Oil Spill Response Training Workshop

The Oil Spill Response Workshop will provide attendees with a broad overview of the oil spill response command structure, human safety training and facility requirements, and “best practices” for oiled marine mammal care and sampling as outlined in the new NMMHSRP’s Marine Mammal Oil Spill Response Guidelines. The workshop will cover the following topics in order to enable stranding network members to better understand issues related to oil spill responses and encourage their involvement in the oil spill contingency planning process:

• Overview of oil spill response and the Incident Command Structure
• Safety training and facility requirements
• Effects of oil on marine mammals and common medical problems
• Steps in oiled wildlife care: Intake processing, care, and cleaning
• Legal aspects: evidentiary data/sample collection, chain of custody procedures
• Area Contingency Planning: getting involved

Presentations and discussions will be lead by Drs. Shawn Johnson and Michael Ziccardi from the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center and California’s Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN). Each attendee will receive a copy of the Marine Mammal Oil Spill Response Guidelines and a HAZCOM oil spill training certificate.

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Media Training Workshop

The Media Training Workshop is designed to help participants learn to “say what you mean, mean what you say, and say only what you mean to say.” The skills learned in this session apply to media interviews, question & answer situations with a variety of audiences, and interpersonal communication. Material covered will include strategic message development, an overview of how the mass media operate, interview techniques, keeping control of an interview or presentation, and mock interview exercises (including a video camera).

This workshop will enhance communication skills to help participants make the best of positive interview opportunities as well as handle difficult situations more successfully. The same strategies and techniques can be used whether addressing a community group, working with college students, talking with surfers on the beach, or being interviewed by a wacky local radio personality, Katie Couric on the “Today” Show or Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes.”

Please come prepared to answer the following questions:

• What are the three most difficult questions you’ve been asked in an interview?
• What do you think is the most important thing for people to know about the Stranding Response Program?
• What question(s) would you like to be asked in an interview?
• In 60 seconds or less, explain what you do and how it’s beneficial.

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Prescott Grant Program Training Workshop

The John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program (Prescott Grant Program), run by NOAA Fisheries, offers competitive annual awards of up to $100,000 to eligible stranding network members for response, rescue, and rehabilitation of marine mammals or scientific research conducted on stranded marine mammals. Many conference attendees are past recipients of Prescott Funding, or may be interested in applying for money in the future. This workshop will cover the following points of interest to applicants and recipients alike:

• Writing the best possible application: advice from reviewers and program staff
• The Ins and Outs of progress and financial reports - format, content, timeline, and more
• Overview and demonstration of new electronic systems for grant applications and management (grants.gov and Grants Online)
• The future of Prescott: what's coming in FY2006 and beyond
• Q&A with the program staff

Presentations and results from this workshop will be posted on our website after the conference for your reference.

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Incident Command System (ICS) Training

The ICS orientation and tier I training will provide an initial introduction to ICS for those who will be taking advanced training in the fall of 2005 and for those personnel who will work in a support role during a marine animal emergency at the site or who will work in a support role from an off-site location. This training will review the ICS structure, basic terminology, and common responsibilities in addition to introduction to specific duties under several scenarios: oil spill response (see companion training session), mass strandings, unusual mortality events, and other emergency situations. This training will provide information on the stranding network's roles and responsibilities in coordination with federal, state, local, or private partners and the roles of such partners in each level of response.

• ICS structure
• Incident Facilities
• Incident Action Plan
• Responsibilities
• Situational response applications and simulations

Presentations will be tailored to NOAA emergency response situations and emphasize coordination with other Federal or State response plans or contacts.

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The National Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Database (MMHSRP) Training Workshop

The National MMHSRP Database is a restricted web-based application that allow marine mammal Stranding Network Participants and NMFS Regional Stranding Coordinators to enter their Level A and rehabilitation disposition data from their web browser. The purpose of this training workshop is to provide guidance on the new features that have been added to the system. Attendees will learn how to obtain access to these new components as they navigate through the various system links. This workshop will cover the following topics:

• Oracle Discover: Querying Data on the Marine Mammal National Database System
  Learn how to set up the connection to Oracle Discover; perform basic and complex queries to obtain marine mammal data; customize reports; store queries for reuse; and set up queries that require the user to enter parameter(s).
• Storing Movies in the Marine Mammal Database
  Learn how to store movies in the national database that can be downloaded to the PC.
• GIS Component: Plotting Marine Mammal Lat/Long Data
  A demo of the GIS component will be given using ARCView GIS. A query will be developed using marine mammal data and plotting the lat/long coordinates real-time on a map.
• Marine Mammal Tissue Bank System
  A demo will be given that focuses on the marine mammal tissue request and submission processes as well as querying the tissue bank records.
• Level A on a PDA and Downloading into the National Database
  One or two volunteers from the audience will be able to enter Level A data into a PDA and download into the national database.

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