Mines rescue teams are able to compete in rescue competitions each year. Competitions not only provide an opportunity for teams to get together but are essential in allowing rescue teams to demonstrate and refine their skills in a simulated emergency environment.
Typical exercises include recovering/treating persons injured underground, timbering, firefighting, dressage, mapping, FAB procedures and first aid. Teams also complete a theory assessment.
In Queensland teams compete for the QMRS Memorial cup and EK Healy cup, with successful teams going through to compete at national level in the Australian Underground Mines Rescue Competition.
Australian Underground Mines Rescue Competition 2011
Queensland’s Oaky No 1 team emerged victorious when four Queensland, one Tasmanian and four New South Wales teams battled it out at the recently held 49th Australian Underground Mines Rescue Competition.
Second place went to NSW’s Angus Place (Western Districts), third to NSW’s Appin Colliery (Southern Districts), fourth to Wambo (Hunter Valley District), fifth to Qld’s Grasstree Mine, sixth to Qld’s North Goonyella Mine, seventh to Qld’s Crinum Mine, eigth to NSW’s Newcastle Station and ninth to Cornwall Coal Mine Tasmania.
The event, held at Wollongong’s Mines Rescue Station and NRE Gujurat Coal Mine NSW, was described by Dysart Rescue Station operations manager chief assessor Raymond Smith as challenging.
“However, all teams performed extremely well,” he said.
At the Gujurat underground exercise, teams were informed there had been an outburst and three people were missing. Participants were assessed on searching (for those persons) skills as well as timbering through some poor roof conditions.
Other areas of assessment included patient care, stretcher work, communications and team member capabilities after the captain was eliminated through injury.
The station exercise involved a briefing on compressed air breathing aparatus. However, within five minutes, shouting and coughing was heard coming from the portal from which two ‘casualties’ needed rescuing.
Within the scenario, others were also missing and high carbon monoxide was detected at the monitoring points. The final challenge revolved around a fire at the boot-end left by belt splicers who had been overcome by smoke.
Mr Smith said a 50 question theory paper delivered by power-point on a time delay of 20 seconds tested the ability of Captains to delegate
.“Most teams scored 41 and above with 47 the top score,” he said.“Finally, an individual practical test tested team members in mine plan reading, minimum equipment knowledge, first aid and the use of compressed air breathing apparatus protocols.”
EK Healy Cup 2011
The Grasstree Mine team successfully held off strong competition from seven other Bowen Basin underground coal teams to take out the 41st EK Healy Cup held recently at the Cook Colliery near Blackwater.
Eight teams with seven members in each, competed in the annual event regarded as one of Queensland’s toughest mines rescue competitions.
The top four teams, Grasstree, Crinum, Oaky No 1 and North Goonyella will now go on to compete in the National Underground Mines Rescue Competition to be held at Woollongong on October 14th this year. Kestrel, Moranbah North, Broadmeadow and Oaky North teams also took part in the 2011 EK Healy Cup.
“Each team undertook five tasks on the day and an additional theory paper was completed the night before,” EK Healy Cup chief assessor Ray Smith said.
The event, which involved months of advance planning, was described by Mr Smith as very demanding for the assessors and participating teams.
“The excellent standard of all eight teams, each captain’s leadership and team paperwork results highlighted the participant’s skills and reinforced the fact each mine has carried out effective training,” he said.
QMRS Cup 2011
Moranbah North has claimed the annual Queensland Mines Rescue Service (QMRS) Memorial Cup after a tight competition between the top four contenders.
Moranbah North Rescue Team Members
QMRS Chief Assessor Ray Smith said the six teams contesting the 2011 event at the Oaky North Mine near Tieri, had demonstrated excellent fire-fighting and first-aid skills however, the event had highlighted the need for emergency response personnel to do more work on their timbering skills which is required to shore up unstable areas underground.
Rescue teams were faced with an underground scenario including a timber exercise and conveyor belt fire as well as a multiple-casualty incident above ground involving a crash between two vehicles, one which was carrying explosives.
Mr Smith said the QMRS Cup competition also included individual theory and practical exercises for all team members as well as a CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) task for team captainsand vice-captains.
The Moranbah North team successfully took out the George Carbine Shield for excellence in first aid as well as being named overall winners.
The three top performers following closely behind them were the Oaky North, Crinum and North Goonyella rescue teams. Teams from the Cook Colliery and Newlands North also participated in the event.
“Overall the teams participated really well,” Mr Smith said.“Between the top four placings there wasn’t a lot of difference – they were all on the same level. But they will need to lift their skills if they want to do well at the next level of competition.”
The top four will go on to compete at the EK Healy Cup at the Cook Colliery south of Blackwater in September, 2011. They will take on the four teams that represented Queensland in last year’s national competition – Broadmeadow, Oaky No 1, Kestrel and Grasstree.
The Australian Underground Mines Rescue Competition will this year be hosted in Wollongong, New South Wales, on October 14.