Job Description
TITLE: Lifeguard
REPORTS TO: Director of Swimming Pools
Purpose: The lifeguard will have the primary responsibility of ensuring a safe environment for all participants in and around the school district pool.
Guiding Philosophy of a Palmyra-Macedon Lifeguard
- Focus on safety first.
- Create and enthusiastically be part of a collaborative culture.
- Value collective capacity through job-embedded learning.
- Focus on results and not activities.
- Embrace the model of continuous improvement.
Expected Results:
1. The Lifeguard will create an environment where students, faculty and staff, administration,
and community members are safe by ensuring continuous pool and pool area supervision by:
- Actively avoiding and prohibiting possible distractors.
- Maintaining adequate visual surveillance in positions that provide a clear view of the pool bottom and avoid glare or blind spots.
- knowing and enforcing all pool area rules.
2. The Lifeguard will create an environment where students, faculty and staff, administration,
and community members are safe, focusing on injury prevention by:
- Actively participating in training and drills as required by the District.
- Reading all training manuals, materials, and safety plans provided.
- Wearing attire appropriate to safely meet all lifeguard duties.
- Maintaining constant surveillance of the area of responsibility and avoiding distractions during chair rotation.
- Refraining from personal cell phone use.
- Avoiding lengthy conversations with patrons or others.
- Discouraging extended breath holding and voluntary hyperventilating amongst bathers.
- Identifying and reporting potentially hazardous areas in and around the pool to the supervisor.
- Regulating the use of the starting blocks.
- Enforce diving rules and regulate the use of diving boards.
- Taking breaks to avoid fatigue when properly relieved by another lifeguard.
3. The Lifeguard will create an environment where students, faculty and staff, administration,
and community members are safe when reacting to emergencies, injuries, and other incidents by:
- Intervening in any situation that could jeopardize the health and safety of a person or divert the lifeguard’s attention from general supervision of bathers.
- Following the Safety Plan when responding to potential incidents or emergency situations.
- Using whistle and hand signals for communication as established.
- Maintaining crowd control in the event of an emergency.
- Providing basic first aid and/or CPR until medical assistance arrives.
- Reporting fecal, vomit and blood instances to the supervisor immediately and implementing directed next steps.
- Updating and maintaining daily records, injury logs, illness logs, and other information as requested by any supervisor.
4. The Lifeguard will ensure all parents, students, community members, employees, and all
visitors to the Palmyra-Macedon CSD will experience the Pal-Mac Way by:
- Greeting parents, students, community members, employees, and all visitors with a friendly and helpful attitude.
- Displaying a customer service approach when working with others in person, on the phone, and through electronic communication.
- Being attentive to the needs of all individuals who request their assistance.
- Communicating clearly, both verbally and in writing.
- Utilizing their skills to de-escalate a situation when other people are in a heightened or excited state.
5. The Lifeguard will perform all other duties as assigned by the Director of Physical Education, Athletics, and Community Service or his/her designee.
Lifeguards will possess the following minimum qualities, qualifications, skills, and/or abilities:
- Fingerprint clearance through New York State Office of School Personnel Review and Accountability.
- Current valid CPR training certification.
- Current valid Lifeguard certification.
- Current standard first aid training.
- Physical condition commensurate with the demands of the position.
- Evidence of an open, collaborative style that fosters a sense of teamwork and common purpose.
- Proven people skills and is an effective communicator with a sense of humor. The lifeguard will be positive, approachable, and respectful of others.
- Capable of enforcing regulations firmly and impartially.
- Willing to become an active, engaged and visible member of the learning community.
- A clear communicator in oral and written language, including electronic communication.
- Works collaboratively with other staff members, administrators, students, and parents.
- Uses problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
- Listens first.
Evaluation:
At a minimum, the lifeguard will be evaluated annually by the Director of Swimming Pools
using the district approved evaluation rubric.