Field trip consent forms, filled in properly

The medical section, line by line

For allergies, name the allergen and the reaction, and say whether your child carries an epinephrine auto-injector or an inhaler. "Nuts" is less useful than "peanuts and tree nuts, hives and swelling, carries two auto-injectors". For conditions such as asthma, diabetes or seizures, say what a bad day looks like and what staff should do first.

The emergency treatment authorization is the part parents hesitate over. It is there for the moment a doctor needs a decision and nobody can reach you: DC Public Schools, for example, tells trip leaders to carry the signed forms precisely for cases where a student needs treatment and a parent is unavailable to approve it. If you have a religious or medical reason to limit treatment, write it on the form and talk to the trip leader before the day.

Some forms ask for insurance details. They help the hospital bill the right insurer. If you'd rather not put a policy number on a paper form that travels in a folder, ask whether the trip leader can take a copy of the card instead.

Medicine during the trip

Don't just pack pills in the backpack. The American Academy of Pediatrics' parent site explains that schools need a licensed prescriber's written authorization plus your consent before staff give a medicine, that medicines should stay in their original labeled containers, and that they should pass from one adult to another rather than travel in a child's bag. Trips follow the same rules as the school day.

Ask early which staff member will hold and give the medication, and whether your child may carry an inhaler or auto-injector themselves. If the trip runs past a usual dose time, say so on the form.

Food allergies on trips

The CDC's checklist for teachers asks them, before every trip, to check that the destination is safe for students with food allergies, tell the school nurse, and take each student's emergency care plan, emergency contacts and medication with them. It also suggests inviting parents of those students to come along, while noting that parents cannot be required to attend.

As a parent, you can make that checklist easier to follow: ask what food will be served or bought on the day, send safe snacks, and confirm who will carry the epinephrine and has been shown how to use it.

Overnight and multi-day trips

Read the rooming and supervision details, the rules on phones and curfew, and what happens if a student is sent home early: who collects them and who pays for the journey. Check the payment schedule and whether deposits are refundable if your child falls ill before the trip. If your child needs something at night, such as medication or a medical device, put it in writing on the form.

Trips abroad or across a border

International trips add passports and sometimes a separate travel consent letter. For U.S. groups crossing back from Canada or Mexico by land or sea, U.S. Customs and Border Protection lets citizen children under 19 travelling with a school, religious, sports or cultural group show a birth certificate (an original or a copy), as long as the group carries a letter on its letterhead listing each child's address, phone number, date and place of birth and a parent's name, plus the supervising adult's signed statement that parental consent was given for every child. The details you put on the trip form usually feed that letter, so write them exactly as they appear on your child's documents.

Sources

• HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics): When your child needs to take medication at school
• CDC: Managing Food Allergies in Schools, the role of school teachers and paraeducators
• District of Columbia Public Schools: Field Trips & Student Travel Policy (January 2025)
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Know before you go, groups of children