By GREG JORDAN
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
WELCH, W.Va. — Nobody expected them to win, but a McDowell County mine rescue team beat all expectations when competing teams demonstrated their skills at the National Mine Rescue Competition.
The Southern Pocahontas Mine Rescue Team located in Welch finished first during the National Mine Rescue Contest’s first day, Trainer Donnie Coleman said. Team members had to meet prearranged challenges set up Sept. 19 at the National Mine Safety Academy in Beaver.
Every two years, teams are invited to the National Mine Rescue Competition, Coleman said.
Mine rescuers must meet a variety of challenges when the contest gets underway.
“What they do is they lay out a simulated mine and they give you a scenario of a situation that has occurred,” Coleman said.
The Southern Pocahontas team’s scenario called for them to enter a mine after an explosion and rescue the people that were still inside. They had to simulate tasks such as pumping water, supporting an unsafe roof and ventilating any dangerous gases out of the mine.
“They set it up and then you go in,” Coleman added. “Then it’s timed out. All of it is timed. There’s written tests that go along with it.”
More than 60 teams from across the United States participated in the contest. Southern Pocahontas team is composed of employees representing several mines in Wyoming, McDowell and Mingo Counties. The team has competed in four different competitions this summer finishing in first place three out of the four contests, Coleman said.
“What’s unique about our team is we’re considered a contract mine rescue team, so our members don’t come from the same mine where they see each other every day,” Coleman said. “We’re represented by a bunch of mines.”
Contact Greg Jordan at [email protected]
See more from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph