11/12/2010: "Oiled Wildlife Free Training"

On Sunday, Nov. 21, Islands' Oil Spill Association is offering a free class for islanders who want to be trained to be an oiled wildlife responder. The Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife requires a minimum of 8 hours training to be certified as an oiled wildlife responder.

If you don’t have a 8-hour certification, you cannot help out with oiled wildlife at a spill until you take the training.

Four of those hours must be HAZWOPER training (Hazardous Waste Operations & Emergency Response, which will be offered again in 2011) and the remaining 4 hours are obtained by taking the Basic Care of Oiled Wildlife class, which will actually be 5-6 hours but well worth the time.

Islands' Oil Spill Association is the only spill response group in the San Juans and the only non-profit, community-based spill response organization in the Pacific Northwest.

Free trainings are offered several times each year on the 3 major islands in the San Juans so if you can't make it to this one, please let them know you're interested and they will put you on a list of folks to be notified of r upcoming classroom trainings, on-the-water oil spill response drills and other related activities.

Class size is limited and pre-registration is required for this class. Please contact them for time and location. If you'd like to sign up and/or be notified of future trainings, please send an email to: iosaoffice@rockisland.com . You can also call the office at 378-5322. For more information about your local oil spill response group, please visit their website at http://www.iosaonline.org/ .