The Moorjock January 2012
The National Water Conference A report by Gary Windswept and interesting in the Peak District st
Saturday the 21 of January was, to steal a line from Winnie the Pooh, a very blustery day! I recognised this from the buffeting of the car while I waited for Andy and Georgina to pick me up from the services on the M62 near Goole. nd The reason for this meeting, and the subsequent drive to Edale team’s base in Derbyshire, was the 2 MRE&W National Water conference. We arrived with just enough time to register and have a coffee and croissant before the start of the conference. The format this year was different from the previous one with formal speakers in the morning followed by a selection of workshops in the afternoon, the conference was kicked off by a return of the penguins from last year! The speakers this year were very good with two of them being very well known and respected in their fields. The first speaker was Ewan Thomas who is Water Officer for MRE&W and the man who drove the development of the water procedures etc that we are now using. The second speaker was Lyle Brotherton, author of the “Ultimate Navigation Manual” and a member of Tweed Valley MRT. He gave a fascinating talk on Satellite Navigation and the use of hand held units. He refused to call them GPS’s and gave a good explanation as to why, hoover vs vacuum is a good example. He further explained how with long term use of them teams can build up an extensive archive of information. Tweed Valley all have personal issue handsets and all put information into them as and when, such as the location of farm gates, field boundaries etc. This information is then passes wirelessly to the teams main map and to everyone else units thus giving them all up to date information. I liked this system and the way it worked while others at the conference had their doubts. There is no doubt that doing this requires a substantial outlay to equip every member with a high end Sat Nav unit but this is Scotland and they get central funding! He finished his talk by demonstrating the use of the hand sets and Google earth when performing water margin searches. I also bought his book which he signed! The next speaker was Professor Mike Tipton, which is a name I didn’t recognise, however when I saw him I recognised him instantly as someone who’s been on the telly! He is a based at the research centre in Portsmouth that do all the naval and other research into the effects of cold water among other things. Think people been lowered into very cold water attached to all sorts of sensors and you get the idea. He did a section on the effects of cold water immersion which was very interesting, he also stayed for most of the day giving people the chance to chat 1 on 1. The other speakers talked about weirs and weir safety and Ogwen Valley MRT’s fatal incident protocol that has been adopted with all the teams in North Wales. After a lovely buffet lunch the afternoon was taken up with workshops, I went to three in total; these were Water Search Techniques, Water Rescue from Vehicles and The Next Five years. Due to the very strong winds and at times torrential rain the rescuing from vehicles was held inside! Now their vehicle bay is a little like ours, but on steroids! The shutters are twice as tall and twice as loose, the noise they were making in the wind meant that this session was held at shouting level that said it was good to have the techniques involved in vehicle rescues reinforced. There isn’t much else to say about these workshops here apart from that they were all very interesting and valuable. The ‘next 5 years session’ was good as I was able to add to the suggestions made by other delegates, which will steer the way in which the national water policy will go. The day finished with a final round of thanks and applause then we all piled into the cars and whisked our way home again, I fell asleep before we reached Sheffield and woke up on the M62 which made for a very quick trip home. Thanks to Andy for driving and the date is already set for next year. I would say that these conferences and national training days are well worth attending. If you are interested in water rescue then let the training officer know and get yourself there. Oh yes the penguins, you have to see them for yourself so just go to YouTube and search for Penguin Dilemma. Choose the one that says translation! But be warned it does include strong language but it’s very funny and you never know you might recognise someone.
-2What have we been up to since the last newsletter?
Activities in January • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
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1 January – Support to the Scarborough Lions New Year dip th 4 January – Training evening th 9 January – Ops group meeting th 10 January – Training sub committee th 10 January – Cheque presentation from Yorkshire Rose Glades th 11 January – Equipment sub committee th 14 January – Night exercise th 17 January – Talk and liaison meeting with Scarborough NYFRS th 18 January – Training evening th 19 January – Marketing and fundraising sub committee st 21 January – National water conference th 25 January – Committee meeting th 27 January – Band and buffet at the Grapes th 28 January – Cheque presentation from the Masons st 31 January – Callout to recover a fatality in Bransdale
Planned activities in February • • • • •
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2 February – Training evening th 6 February - Training sub committee th 12 February – Medical students visit (David Edwards) th 16 February – training evening th 19 February – Training day
Team web site
Fundraising this month £1,150 from Yorkshire Rose Glades (Picture) £895.35 from the band and buffet at the Grapes Inn £1,470 from the Masons Denison Lodge (No 1248) of Scarborough and their area Provincial Grand Charity (Picture) £230 from the sale of wristbands at at Trailblazer Outdoors Pickering and Go Outdoors York.
Paramo equipment care The new team waterproofs, for those on the call out list, are now arriving and entering service. They are low maintenance but need some care to ensure they protect you and remain serviceable through their life with the team. The main requirement is to keep them clean. We have all been supplied with sachets of Nixwax tech wash and TX direct waterproofing. Both are provided by the sister company of Paramo and are recommended for these garments. They really do work and the key is to wash the garments frequently with tech wash and then waterproof less frequently with TX direct.
