Mines Rescue Training

 

The 14 Permanent Rescue Brigadesmen worked a 14 week “rota” system where 5 men were available along with an officer between 1600 hrs and 0800 hrs. The 6 men, who were on call at weekends, undertook work and telephone duties due to the Nightwatchman working only Monday to Friday.

Two Rescue Brigadesmen were allocated to service breathing apparatus on weeks 4 and 12 of the rota.

Weeks 7 and 14 of rota did not have any after hours duties so the rescue brigadesmen could use these weeks to book holidays.

Initially – Mondays were Permanent Corps training days, where a team went to a local mine with the Assistant Superintendent or Third Officer and undertook a rescue training wearing breathing apparatus

Wednesdays were station training days where a team of Rescue Brigadesmen undertook a rescue training wearing breathing apparatus in the rescue station “galleries” which had 2 x 36 metre mock of both a coal face (low and high seam) and headings (low and high seam)

Rescue Brigadesmen also undertook a number of daily duties i.e. ground maintenance, cleaning, painting etc.

The station had a hot and humid chamber where rescue workers could do work under extreme conditions (hot and humid working reduced working time wearing breathing apparatus from 2 hours to as little as 19 minutes)

The site also had a large lecture room that could accommodate 50 people and its own gym (treadmill and weights)

The station staff spend a lot of days training part time rescue workers including;

• New rescue workers who had to complete a 15 day initial course in rescue with 3 to 4 courses completed each year with around 8 to 12 trainees per course.
• Existing rescue workers had to undertake 6 rescue practices per annum.
• Rescue Brigades men had to undertake minimum of 12 practices per annum.
• At its peak there were 23 part time rescue teams from mines covered by Selby Rescue Station so it is not difficult to see that quite a lot of time was spent training people and servicing equipment.

When station opened the Siebe Gorman Proto apparatus was still in service as was the Aerolox liquid oxygen breathing apparatus. Proto had been in service in various forms since 1908. These sets were replace by the Sabre SEFA breathing apparatus around 1989 (this was eventually replace by the Drager BG4)

To give staff experience and improve competency Rescue Brigadesmen also worked in mines carrying out the following tasks;

• Building prepared stopping sites
• Building stoppings
• Building air doors
• Sealing air doors with shotcrete
• Involved in installing / dismantling ventilation fans

These were useful skills to develop as an emergency underground was more likely to require rescue teams to undertake activities to save the mine, rather than save life, as monitoring systems, ventilation and general health and safety had improved dramatically in the mining industry.

The hot and humid chamber was also utilised on occasions and staff volunteered to wear a variety of types of new breathing apparatus that were being trialled prior to being manufactured.

Many thanks and kind regards to Ronnie Munro, a Mines Rescue Officer at Selby Mines Rescue Station, now at MRSL (Mines Rescue Services Limited), who trained me on many occasions and who provided me with the information in this post.