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 non-profit, community-based oil spill response organization that consists mainly of residents of the islands.

IOSA’s “Basic Care of Oiled Birds” training will be Nov 8., on Lopez Island, 10-3:30 p.m. Class size is limited and pre-registration is required.

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.

Email iosaoffice@rockisland.com to register or for more information. You can also call the IOSA office at 360-468-3441.

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, send IOSA an email to be added to the mailing list for future training opportunities.