Mine rescue teams compete

Local mine rescue teams recently practiced their skills and competed against one another during a four-day competition.

The competition was put on by Southwest Wyoming Mutual Aid (SWMA), an organization involving mine personnel who help train mine rescue teams and support mines in the region. The event was hosted at the Sweetwater Events Complex at the end of June.

Cindy Phillips, the SWMA treasurer, has been working with SWMA for 20 years, helping train miners on an air supply apparatuses and organizing mine rescue competitions.

"You cannot run a mine without a mine rescue team. You cannot," Phillips explained. "It's MSHA government rules, period. If you don't have a mine rescue team, your mine gets shut down."

According to Phillips, being part of competitions help mine rescue teams train and "stay up to speed" on the skills they need to respond.

"They don't do it for the competition," Phillips said. "They do it because if there was a mine disaster, these guys know exactly what to do and what risks they have to take in order to safely rescue people out of that mine and get the mine back up and operational. It's just not rescuing people, it is also searching out the problem, making sure everything's running right."

Every year SWMA puts on a mine rescue competition, alternating between underground and surface contests, which have different rules and practices for the different types of mines. Underground competitions are for both coal mines and metal/nonmetal mines, which includes the trona mines in Sweetwater County.

Last year SWMA hosted 15 different teams for the first unified coal and metal/nonmetal competition in the United States.

Earlier this year SWMA hosted a surface contest, so the local trona mines were unable to compete. However, the local mine rescue teams are preparing for the national mine rescue competition, which will be in Kentucky in August.

"They will compete with everybody from around the United States for the national title," Phillips explained.

Since the teams didn't have any other way to practice for nationals, SWMA decided to put together a competition just for them.

The local competition was split into four days. Two days were dedicated to bench, first aid and tech competitions. In bench, teams work with the apparatuses they have to use in mine rescue. For first aid, teams work through a simulation where first aid is required. Tech involves using gas instruments.

The other two days of the event were dedicated to field competition. During field, areas are sectioned off with ropes and markings to represent a mine shaft, and each team is given a mine disaster scenario to simulate and solve in ninety minutes, wearing full gear and going through the actions they would in a real disaster.

Most mine rescue teams have around seven members and an alternate. Competitions are typically judged by MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) representatives and mine rescue trainers. Competitions have scoresheets with specific criteria used for judging since, in a real-life mine disaster, mine rescue teams need to know how to follow specific MSHA regulations and procedures.

All four local mines were part of the competition - Genesis Alkali, Sisecam (previously Ciner), Solvay Chemicals and Tata Chemicals. Both Genesis and Sisecam will be taking two teams to nationals this year.

"Sisecam is reigning national champ for the all-around championship, and Genesis is first place on the field," Phillips explained, adding all the local mines have had national championship teams at some point.

"That's flipping huge," she said. "It's huge for us. Everybody that comes to our competition knows they're going to come to a good one because they're competing against the best. We should be proud."