Safety Measures
At Antiochian Village Camp, safety comes first. We take great care that our facilities are maintained, safe and clean. Our staff go through extensive staff training (2 weeks for counselors, 3 weeks for support staff) to ensure that they are prepared for whatever happens at camp. Click on each item for more information.
All year-round and summer staff are required to complete the FBI Fingerprinting Background Check, Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance, and the Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Background Check.
All year-round and summer staff are certified to perform First Aid and CPR and to use an AED if the need arises. This is part of our annual staff training.
If an emergency occurs, the bells are rung according to what type of emergency it is. 2 rings = lock down (active shooter); 3 rings = fire; 4 rings = take shelter (lightning, hurricane, tornado). We are looking into installing a full security system including megaphones—this is a priority on our dream board.
During summer camp, we have at least one registered nurse on site and 2-3 nurse aids to address any health issues and medical emergencies that campers and staff have. They dispense camper and staff medications twice daily. If further medical attention is required than what they can provide, we take campers to MedExpress in Latrobe to see a medical doctor.
The year-round and summer staff are trained in how to respond in various mental health challenges and crises, and how to provide mental health first aid in a caring and sensitive manner.
We have 2 licensed social workers on Summer Staff who are able and ready to meet with anyone who wishes to do so.
Lifeguard counselors go through extensive training in pool safety, what to watch for in the water, different types of rescues, and more.
Afternoon program counselors are fully trained to operate the archery course, give instructions to campers, proper handling of the bows and arrows, and more.
The challenge course is inspected annually before summer by EdVenture Builders, LLC. The challenge course was installed by Project Adventure in 2001.
- weighted and unweighted rescues
- how to transfer weighted and unweighted belays in case of an emergency
- gear retrieval
- everything the facilitators are trained in
- safety checks with every participant before they climb (helmet, harness, carabiners locked, shoes tied, check in with the participant)
- check the element before use (element, environment, equipment)
- how to set up and take down every element
- how to tie all knots necessary for each element
- record all use of the ropes in the rope log (ropes have a maximum ten year lifespan)
Our maintenance staff perform daily checks of the facilities, ensuring everything runs properly and is safe.
We have our facilities and cabins professionally cleaned throughout the year and before programs and rental groups.
We hire Ivy Oaks to spray our Campgrounds 4 times from May – August for ticks and mosquitos. They also treat for poison ivy, oak, & sumac. They spray the perimeter of our woods around the road, around all cabins, the challenge course, canoe pond, and overnight sites.
Fr. Chris Shadid, Cade Scott, and the summer kitchen managers (Sadie Klotz and Kh. Janet Shadid) are ServSafe certified to run the kitchen and prepare food according to national health standards.
All of the fire extinguishers on site are collected once a year and inspected to ensure that they are fully functional and ready at all times to be used.
We receive our accreditation by the American Camp Association which signifies that we uphold the highest standards for safety and programming in the camping industry. We are visited every five years by a team of accreditation visitors to ensure that we are maintaining these standards for excellence.
We encourage you to visit the American Camp Association’s website for more information about accreditation and to see resources:
If you have any more questions, please call us at 724-238-9565, or e-mail us at office@avcamp.org. We will be more than happy to talk with you and answer any questions you may have!