What is the Person-On-Duty (POD)?

• The Person-on-Duty (POD) policy is a Swim Ireland directive. A parent must be in attendance, on duty, for each scheduled swimming session. Swimming sessions will be cancelled if there is no POD.
• A roster of POD is emailed during the last week of every month for the following month. It is the responsibility of the parent rostered to arrange a swap with another parent if they are unable to be present at their appointed time.

The POD should:

• Find an alternative in the event they are not able to attend; it is the responsibility of the person scheduled to be on duty to do this. 
• If unwell before arriving on deck, contact the POD  admin immediately.
• Arrive at Kilcornan 20 minutes before the session to assist with pool covers and lane ropes.
• Be in full view of the pool.
• Remain on deck at all times.
• Be aware of children leaving and returning to pool, e.g. a child should return to the pool after visiting the toilet.
• Allow the coach/teacher freedom to get on with the session – sometimes coaches or teachers need to give feedback to individuals on one to one basis, this should be in open view. 
• Attend to any swimmers who might sustain minor injuries while wearing provided rubber gloves and using first aid supplies from the Bluefin First Aid Kit.
• Contact the parent of any swimmer who is unwell or needs to be collected. Contact lists are kept in the POD bag.
• Record any incidents on Incident Report Forms located in the POD folder.
• Take note of any problems that occur – refer any issues directly to the coach or teacher in charge of the session or, if not possible, to the Children’s Officer or Club Secretary. 
• In cases of emergency, help the coach/teacher by being an extra adult to supervise children or to assist with a response to the emergency
• Person-On-Duty cannot leave the premise until every swimmer from their allocated session has been collected. 

No person on duty

• It is a breach of Swim Ireland rules to not have a person on duty for Swim Ireland sessions, either pool or dry land activities. If a person on duty does not turn up the coach/teacher should take the best courses of action to ensure the safety of the young people and themselves, this may mean cancelling the session unless a replacement is found. 

Queries or concerns, please contact Milena at PIA.bluefin@gmail.com