It has been a while since we last posted. While the end of winter was less than eventful for the Team, our Spring has been busy.
Once again OCEAP members trained up for the annual Float your Fanny down the Ganny in Port Hope. Throw bag training was gratefully provided by the Port Hope Fire and Emergency Services.
This past Saturday we brought on five additional OCEAP members. This adds to the two that joined in April. We welcome these new “unpaid professionals” who give up their time to support their community.
Once again this year, OCEAP members, at the request of the Port Hope Police Service, manned eight of the intersections closed to traffic in advance and during the parade. OCEAP is proud to assist the Police and the Town of Port Hope in any area of Public Safety – We strive to continue to be a trusted Partner in Community Safety. It was a cool day at just below freezing but it was great to see such a great turn out for this 85th annual parade.
Saturday November 20th was our annual Urban Search day. With the help of a local resort, OCEAP members are given the opportunity to train in a realistic urban environment. Members can search under decks, tarps and around houses. Weather was clear and cool with a bit of wind chill off Lake Ontario. Trainers and members did an awesome job – Well done!
Once again this week, OCEAP volunteers assisted with the road closure for the Marquee event. Great weather for this awesome fund raising event for the Theater. OCEAP will be back out next Tuesday for the final show in support of the Port Hope Police and the Town of Port Hope.
OCEAP members assisted Port Hope police and the Town of Port Hope in maintaining the road closure in support of the Capitol Theatre – Tuesday under the Marquee. Shout out to Dreamers Cafe – Thanks!
OCEAP members volunteered over four days at Victoria Park in Cobourg in support of the Cobourg Highland Games. This event also raised funds in support of OCEAP. Thanks to all our members who gave their time and skills to help out.
The Cobourg Highland Games held a Pop Up Patio at Victoria Park in Cobourg. OCEAP has worked with the Committee for a number of years providing support and joining forces as a fundraiser for our Team.
Members provided support for entrance and exit control as well as running the bar on the Committee’s behalf. Thanks to all our wonderful members who helped out at this event and thanks to all who attended.
With the easing of COVID restrictions in Ontario, OCEAP members were once again allowed to train together. It was a very warm day with lots of mosquitos on the trails. Members reinforced their core skills by undertaking rapid trail sweeps and standard grid searches. Additional skills covered included medical evacuation and a navigation segment.
Our first opportunity to train in 2021 with the COVID-19 pandemic still looming in the background. With our region currently in Yellow zone, we were able to get our members out for critical practice and skill building while maintaining our COVID protocols.
Our training was broken down into three main segments – 1) Throw Bag Training, 2) Search skills including crime scene preservation, and 3) Medical evacuation.
Throw Bag Training
We want to express our thanks to the Port Hope Fire and Emergency Services for sending us three of their members to demonstrate and guide Throw rope training to our members. While we won’t need it for Float Your Fanny down the Ganny this year – these are important skills for our member while operating near the water.
OCEAP welcomed a number of new members to our Team. Following their online Zoom training, this was their first opportunity to practice these skills in the field. We also began the task of cross-training our members for various roles such as route support, crew leader and supervisor. Great job by all of our members.
