside
New York City.
Dana Mayclim is the superintendent of parks and recreation for
the town of Lewisboro, one of 42
towns and villages in Westchester
County. She is one of three liaisons
from the Westchester Park and Rec-

reation Association (WRAPS), the
local county park and recreation
association, to the county health
department. " The county health department regulates and inspects all
day camps in the county, " explains
Mayclim. " Our 300 day camps are
run by a variety of providers - private, religious and, the largest provider, public municipal agencies.
Every camp provider must attend
their [the county health department]
workshop to get permits. And when
it comes to measles information,
they have been incredibly helpful in
getting us information. It's a great
partnership. They are the gurus of
public health knowledge, which
they share with us, and our local
park and rec association then shares
with all our members. "
Mayclim relays that they are expected to collect, verify and keep immunization records for every camper
who registers for their day camps.
She adds: " We used to accept a
hand-written assertion from parents
on the registration form, but now, we
must have official documentation of
immunization for every child. We
then keep these as confidential records on file at every camp for review
by the health department, if needed,
if there is an outbreak. "
Unlike private day camps and
summer programs that may refuse to admit a child to a camp,
public agency-run camps in New
York cannot deny any child registration. " We can't just pick and
choose who comes to camp, " says
Mayclim. " We are not turning kids
away and our township has not refused any kids. However, we are
requiring rigorous documentation.
Every child must be accounted
for, and we must show diligence in
seeking their immunization record.
If they are foreign-born and they
have no immunization history, we

must document that, too. So, we
don't turn anyone away. However,
if there is suspected or confirmed
exposure, the health department
will require quarantine of any unvaxxed kid for 21 days! "

" Families are really supportive of
what we are doing, and parents
are glad to provide immunization
histories to us. They want to
protect their children. "
It is important to note, Mayclim
says, that they must provide the
same documentation for staff as they
do for campers, something that has
not always been easy to do for older
staff. Right now, they have been focusing on the campers and have not
yet dealt with the issue of volunteers.
Mayclim says that the best part of
a good working relationship with
their county health department is
that they are able to maintain a real-time information check for their
questions and implementation of
any countywide policies. She says
the health department maintains a
24/7 contact line and has been incredibly quick to respond to potential outbreaks.
" Families are really supportive of
what we are doing, and parents are
glad to provide immunization histories to us. They want to protect
their children. Parents are glad we
are doing this to keep their children
safe, " Mayclim says. Responding to
the measles outbreak in their locality has required them to be nimble
and flexible and to be able to respond to changing conditions. " Be
proactive, be prepared! " Mayclim
says, " It just takes one kid.... "
Richard J. Dolesh is NRPA's Vice President of Strategic
Initiatives (rdolesh@nrpa.org).

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June 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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