The 42nd annual Rocky Mountain Mine Rescue Association (RMMRA) competition was held last week. A team from Canyon Fuel Company, from the SUFCO mine, was the overall winner of the competition. They will take home the traveling trophy.
RMMRA President Denny Erickson, who works at the Bronco Mine in Emery County, explained the trophy will stay with Canyon Fuel Company for a year, then go with the winner of next year’s competition.
In total, 18 teams from 11 coal mines in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado participated in the competition.
Mine rescue teams consist of 6-10 people. Each is required to complete 96 hours of training every year. In order to accomplish that, Erickson explains, the teams participate in training every month. The competition provides a detailed analysis of each team’s performance, providing them with important information about their strengths and shortcomings.
The idea, explains Erickson, is to make sure each team is ready in the unlikely event of a mine disaster. Team members are sometimes first responders or emergency medical technicians (EMTs), but that is not a requirement. The only requirement is that a miner must have a year’s experience underground before joining a team.
There are four different competitions, including the overall mine rescue competition. Miners may, but are not required to, participate in Preshift Competition, Bench Competition, and First Aid.
Preshift involves identifying problems before they become emergencies. In fact, says Erickson, if Preshift inspection is done properly, there is probably no need for mine rescue teams.
Bench Competition involves inspection and trouble shooting the equipment used in mine rescue. A backpack contains one oxygen tank that will last up to four hours, although the goal is to get each person out of the mine is no more than 2.5 hours. This way, explains Erickson, there is no chance of someone running out of oxygen.
First Aid competition involves dealing with injuries in a scenario situation. Each team has a set amount of time to deal with injuries that are common in mine disasters.
Teams are made up of people who have been involved in mining and mine rescue for many years and of new miners.
No training, says Erickson, can make up for experience. Experienced teams tend to do better in the competition.
This year’s competition was difficult, as only four of the 18 teams completed the 75 minute scenario. Nevertheless, Erickson said, everyone learned a lot about mine rescue and dealing with emergencies.
18 mine safety teams compete in RMMRA contest
MHSA comp1