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Team fundraising walks 2012 Monthly update
The dates for our first two walks of 2012 have been published as follows: th
Falcon flyer – Saturday 17 March (just over a month away)
The team are looking at sourcing additional stocks to sell on to team members at cost.
Ravenscar coastal half marathon – Sunday 29 April
Please take care of this clothing and it will look after you. Clean kit also shows us in good light with other emergency service and members of the public.
Please put all these dates in your diaries now. Remember we need 13 staff to man the base, control, vehicles and sweep the route before we cover any check points.
Why not try out the Nixwax boot care range for dry feet on the hill?
We also need people the night before to set up the village hall and the equipment needed for each check point.
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We have approached a number of companies for sponsorship but perhaps team members could suggest other opportunities? The Raven Hall hotel is sponsoring part of the costs of the Falcon Flyer and Construction Marine Limited the half marathon. Please advertise the events to friends, colleagues, clubs and organisations. Remember entry fees are refunded if individuals raise more than £50 sponsorship for the team. Entry forms for the Falcon Flyer and Ravenscar half marathon are flying off the web site. We are also advertising with running clubs and walking groups. Let’s hope they all turn into entries. We saw a significant increase in entries for the Saltergate circuit last year let’s see if we can do the same for these events this year.
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National training day 5 May 2012 Plas Y Brenin Please contact Gary for details in the first instance.
-4Notices Peter’s notices
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Message to all Team members, new members, associated members and friends and family. We have, as usual, a very busy fundraising calendar for the year and we do value your support and enthusiasm. I am organising two quite different events where I will need your help. • Rowathon, no firm date for this as yet, expect one of the summer months. • Team display at the Filey Emergency Services Day on Sunday 12th August. Rowathon. I have a "Concept 2" rowing machine at home. You have the opportunity to raise some funds for the team and have a laugh and keep fit too, by helping to row this thing for approximately 15 hours or so whilst collecting donations from the public. The venue is to be decided soon. We expect to row at a pace comfortable to you, this is not a challenge row but an endurance one with as many volunteers taking a turn or two. Friends and families of the team are welcome to have a go as well. Most likely start at 12:00 through to 05:00 following day. May be best to set a target figure for money raised and or a specific item of equipment to purchase. This may encourage people to donate. Your ideas and views are most welcome. Please let me know if you can help so that I my go ahead with the planning. Filey Emergency Services Day Sunday 12th August. All who attended last year’s show will remember how well it was attended by the public and the interest shown in our stand. Well I think we can expand on our profile by demonstrating to the public and the other services some of our techniques and equipment in a live demonstration on the field. I am still planning the scenario, but expect it will take the form of what we do the best a short search a find and carry out to vehicle. This is routine for us but interesting and informative for the public. We will need MJ 51 as control with MJ 53 as troop carrier and evacuation vehicle and of course enough volunteers from the team to make this happen. The crowd will be guided through the procedures over a PA system. All are welcome to help. We will be preforming twice during the event once a.m. once p.m. Please let me know if you can make the day and how you can help. Raffle and Tombola prizes A big thank you to all who have donated generous raffle and tombola prizes so far. Phil, Stuart, Helen & Steve in particular and all others who have also donated. Needless to say we are always needing this type of item, perhaps you have finished playing with a Christmas Present or the one from 'Aunty' could be also be put to good use by the Team!
The trustees of SRMRT have called the A.G.M. for 19.00 hrs on the th 7 of March 2012 at the Rescue Base, Barkers Lane, Snainton. The business of the meeting is to include, but not be restricted to, the presentation of annual reports and the election of officers and trustees. All the following posts are to be elected at this meeting, Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Team Leader, Equipment Officer, Training Coordinator, Members Rep 1 and Members Rep 2 and Public Relations Officer. Anyone wishing to stand for any of the above positions should obtain a nomination form from the Secretary. st The forms will be available from 1 of February, they should then th be completed and returned by the 14 of February 2012. Immediately after the A.G.M. a general meeting of the team will be held to conduct other team business. Agenda items for this meeting should be lodged by 23.59 hrs on st the 21 of February 2012. They should take the form of a title plus a short description of the matter to be discussed. A.O.B. at the meeting will only be accepted if, 1) it is lodged with, and accepted by, the Chair before the start of the meeting (19.00hrs) and 2) it appertains to a matter that could not rightly
I look forward to your replies. Regards to all, Peter Holtby.
have been put on the agenda. Roger P. Hartley Acting Chair
Caption competition from last month What is Gary up to ? Two responses from last month
Where are Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Doc, Happy and Bashful when you need them says Grumpy! Bulk up, grow some hair and I am in with a job next year. Good that I slobber and swim already, so half way there.
Ian Hugill February 2012