Illness Prevention & Safety Practices at SSP
In alignment with SSP’s long history of hosting high-exposure group immersions, we strongly recommend all participants are up to date with all immunizations per CDC guidelines, including flu shots and new COVID-19 vaccines as they become available.
To ensure everyone’s safety and prevent pausing operations due to illness such as norovirus, seasonal flu, Covid-19, or other contagious outbreaks, we follow these procedures:
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Reduce exposure:
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- If you have a known or suspected exposure to a contagious illness within two weeks of your SSP trip, be mindful of your potential to be a carrier of this illness to the community (even if asymptomatic)
- Understanding High-Risk Exposure: This means having spent at least 15 minutes in an enclosed space, unmasked and within 6 feet. At SSP, this means:
- Arrival group members who have been in a vehicle or slept nearby
- Work team members who have been in a vehicle or indoors together
- Others who have slept nearby at site
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As symptoms arise:
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- Test for Covid-19 and flu using rapid at-home kits (SSP has these on hand)
- Mask/isolate from others
- Consider being picked up from SSP to recover at home; SSP strongly encourages all parents to have an early departure transportation plan just in case
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Illness response:
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- Each staff team works with SSP’s main office to create a comprehensive hygiene plan based on facilities available, including procedures for responding to positive cases of contagious viruses, isolation spaces, serving food and snacks, meal clean-up, and bathroom cleaning.
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- If someone becomes symptomatic or tests positive for a contagious illness at SSP, that person will isolate. Others who meet High-Risk Exposure criteria will test regularly and mask indoors for the remainder of the week to prevent spread during the incubation period.
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- Please notify SSP staff of any known illnesses in your volunteer group that arise within 48 hours after leaving the program. This helps us identify follow-up testing for staff and any exposed community members as necessary.
Contact us with questions: Info@SierraServiceProject.org