Getting ready for aquatic season this year is different than it was last year — if your facility even opened for the 2020 summer season. So we developed our Aquatic COVID-19 Reopening Plans 2021 document with recommendations and best practices PDRMA members with aquatic facilities may want to consider.

After you review that document, watch, or rewatch, our Feb. 18 Preparing to Reopen Your Aquatic Water Features and Mechanical Systems webinar. In just two hours, you’ll be up to speed on the new demands of a COVID environment. While we continue to monitor the situation closely, this webinar covers current health department metrics and identifies risks of restarting and operating pumps, water features, chemical control systems and equipment unused for a year. The webinar also includes a reopening checklist.

Don’t forget to prepare your lifeguards for the upcoming season, either. Our Lifeguard Vision Screening Program is already underway, so be sure to register with Vizual Edge using the form in our Lifeguard Vision Screening Program document. This program — at no cost to members — identifies lifeguards who need vision correction, so they can address the problem with corrective eyewear before the season starts...

Nothing — not even a pandemic — can stop the creativity and safety observation skills of PDRMA members when it comes to ingenious ways to manage or mitigate risk!

Despite tremendous challenges in 2020, nearly a dozen park districts scored grants last year, ranging from $500 to $2,500, and all focused on minimizing risk and improving safety and efficiency for employees and patrons.

“That’s what our Risk Management Grant and Recognition Program is all about,” notes Tim Lenac, PDRMA Risk Management Services Supervisor. “We know these solutions aren’t all a one-size-fits-all answer, but each year we’re always surprised by the variety of solutions agencies submit.”

Use our Risk Management Grant and Recognition Program Submission Form to apply, and submit it to RMGrant@pdrma.org. You have until Friday, Sept. 3, this year to submit up to two of your agency's ingenious solutions/ideas that you've already implemented or would like to at your agency.

Grant amounts start at $500 and increase in $250 increments up to a maximum of $2,500, determined by the Risk Management Committee. The annual grant fund amount is $15,000

Inspiration can come from anywhere, and you can use the grants to purchase anything from a simple UV light wand to sterilize a gift shop (Rockford Park District, 2020) to a new shed to keep hungry squirrels from chewing on vehicles, causing $4,000 in damage in two years (Champaign County Forest Preserve, 2020)...

Neither lockdowns, nor pandemic, nor winter storms can keep the new Risk Management Review (RMR) from rolling out. We’re continuing to make progress, and you can find the most up-to-date information...

Based on COVID-19’s continued impact, PDRMA has decided to suspend all regional instructor-led training classes through at least August 2021. In the meantime ...