Revision 1: 7/14/21 Page | 3 Collecting phone numbers from each coach will also be helpful if a child becomes separated from
Volunteer Training and Certification: Volunteers must create an account on www.firstinspires.org and apply to the role.
Pit Administrator Updated 7/14/2021 Thank you so much for volunteering your time with FIRST Tech Challenge! Our events would not be possible without you! Physical/Technical Requirements: · Technical Low · Physical Low · Administrative High · Communication High Time commitment: Additional 3-4 hours on top of the event day. · Set-up (The main pit administration volunteers are usually one of the first volunteers onsite to help set up the pit administration area). · During event · Tear-Down Proper Attire: · Wear comfortable shoes, most of the day you will be on your feet. · ANSI Z87.1 certified safety glasses are required in the pit area. Volunteer Training and Certification: Volunteers must create an account on www.firstinspires.org and apply to the role. Upon application, training can be accessed from within the dashboard. A separate confirmation of the role assignment will come later. If you have applied for a role but have not received access to the training, please email FTCTrainingSupport@firstinspires.org. The pit administration volunteer should speak to the event director or program delivery partner to determine if there are any additional requirements, such as meetings prior to the event or run-throughs of the queuing path before the event. The approximate training time is one hour. New! - Pit administrators are required to complete the FIRST Data Protection and Privacy Trainings for volunteers, which are accessible through the Volunteer Dashboard. These trainings provide information about how to handle personally identifiable information that may be received at events. Responsibilities Pit administration volunteers are a vital role at an event. They are usually stationed in the team pit area and end up answering many questions throughout the day from teams, coaches, mentors, and spectators. This role is a fast-faced, customer service role, rather than an administrative role. The event pit administrator is responsible for making sure the event attendees have all the information they need about the event, resources, schedule, and timing. Responsibilities of the pit administration volunteers may vary from region to region, so it is important to check with the tournament director about specific responsibilities on event day. At minimum, this will include: · Greeting teams as they arrive at the event. · Collecting consent and release forms and team rosters (if also in charge of team registration). · Incident reporting o Medical incident report form o Non medical incident report (electronic) · Collect/return lost and found items. · Setup and breakdown of pit area. · Assistance with general inquiries from teams, coaches, mentors, and spectators. · It is an event best practice for all engineering portfolios to be brought to team interviews. Team portfolio responsibility belongs with the judges. Work with the Judge Advisor to create instructions for engineering portfolio collection and help share them with the teams upon check in. Revision 1: 7/14/21 Page | 1 Pre-Event Day Responsibilities To prepare for the event, make sure to speak with the tournament director to see if there are administrative duties that will need to be completed. Printing required forms, putting together team registration packets, or putting necessary paperwork into a file box are ways to help prepare for the event. File box Having a file box ready with all necessary paperwork will help keep the pit administration volunteer organized and help with the flow at check-in. We recommend having the below items in a file box at the event: · Team Roster (teams competing that day) · Blank Consent and Release forms* · Medical Incident Reporting forms* · Non-Medical Incident Reporting forms* · Lost items forms · One-page Game Overview · Walk-on Volunteer Policy & form *Please download the most current versions of these documents here: http://www.firstinspires.org/node/3861 In addition, if available from the tournament director make sure to also have: · Pit Maps · Event Day schedule New! It is now required that pit administrators have a cash box with a lock, or some type of locking container for personally identifiable information. When pit administrators receive team rosters or individual consent and release forms they must be immediately placed in a secure location. A cash box with a lock is the most costeffective way to handle and manage any documents that contain personally identifiable information received and stored at Pit Admin. Event Layout and Schedule Knowing the event layout and event schedule will help keep the overall event running on schedule. Plan to get to the event early to locate: · Where judging sessions are held. · Where robot inspections are being held. · Where the drivers meeting will be held. · Queuing paths for teams. · When lunch will be held, and where to pick up food (if applicable.) · Where workshops are being held (if there are any at the event.) · Where opening, closing, and awards ceremonies will be held. Having a pit map showing where each team is located will be is helpful throughout the event day. Introduce yourself to the Scorekeeper, and ask for a printed schedule for matches, judging and inspection. Tape copies of this to the table surface at pit admin to help answer some of the most frequent questions you will receive. Guidelines for Lost Children FIRST Tech Challenge events can be very hectic, and it can be easy for a child to get lost amongst the shuffle of a busy event. It is important to talk with the tournament director prior to the event to produce an action plan