09/08/2008 Thoughts for James Cooper It is with great sadness that I have to inform you of the very untimely death of our friend and colleague James Cooper who died aged 41 on the 3rd August 2008 following a climbing accident.  Jim was an Assistant District Officer for Easter Ross & Cromarty within Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service having moved there from Leicestershire in 1998. One of his key responsibilities was RTC and trauma training. Jim's first involvement with UKRO was when he came as team manager for Ness to participate in the Scottish Challenge in 2004 where they were placed 10th. By 2006 the Ness team captain had progressed from 18th place to 1st place in the Scottish National challenge which was a fine achievement assisted in no small part by the enthusiasm and encouragement given by Jim. In 2005 Jim joined the UKRO as a shadow assessor and qualified as a regional assessor in 2006 and a National assessor in2007 He was one of the main organisers of Highlands and Island's highly successful regional RTC and trauma challenge in Invergordon 2007 with 12 teams participating from all over the North of Scotland and Islands. It was again repeated with the same success in Fort William earlier this year.  Jim was an integral part of the UKRO assessor committee and contributed a good deal in the Annual Workshops at SFSC Gullane. One of the duties he was about to take on was to work with the SFSC as UKRO representative to co-relate the core skills in RTC Challenges. All the assessors who had the pleasure to work with Jim found him an affable, energetic colleague who was committed to the promotion of best practice and knowledge within both RTC and pre-hospital care.  He will be sadly missed by us all and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones at this most difficult of times.  Dave Webb Chairman UKRO / WRO