Provincial mine rescue competition hits Moose Jaw
It’s the kind of competition where you could be the best in the province at what you do, and it’s your absolute worst nightmare to ever have to do it in real life. Mosaic Place and the Moose Jaw Exhibition Grounds played host to the 50th annual Emergency Response Mine Rescue Skills Competition over the weekend, drawing teams from mining facilities all over the province to the city. It was the first competition of its kind in Moose Jaw. “The whole idea behind it is to bring teams together from across the province and different mining industries – coal, potash, uranium and gold – for a day and a half of competition that tests their skills,” said James Ferstal, chairperson of the competition committee.
“They do a lot of training throughout the year and that training is done to make sure that they’re properly prepared in case of an emergency. This is the closest we can get as putting them under the same type of pressure or as close to the pressure they would feel in an emergency.”
The set-up for the event was rather impressive – two full days of constructing simulated mine shafts in the Mosaic Place hockey and curling rink areas, complete with a foam-filled tunnel meant to simulate a fire suppression system being set off. Teams wearing full respiratory gear worked their way through the tunnels – dubbed the Woroniuk Mine and Aitchison Mine -- searching for survivors and extricating those who could be and needed to be saved.
There was also a first-aid component where victims with true-life make-up to simulate injuries were cared for by teams, as well as secondary surface problems. The firefighting portion was conducted at the Exhibition Grounds and featured teams dealing with three fire stations they had to battle with their dry chemical extinguishers.
“There’s a lot of knowledge involved in it, everything from first aid to wearing breathing apparatus and working under that type of stress,” Ferstal said. “Understanding ground conditions is important too, as is working at heights and using fall protection.”
Teams generally perform exceptionally well in the various tasks, often making se- lecting a winner rather difficult.
“It’s pretty spread out and that’s a good thing, it shows that there are skilled teams at mines all over the province,” Ferstal explained. “You might have a team that is more experienced and things like that, but for the most part it’s always pretty close.” That’s a good thing, he added, given that some crews here competing last weekend have found themselves needing to put their skills to use in real life. “There have been underground fires, incidents with vehicles where they’ve been needed... but with the competition and all the work they’ve done, they’re tested and knowledgeable and know what they have to do,” Ferstal said.
“When we talk to our leadership teams, even with the training they’ve been provided and support they’ve been provided, they hope they never have to use it in real life. The last thing we ever want on our sites is a serious incident where we have to call in these people.”