in the instance of a lost child. There are online resources available to help in creating an action plan. If anyone comes across a child that appears to be lost: http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/PDF15A.pdf Code Adam Guidelines: http://www.missingkids.com/CodeAdam Revision 1: 7/14/21 Page | 2 Collecting phone numbers from each coach will also be helpful if a child becomes separated from their team. This information should be on the team roster. The coach/mentor's contact information, preferably a cell phone, should be easily locatable and can be used if the pit administrator is approached by a child who is unable to locate their team. Emergency Response Plan Speak with the tournament director about putting together a venue specific emergency response plan. Having a plan in place will ensure volunteers are prepared in the case of an emergency and can decrease the number of injuries if an emergency arises. Included in the plan should be topics such as: · A map of all the emergency exits · Action plan in the case of severe weather · Evacuation plans When putting together an emergency response plan, it is important to assign specific tasks to other event volunteers. Make sure each person understands their role in case of an emergency to ensure teams and anyone attending the event are directed properly and safely. There are many resources available online to help create a plan, from tips to templates that can be followed. Event Day Responsibilities Consent and Release Forms A consent and release form must be completed by every student, coach/mentor, and volunteer. If team registration and/or volunteer registration are one of the responsibilities for pit administration volunteers, they need to make sure that EVERY student, coach/mentor, and volunteer has provided an accepted form electronically. When received, these should be placed in a secure location or a locked box. Team Consent and Release Forms Review the team roster provided by the coach/mentor of the team. Make sure the person checking the team in is an adult team coach/mentor and not a student. The consent form status column on the team roster will indicate that the consent form is either accepted or incomplete for student team members. All team members must have completed their consent and release form online. When received, these should be placed in a secure location or a locked box. A team might say that their team consent and release forms are coming late with other coaches/mentors on their team. Or a team member may also say he/she submitted electronically but they do not show up on the team roster as "accepted." In these instances, you can: · Provide them with the registration packet (If applicable) -- Do not hand over the driver/coach badges. Explain to the team that the team roster and all consent and release forms must be received before the team can compete. To summarize, any team member that does not have a properly signed form cannot compete and cannot be on the playing field. If an (under 18) student has not submitted a form, have their parent/guardian complete one on site or contact them to complete the form online. If there are any disputes, call the tournament director or program delivery partner for assistance. Volunteer Consent and Release Forms Each volunteer participating in the event must submit a consent and release form. Use an attendance checklist (provided by the tournament director if available) to ensure that each volunteer has accepted the consent and release forms. If the volunteer is under 18, they must have a parent/legal guardian complete this form before they can volunteer. Once received, these documents should be placed in a secure location or a locked box. Medical Incident Reporting Procedure Pit administrators are not responsible for diagnosing students, handing out medication, or first aid equipment. Pit administrators should refer medical issues and emergencies to a medical professional on site, such as an EMT. If an incident or illness occurs at an event, the Pit Administrator should do the following: · Call 911 if there is any question that the injured person/persons require medical attention. Revision 1: 7/14/21 Page | 3 · Respond to the scene immediately. Bring a clipboard, pen, and an incident report. · Complete the incident report for the injured party. · Give the completed form to the tournament director so he/she can fax it to FIRST. The fax number is located on the bottom of the medical incident form. Pit administration volunteers will be the incident reporting person and will be responsible for completing incident reports. It is important to be available within the pit area during the periods the event is open to the teams, volunteers, and the public. Designate another trained volunteer to be the incident reporting person if at any time the pit administration volunteers must leave the pit area. The incident reporting person should: · Be calm in an emergency and can talk to witnesses without assessing fault. Can communicate with the insurance company if necessary. · Have clear, legible handwriting when filling out the form. Fill it out completely. · Once completed, place the form in a secure location or a locked box. Although most incidents will not result in a claim, it is better to act on the side of caution and report them. Should an incident result in a claim after the event, the documents will be on file, complete with witnesses and a written report. Important: In all conversations with the injured, witnesses, spectators, and media always say "the incident is being investigated" without any further comment. Do not imply liability or any payment, as no one knows for sure until all the facts are known. Non-Medical Incident Reporting Procedure Report anything that happens during