Just a quick update in case you missed last week's meeting.

• The CCGA-P annual general meeting was held in Nanaimo. Another successful year. Three B.C. missions were recognized as standouts, and crews from Nanaimo (Good Friday storm), Sooke (stranded swimmer) and Pender Island (float plane crash) were there to describe their events. 

• Congratulations to Mike Deigan, our latest RHIOT graduate. Mike has been busy on a variety of station projects, including improving training for advanced crew and rebuilding the station website. I hope you've checked it out. 

• Speaking of communication, as always feel free to call or email me or other members of the leadership team if you have any concerns or suggestions for improvements. We rely on your input and great ideas. 

• We welcomed four new members to the station. As always, word-of-mouth is our most effective recruiting tool so please keep letting others know about our rewarding volunteer experience. 

• The annual Safety Audit is complete and we are following up on the recommendations, including the establishment of a maintenance committee to support the boat maintenance officer. Nick, Sean, and Mark are the inaugural committee and are looking at ways to streamline maintenance and improve maintenance planning and record keeping. 

• The audit also noted that some crewmembers have not uploaded their certifications to the SMS system, so JRCC cannot be assured that we have qualified crews. This is why we have set a deadline of December 15 to get your certs into the system. If you need help, let us know. 

• Crew 4 recently assisted Station 33 with a body recovery. JRCC immediately organized a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing for both crews, and Mark White (who has been trained as a debriefer) also made himself available. Please keep in mind that this service is there should you ever need it, and we hope you won't. 

• Next meeting is on December 8. We'll have a guest speaker and a Fabulous Door Prize. 

The November storms are here. Please double-check your gear, bundle up, and keep up the good work out there!

Rob Duffus
Station Leader