Ontario Mine Rescue teams are getting ready to show off their talent and training in the annual mine rescue competitions to be held in mining districts across the province in the second week of May.
The events are held to measure the emergency response skills of the volunteer mine rescuers who are on the job for every shift, every day at every working mine in the province.
A formal system of mine rescue became mandatory in Ontario in 1929, one year after 39 miners died in a fire at the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mine in Timmins on February 1928.
The Godson Inquiry investigated the tragedy and made recommendations to the Ontario Government that led to the creation of Ontario Mine Rescue with the creation of mine rescue stations in the Timmins, Kirkland Lake and Sudbury mining districts.
The Ontario Mine Rescue system gradually expanded over the years to include every working mine in every mining district in the province.
This also eventually led to annual mine rescue team competitions where mine rescuers would test their skills for bragging rights in their individual districts. Teams from each district will participate in a mock-emergency scenario.
This is where the teams get to put all their classroom time and hands-on training to the test for such things as firefighting, first aid response, the use of specialized emergency equipment, the ability to use rope gear to enter and leave danger areas, and decision-making ability under stress. This includes a written theory exam and an assessment of technicians who service vital emergency response equipment.
Each team is measured for how well they respond, for their timing, for their decision-making and their overall performance.
In Sudbury, the district competitions for both the Sudbury and Onaping districts will take place at the Dr. Edgar Leclair Arena in Azilda on May 8 and May 9.
Mine rescue teams in the Red Lake and Thunder Bay districts will compete at the NorWest Recreation Center, Kakabeka Falls, on May 9.
Mine rescue teams in the Algoma District will compete on May 9 at the Michipicoten Memorial Community Centre in Wawa.
For the Timmins and Kirkland Lake Districts, teams will compete at the Kirkland Lake Community Complex on May 8 and May 9.
For the Southern District, the competition will be at the Hagersville Memorial Arena on May 9; with the technicians competitions at the Best Western Hotel in Brantford on May 8.
Ontario Mine Rescue (OMR), a part of Workplace Safety North (WSN), operates under the authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Headquartered in Sudbury, OMR staffs, equips, and maintains a network of mine rescue stations across the province that ensure mines within a specified geographic area have adequate emergency response capability.
