def get_IOD_record_counts(IOD_records):
	""" Simple interface to provide stats on a list of IOD Class variables

	Given a list of IOD_records, returns a dictionary of record counts by type
	"""
	TotalObsCount = len(IOD_records)

	TotalCount_IOD = 0
	TotalCount_RDE = 0
	TotalCount_UK  = 0

	for IOD in IOD_records:
		if   (IOD.IODType is "IOD"):
			TotalCount_IOD += 1
		elif (IOD.IODType is "RDE"):
			TotalCount_RDE += 1
		elif (IOD.IODType is "UK"):
			TotalCount_UK  += 1

	IOD_record_counts = {
		"total" : TotalObsCount,
		"IOD"	: TotalCount_IOD,
		"RDE"	: TotalCount_RDE,
		"UK"	: TotalCount_UK
	} 
	return IOD_record_counts