New Oklahoma law requires emergency action plans for summer camps

TULSA, Okla. — Nearly one year after the tragedy at Camp Mystic in Texas that took the lives of 28 people, including children. Governor Stitt signed a new House Bill 16-75 that requires camps across the state to have emergency action plans in place.

This new law will have camps in Oklahoma work directly with their county’s emergency management teams. It ensures that all camps have emergency action plans that include training staff, evacuation routes and better weather alert systems.

WATCH: New Oklahoma law requires emergency action plans for summer camps

Oklahoma passes new camp safety law

I listened with Scotty Stokes, a father and founder of Oklahoma Firefighters Burn Camp for child burn survivors, about what this means to other parents like him.

“As a father and a grandfather, when your kids go to camp, and mine did when they were younger, I mean you’re worried about them, you’re constantly worried about them,” Stokes said.

“You’re constantly watching things like the weather and making sure they are safe, are they being taken care of, and you may even be contacting that camp. with the implementation of this new law, it makes it a little easier on the parents to understand that these camps have been through a process to prepare for these extreme weather events that occur here in Oklahoma.”

With this new camp safety law, campers and parents across Oklahoma can have peace of mind that precautions to keep campers safe is finally the standard.”

I also spoke with Keaton Forest, emergency management field manager at WSB. This company has taken the initiative to connect camps with their county’s emergency management team. In hopes of making the process go smoother as camps get into compliance with the new law.

“Behind this, what we saw was an opportunity to connect camp organizations with emergency managers through several conversations we’ve had through some camps and as well as emergency managers,” Forest said.

“We’ve noticed that a lot of them don’t have standing relationships. So right now, what we’re doing is doing our best to gather information from both of them and collaborate on making a new emergency action plan for these camps.”

This camp safety law will take effect Jan 1.

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