an event that should receive attention because it made a volunteer, team member or spectator feel uncomfortable or threatened. If anyone states that they feel threatened because of verbal abuse, inappropriate contact, or other negative behaviors, speak up and volunteer to fill out a report with that person. Call the affiliate partner or tournament director if a situation arises that involves harassment or a threatening situation. They will provide guidance. An electronic Non-Medical Incident Report form can be found by following this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/nonmedicalincidentreport Safety Glasses All volunteers, teams, coach/mentors, and spectators are required to have safety glasses while in the pit area. It is important to watch for anyone entering the pit area without safety glasses, and to ask that they not enter the pit area. Some events will have volunteers staffed at the pit entrance with spare safety glasses to pass out. Other events may not have spares to provide. Speak with the tournament director to determine if there will be spare safety glasses on event day. If not, produce some talking points for those who try to enter the pit area without them. Redirect them to the competition area where the action is happening or point them to other activities that are happening at the event. Practice Fields Many events will have a field set up in the pit area to practice prior to qualification matches. This gives a team the opportunity to make tweaks to their robot prior to competing. Work with the tournament director to determine if the event will have practice fields, and how they will be run. Most events will run the practice fields on a first-come, first-served basis. If there will be practice fields, print out a sign-up sheet prior to the event. These matches may be scored, but these scores do not affect overall team rankings. If you are volunteering at a multi-day event, consider closing the practice fields 15 minutes before the pit area closes. This encourages teams to leave and pack up for the day. Pit Announcements At some events, there may be a PA system set up to allow the pit administration volunteers make important announcements to teams in the pit area. This is an effective to communicate with teams when matches end Revision 1: 7/14/21 Page | 4 and lunch begins, a reminder when matches are resuming, or if matches are running behind schedule. This is a great tool to use to keep the teams informed, however refrain from using a PA system for: · Birthday Announcements · Lost and found items · Thank You's (sponsors should always be thanked in either opening or closing ceremonies) If there are too many announcements throughout the day, teams will eventually tune out the announcements, and therefore may miss a vital announcement later in the day. It is a good practice to plan the timing of announcements and limit them to not more than twice in each hour. End of the Day Lost and found items are usually kept in the pit administration area at events, please try to match up the lost items with its owner. Take inventory of what has been turned in and try to match items with lost items sheets that have been filled out throughout the day. Any items not claimed should be given to the tournament director. Once qualification matches are completed, and alliance selection has taken place, teams will often begin to tear down their pit areas. The pit volunteers can begin to tear down their area at this time. At the end of the day, walk away from the event knowing you have done your absolute best to ensure that the event ran smoothly, and teams had a positive experience. Revision 1: 7/14/21 Page | 5 Appendix A Resources Game Forum Q&A https://ftc-qa.firstinspires.org/ Anyone may view questions and answers within the FIRST® Tech Challenge game Q&A forum without a password. To submit a new question, you must have a unique Q&A system user name and password for your team. Volunteer Forum Volunteers can request access to role specific volunteer forums by emailing FTCTrainingSupport@firstinspires.org. You will receive access to the forum thread specific to your role. FIRST Tech Challenge Game Manuals Part 1 and 2 - https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-season-info FIRST Headquarters Pre-Event Support Phone: 603-666-3906 Mon Fri 8:30am 5:00pm Email: Firsttechchallenge@firstinspires.org FIRST Tech Challenge Event On-Call Support The on call event support number is available for event personnel only. Please do not call these numbers if you are a team looking for a ruling, a decision, or assistance. We trust that you will not misuse this resource. Event On-Call Support: 603-206-2412 FIRST Websites FIRST homepage www.firstinspires.org FIRST Tech Challenge Page For everything FIRST Tech Challenge. FIRST Tech Challenge Volunteer Resources To access public volunteer manuals. FIRST Tech Challenge Event Schedule Find FIRST Tech Challenge events in your area. FIRST Tech Challenge Social Media FIRST Tech Challenge Twitter Feed - If you are on Twitter, follow the FIRST Tech Challenge Twitter feed for news updates. FIRST Tech Challenge Facebook page - If you are on Facebook, follow the FIRST Tech Challenge page for news updates. FIRST Tech Challenge YouTube Channel Contains training videos, game animations, news clips, and more. FIRST Tech Challenge Blog Weekly articles for the FIRST Tech Challenge community, including outstanding volunteer recognition! FIRST Tech Challenge Team Email Blasts contain the most recent FIRST Tech Challenge news for teams. Feedback We strive to create support materials that are the best they can be. If you have feedback about this manual, please email firsttechchallenge@firstinspires.org. Thank you! 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