Islands’ Oil Spill Association is offering a free class in November for islanders who would like to be trained to help in the event of an oil spill affecting wildlife. IOSA is the only spill response group in the San Juan Islands and is a nonprofit, community-based oil spill response organization that consists mainly of residents of the islands.

IOSA’s “Basic Care of Oiled Birds” training will be on Saturday, Nov. 8, on Lopez Island from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Class size is limited and pre-registration is required so send an email to: iosaoffice@rockisland.com to register and/or for more information. You can also call the IOSA office at 360-468-3441.

In this class, IOSA will discuss essential primary care needs of oiled birds, including capture, handling and stabilization and give an overview of the logistics of responding to an oil spill in the islands, including the many ways community members can help during a spill. We will also talk about the federal and state requirements for oil spill responders.

IOSA also offers spill responder training for containment/exclusion/recovery, including on-the-water boom deployment drills, several times a year, as well as other classes. So if you prefer to work on the equipment side of oil spill response, or if you want to work with oiled birds but can’t make it to the Nov. 8 class, inform IOSA of your mailing and email address and make sure you receive their schedule of trainings that they send out twice a year. And please check out their website at: www.iosaonline.org. Be prepared before it happens.