The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Manitoba Provincial Champion Kinross/New Brit' Mine Rescue Team just got back from the Western Regional Mine Rescue Championships, which were held September 12 and 13 in Fernie, BC. As the spouse of team captain, Neal Foy, Snow Lake's Recreation Director, Stephanie Foy, accompanied the team. She stated that the Western Regional competition was made up of six events: First Aid; Fire Suppression; Practical Bench Test and Bench Test; Written Test; The Underground Problem; and The Smokehouse. Even though they were in competition with some of the best mine rescue teams in Canada, the team held their own and, although unconfirmed, were rumoured to have finished in the top five. Some areas of the competition were experienced for the first time by the team. "The practical bench test was a new challenge for our guys," said Ms. Foy. "Manitoba Mine Rescue competitors do not work with ropes a lot, so they had been busy learning these new skills and they definitely came in handy in tackling this problem." Apparently the situation was a barrel of Nitric acid that was leaking and in a place where it couldn't be reached by machinery. The biggest challenge in this scenario is the 30-minute time limit. "The team quickly got to work building a tripod and using ropes to make a harness for the barrel, then lifted and placed it in a spill containment barrel with only seconds to spare," said Foy. She explained that the competition's underground problem was quite different from the competition in, and mines of, Manitoba. "It was based in a coal mine," said Foy. "The information given to the team was that there were four people missing underground. As the captain led his team through the maze of wooden drifts, they had to deal with at least one fire burning, and a break-through round loaded and ready to go. Again, during this portion the team had to deal with the challenge of a 30-minute time limit." See 'Time' P.# Con't from P.# In Manitoba the time is usually 1-1.5 hours for a comparable problem. Nonetheless, there were other areas of the contest where the Snow Lake team's talents shone through. The first aid portion was evidence of this. This scenario was an overturned vehicle with three victims. The teams were told that the ambulance and fire department were on their way, but still an hour away. "The New Brit' team did an excellent job of assessing the situation and taking control," Foy stated. "This team has a very strong first aid background with four of the six people involved in this task being certified Emergency Medical Responders." Word has it that the fellows also did very well on the fire suppression scenario. The dinner and awards ceremony was held on Saturday evening in an arena complete with ice! "The air was chilly, but the mood wasn't," smiled Foy. "The team did a great job of representing Snow Lake and Manitoba and we should all be very proud of them," she added. The winner of the underground competition was Mirimar Con of Yellowknife, NWT and the winner of the surface competition was Highland Valley Copper out of Logan Lake, BC.
