Emergency Contact/Medical Info forms for Students

[deletedoldnotanymore]

Hello, This fall my high school is doing A Midsummer Night's Dream as an outdoors show.  Our school has never taken emergency contact info/medical info from our actors, and we feel that we really do need to start, considering we are doing an outside show.  Does anybody have a favorite form for underage actors, or just a list of things to go on the form?  Thanks!

[StageMgr2Stars]

Check with the Admin at your high school first. They may have a policy against that being disributed to anyone other than themselves. High Schools are weird. I had to get info from kids at a camp once and it was a hassle.

This is my "all purpose" cast contact sheet that has a spot for the emergancy info

[Mac Calder]

I don't know how it is in the US, but in Australia, schools have all the emergency details on file, and that information is given out on an as needed basis. If you are doing a school show, then you will (no doubt) have a member of the faculty involved in some respect, and there is a good chance they will be required to attend all off-campus rehearsals/shows/etc. Talk to that person; there is a good chance that the teacher will know correct proceedure when faced with an emergency involving a pupil on an excursion.

Tread carefully. Your level of responsibility (as far as actors health) is a lot different in the school world than the professional world. Combined with the sensitive nature of medical information, you may face a lot of opposition in your desire to be professional.

[nmno]

I concur with Mac that this is something your faculty advisor should handle.  A student really shouldn't have that kind of sensitive information about another student and DEFINITELY should not bear the responsibility of using that information.

[deletedoldnotanymore]

The information is going to be handled/collected by the school staff members.  We have run into an issue in the past that when someone gets hurt, it is almost always after the time the school office is closed (all shows, most techs, etc...).  And the district won't let us have our adviser have a photo copy of the information in the office.  So we need to collect our own set of the information, with parent consent.

[ReyYaySM]

I concur with the others that you should definitely proceed with caution and let your faculty advisor be the one to collect the info in accordance to school policies.  That being said, here is the young actor medical form that my theatre uses.  It's more extensive than our actor medical form as it includes places for parents names, additional people to contact in case of emergency, and authorization from the parents for the theatre to take measures deemed medically necessary, including taking the child to the ER if unable to contact the parents.  Hope you find this helpful as you create your own form. 

[sievep]

The sensitive topic of Medical Information forms has come up a couple of times, and if anyone out there knows of how we, as stage managers, can collect this information and still be within the boundaries of the HIPPA Act, I would greatly appreciate that information (and this may be a question for a lawyer or HR administrator).  I always worry that by even asking (as we can't REQUIRE) staff to fill out medical information sheets that we may be violating their right to medical privacy, although it may be essential information should someone become severely injured.  I see both sides of the coin . . . .anyone care to weigh in on that?

[StageMgr2Stars]

The sensitive topic of Medical Information forms has come up a couple of times, and if anyone out there knows of how we, as stage managers, can collect this information and still be within the boundaries of the HIPPA Act, I would greatly appreciate that information (and this may be a question for a lawyer or HR administrator).  I always worry that by even asking (as we can't REQUIRE) staff to fill out medical information sheets that we may be violating their right to medical privacy, although it may be essential information should someone become severely injured.  I see both sides of the coin . . . .anyone care to weigh in on that?

If they are over 18 you can certainly ask but they are just not required to answer. I get the info and then keep it only to myself. My assistants arn't even allowed to see it.

[Sarah]

I do the same; I collect the emergency/medical information that production personnel are willing to offer and keep it in a sealed envelope; if it's a small show, I use one envelope per person, but for a huge show I put them all together. I shred all the forms when the show is closed.

[sievep]

I do the same; I collect the emergency/medical information that production personnel are willing to offer and keep it in a sealed envelope; if it's a small show, I use one envelope per person, but for a huge show I put them all together. I shred all the forms when the show is closed.

This is great, thank you for sharing!

[McShell]

Something I do too is actually type, in bold, at the top, "This form is voluntary."

[Cedes]

Two things:
1.  The HS should have emergency info on file, and if so, just write up a waiver form that the parents can sign to release the records temporarily out of the office for use of the show.
2. if there is none, make up a sheet, but have the parent/guardian sign the bottom to authorize you having it...i've run into this before. Both of these worked fine in two separate instances. The most important thing is that the parent(s) are notified; they tend to get a little touchy when it comes to these things at a school and they were not made aware.

[Rhynn]

We have a standard "Authorization to Treat a Minor Card" that I attach to all audition packets.  An actor has to turn one in order to audition--even if the actor is not technically a minor anymore (18, you know).  Crew members have to turn one in before showing up for their first call.

The director (if faculty) or the faculty advisor (if a student director) keeps these cards with her at all times.

[Fallleaves]

I also have run into some of these issues. Yikes, I didn't even know it was technically illegal to ask for medical information. I typically will ask for allergies and an emergency contact for all the actors, I don't really ask for more info than that.

My question is about the contact list. Is it typically distributed to everyone in the cast and all the tech crew and department heads? I honestly wonder about privacy concerns. Is it bad to send it out to everyone?

What I have done in the past is ask all to let me know if for any particular reason they do not want their contact info (cell phone number) distributed and I'll typically write a short "Please keep this information private and for only for ____ show related things"

A little help?

[PSMKay]

There's a difference between contact sheets (for the cast/crew etc) and emergency contact information - next of kin to call in case of medical emergency. This thread is about the latter. (It also hasn't been touched in 6 years but thanks for searching first! Much appreciated.)

Either way, public contact information that goes to the full cast & company vs a smaller circulation document that goes just to director, stage management and PM can be two different documents. A situation with a "famous" cast member comes to mind as a primary reason why, and IMHO you should not be treating your casts differently if they're famous or not so extrapolate that to everyone. Some celebs will request that their agent's number goes on all distributed contact forms, but you'll still want to be able to reach them directly to find out exactly which overpass their bus is stuck underneath.

Emergency contact information should be easily accessible but secured from all but those likely to be present & in charge in a major emergency. After all, it just takes one star-struck snooping intern in the box office and you've got phone numbers published on Twitter.