Archive for category: Blog

CMAT reflects on the decade since the Tsunami

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Tsunami devastation - Police vehicle badly damaged sits in Meuloboh street (January, 2005).

Tsunami devastation – Police vehicle badly damaged sits in Meuloboh street (January, 2005).

CMAT team are briefed by Canadian High Commission staff Rachael Bedlington (January, 2005)

CMAT team are briefed by Canadian High Commission staff Rachael Bedlington (January, 2005)

 

 

10 years ago today, many of us woke to news of a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that swept the Indian Ocean, taking with it 230,000 lives, and affecting 14 nations. The response to this disaster was unprecedented, and gave rise to a new culture of international humanitarianism. The grassroots of Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) were established on the ground in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, and in 2015, our 10th anniversary year, we remember and honour all those affected by disaster who paid the ultimate price; and celebrate with those whose lives we helped to save.

Join us in recognizing our 10th anniversary, as we open our year-long commemoration. Helping the world, in times of disaster!

CMAT announces its 2015 Board of Directors

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We would like to thank all our members for your participation in the 2014-15 CMAT Board of Directors election.  We had a record voter turnout for this year’s campaign!

Congratulations to the newly elected and re-elected board members listed below, and thank you to all the nominees for your incredible interest!  Officer positions on the board will be decided and announced within the coming week, and we will be also looking for committee chairs and members in the near future.

Dr. J. Rashad Chin Edmonton, AB National Chair

Dr. J. Rashad Chin
Edmonton, AB
National Chair

Kate Auger Nurse Practitioner Collingwood, ON.

Kate Auger, NP
Collingwood, ON
Vice Chair

Valerie Rzepka, NP
Toronto, ON.
Executive Director

Martin Metz Paramedic Vancouver, BC.

Martin Metz, PCP
Vancouver, BC.
Treasurer

Nathan Kelly,RN Grimsby, ON

Nathan Kelly, RN
Grimsby, ON
Secretary

Lesley Eltom Government Relations Toronto, ON.

Lesley Eltom
Toronto, ON
Director at Large

Iain Kenny

Iain Kenny
Calgary, AB
Director at Large

Bill Coltart, PCP Comox, BC. Founding Director

Bill Coltart, PCP
Comox, BC.
Founding Director (non-voting)

Sphere Minimum Standards – Vancouver, BC – October 2014!

Sphere banner

 

 

 

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!

Course Schedule
Saturday October 25 –  Sphere Orientation: 08:30 – 16:30
Sunday October 26 – Sphere Orientation: 08:30 – 16:30

* participants are required to complete the Sphere e-learning webinar prior to participation.  Please bring the certificate of completion to the course.

Location:

Justice Institute of British Columbia

715 McBride Avenue,

New Westminster, British Columbia Canada

Course Fee*:

  • Non-CMAT member – $500
  • CMAT Member – $300 (completed online volunteer profile prior to Oct 1, 2014 but has no field experience with CMAT)
  • CMAT Alumnus – $250  (Alumni must have had at least 1 recorded field experience with CMAT)

(payment accepted using PayPal, Interac e-transfer, Visa and Mastercard.  Cheques accepted only until October 17th, 2014)

*participants will receive a charitable tax receipt for 75% of the course fee.

Course Fee includes: Sphere Handbook and refreshments.

CMAT Cancellation policy: A full refund less a 15% admin fee applies until 7 days prior to the course start date, after which cancellations will only receive a 50% refund.

Space is limited – interested individuals are urged to register early to avoid disappointment.

For more information, or to register, please email: [email protected] or call 416-305-0290.

CMAT 2014 Annual General Meeting – Board Reports and Onling Voting

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Unfortunately we hit some technical glitches with Sunday’s online AGM, so the board has come together to deliver our reports in writing.  Please find the individual directors’ report to the AGM, as well as the 2013 financial statements.  Please don’t hesitate to email [email protected] should you have any questions.

Acting Chair Report – Kathy Harms

Executive Director Report – Valerie Rzepka

Secretary/ Treasurer Report and 2013 Financial Statements– Deb Exelby

Director of Communications Report – Kate Auger

Director of Response Coordination – Rashad Chin

 

MEMBERSHIP VOTING

A crucial discussion piece is around the changes to the Not-For-Profit organizational structure, as mandated by the Canadian Government.  These changes need to be reviewed and voted upon by registered CMAT members.  These proposed changed can be reviewed by clicking the following links:

CMAT Bylaws

Form 4031-e

Only registered members of CMAT would have received a seperate email with a time-sensitive link in order to place their votes online.  Voting will remain open until 23:59 on Friday September 12,2014. Please don’t hesitate to email [email protected] should you have any questions.

Save the Date! CMAT Annual General Meeting on Sept 7, 2014!

Please Save the Date on your calendar to join us for the AGM on 7 Sept, 2014 in the evening:

16:00 hrs PST,  17:00 hrs MT and  19:00 hrs EST.

The AGM will be hosted online.

CMAT AGM viewing instructions

After testing a variety of online conferencing tools, the CMAT Board has chosen to broadcast the September 7, 2014 AGM on Youtube via Google Hangout on Air. Our test run with the tool went very well, and we think it will be the best FREE conferencing solution for this event.  Here’s how it will work:

  • The Board will initiate the video conference in Google Hangout on Air, which we will link to Youtube.
  • A unique URL is generated, that we will post on our webpage, at 3:45pm PST on September 7, 2015.
  • Click on the link to view the Youtube broadcast
  • Enter your questions for the Board into the comments area below the video, a Board member will be picking up the questions for the panel to answer as we go.

It’s that easy. One detail to note is that there is approximately a 2 minute delay between what is being recorded in Google, and what is being broadcast on Youtube. With this in mind, we are structuring the agenda to include a report or presentation, followed by a question and answer period, before moving on to the next report.  Answering questions in the middle of reports or presentations may be a bit choppy and out of sequence with the delay. Feel free to ask questions as soon as you think of them, just be aware we will wait to the end of a report to respond to them.

Our goal is to be as inclusive and interactive as we can. The Google/Youtube platform is the most effective we have found, that doesn’t require each participant to sign up for anything, or download any add-ons or other software. If, for the future, you have suggestions for other FREE video conferencing solutions for this sort of online event, please share them with us!