Two Mine Rescue teams from the Greater Sudbury area will have a chance to compete in the all-Ontario Mine Rescue competition to be held June 4-7 at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay.
The Sudbury area teams representing the Onaping District and the Sudbury District were among many mine rescue teams that took part in eight district competitions across the province, May 8 to 10.
The winning team for Onaping was the Glencore Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations Fraser and Nickel Rim South Mines. This included Team Captain Julien Lalande, No.2 Aaron Boutet, No.3 Neil Poulin, No.4 Alyssa Spry, Vice Captain Jesse Legault, No.6 Shawn O’Brien, and briefing officer Bleir Millions.
The winning Onaping technician was Dan Rioux of Glencore.
The winning team for Sudbury district was the Vale West Mine. That team included Captain Chris Charbonneau, No.2 Roch Berthiaume, No.3 Shawn Barrette, No.4 Madison Tracey, Vice Captain Dustin McKinnon, No.6 Patricia Gagne, briefing officer Lorne Beleskey, and No.7 Brian Reeves.
The winning Sudbury technician was Nick Fram of the Vale West Mine.
In the Algoma district, the winning team was the Alamos Island Gold Mine, located east of Dubreuilville.
For the Thunder Bay District, the winning team was the Impala Lac Des Isles Mine, located 85 kilometres out of Thunder Bay.
In the Red Lake District, the winning team was from Evolution Mining Red Lake Operations, in that Northwestern Ontario community.
The Timmins district winning team was from Timmins Lakeshore Gold West and Bell Creek Mines.
In Kirkland Lake district, the winning team was from the Agnico Eagle Macassa Mine.
The Southern District was won by the mine rescue team at the CGC Hagersville Mine, in the community of Hagersville.
The annual competitions are held to let volunteer mine rescuers hone their skills and stay up to date on new technology and equipment used to tackle such things as underground fires, cave-ins and rescuing injured or trapped miners. The competition is also for bragging rights.
In the district events, mine rescue teams were able to put their first aid knowledge to the test by retrieving a casualty from a confined space and treating a diabetic casualty with low sugar levels. Teams were then encouraged to use a state-of-the-art foam generator to eliminate a simulated fire, but with a challenging twist, said a news release.
“We applied special coverings to competitors (face) masks to emulate decreased visibility,” said Shawn Rideout, Chief Mine Rescue Officer at Workplace Safety North.
“This prepares teams for heavy smoke conditions present with large underground fires – communication skills and teamwork are vital in these situations.”
The success of mine rescue competitions relies upon dedicated volunteers and industry professionals, who work tirelessly to organize and execute these events for the betterment of mine rescue operations, said the news release.
Ontario Mine Rescue (OMR), a part of Workplace Safety North (WSN), operates under the authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. For eight decades, OMR has become a leader in mining emergency preparation and response, by delivering training and ensuring standards are maintained across the province, said the release.
