Volume 8, Issue 12
| Top of the Hill | Boots and Blisters | Business as Usual:Meeting Minutes | ||||||
| Who's Who and New | Public Relations | Special Notes | ||||||
| Disclaimer/Copyright | Recent Missions |
Calendar |
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| Callout Information |
| Top of the Hill | by Aaron Hall , President |
First, I want to say thank you everyone who has taken the time to tap me on the shoulder and remind me of my responsibilites and to everyone who has helped me carry out those responsibilities. You are tremendous, thank you! I've thoroughly enjoyed being an officer and I would recommend it to anyone on the team. It has truly been a learning experience for me. I learned a lot of things about search and rescue and how Cibola functions, and all the things that I expected to learn being an officer.
I also learned some things that I didn't expect. One of the things that I didn't expect was to gain a new perspective on Cibola's bylaws. I know that the team bylaws may seem like a mundane thing compared to helicopter rescues, hypothermic subjects, and litter hauls down La Luz, but they really are remarkable. I've learned that those bylaws really do influence how this team functions. They define our training and evaluation standards, how people become members, how we run meetings, and how we manage our money. In doing so they also help define our team culture. The bylaws are a living document and our team lives by them. Recently we've made some significant changes to our bylaws. Modifying the land navigation evaluation standard is a good example. It took a lot of time, a lot of discussion, and a lot of thought by the team to make those changes, and that is a good thing. I recognize now more than ever that changing the bylaws is not something to be done lightly. When we change our bylaws we change how we function as a team, for better or worse. Small changes in our bylaws can directly affect how many of our members are field certified in a given year and that affects the subjects. Those same bylaws help insure that every responder that Cibola sends into the field is appropriately trained and that their skills are current. The teams bylaws are a powerful thing and, as a departing president, I encourage every member of this team to pay attention to those bylaws and to think carefully about how they impact the operation of our team.
| Boots and Blisters | by Steven Buckley, Training Officer |
| Business as Usual:Meeting Minutes | by Joyce Rumschlag, Secretary |
President's Report
Aaron Hall called the meeting to order with the introductions of those attending. Four new people were welcomed. He continued with the old business of:
Insurance for the gear trailer that Cibola would like to purchase. David Dixon reported that a vehicle would be easier to insure than a trailer and members towing it would be responsible. They would have to get with their insurance agent to have the trailer added to their policies.
Land Navigation Evaluation - Tony Gaier reported on the changes to the training and evaluation standards. Basically they added GPS requirements. Membership voted 10 to 0 to accept the standards. It was discussed that the standards regarding the GPS segment of the eval. would not be held against any not passing them until 2005.
Purchase of 15 pagers for team use. Mike Dugger presented the team with a bag of pagers that were tested at the meeting. Members wishing to use one will pay $22. for the refundable deposit. Members will be responsible for any repair/damage to the pager in their possession.
New Business: Aaron read a letter from REI that invited Cibola to submit a request for a conservation and recreational grant. Aaron had prepared a list of gear needed to outfit 5 hypothermia kits for use on subjects. Cibola would pay for non-REI items that appeared on the list. With the additional of an insulating middle layer membership voted 8 to 0 to submit the request.
Also under new business David Dixon referred to a recent article in the Journal pertaining to the Petersons who had recently retired from Search and Rescue. It was agreed to send them a letter of appreciation from the team.
Vice-President/Training
Aaron Hall reminded members that the Land Nav/GPS training will be held on Sunday, November 16. Location will be announced on the hot line.
Treasurer
Lili Ziesmann reported on expenses and income. The largest expense was a purchase of ropes.
Membership
New people were asked to stay after the meeting to review the "Welcome" information.
Equipment
Tony Gaier is looking for someone to replace him since he is running for the position of Vice-President/Training officer. He would like to purchase a second shield for the new litter.
Medical
Mike Dugger reported that he was trying to get hold of the coordinator for BLS and ILS.
There is a change in the EMS system for first responders. They will be licensed like EMTs are. They will certify services. Mike also reported that there would be a PACE exam on December 6.
P.R. Committee
David Dixon, along with Aaron Hall and Alex Fischer gave a talk at the New Mexico Mountain Club's last meeting. Cibola has not had a presentation there since 1999. Volunteer day at UNM was thin since tables were put in an out of the way location. David would like to re-do the Cibola brochure, adding a medical portion and new updated photos. Brochures were available to any wishing to help with the task. The next P.R. meeting is January 28.
New Business
Officer nominations were closed. Date for the Christmas party was announced. Friday 12-12-03 1830 to 2200. This is a family event, but we will have a brief meeting and election of officers.
Meeting was adjourned at 2113.
| Who's Who and New | by David Chapek, Membership Officer |
As it stands now CSAR will go into 2004 with 26 active members. Of these 26 active members it looks like 6 are going to start the year as NFC due to evaluation or training issues. Before the end of the year everyone on the team needs to go online and check their profiles to make sure all the training and evaluations are up to date. If you're training deficient for the six month period, you still have one more chance to get one in.
Thanks again to all who helped with membership this year.
| Public Relations | by David Dixon |
But the work of P.R. for Cibola is never done and if anyone is interested in Chairing the P.R. Committee in 2004 Larry would love to hear from you. I have done this for many of my years with this great organization and don't mind passing it on to someone else. I will always be there to help though, the kids are too much fun.
| Special Notes |
| Disclaimer and Copyright notice | the Editors |