CARLSBAD, N.M. – The EM Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Blue Mine Rescue Team was named the overall champion at the Southwest Regional Mine Rescue Contest held in Carlsbad in April. WIPP’s Red Mine Rescue Team took first place in the first aid competition.  

   At Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)-sponsored challenges such as this, mine rescue teams are evaluated through a series of competitions, including field, technician and first aid, as well as a written test. The team with the best average score in all events is named overall champion.  

   “The outstanding performance of WIPP’s mine rescue teams demonstrates our continuing commitment to mine safety and emergency preparedness,” said EM Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) Manager Todd Shrader. CBFO has responsibility for WIPP and the National Transuranic (TRU) Waste Management Program.

   Mine rescue contests are designed to sharpen skills and test the knowledge of team members who would be called on to respond to a mine emergency. In the field competition, a course simulates conditions rescuers might encounter in the event of an underground emergency, such as gases, fires, and mine instability. Teams are timed and observed by MSHA judges as they move through the course to locate, treat, and move staged victims to the surface. 

   Each mine rescue team consists of five working members and three support specialists: 

• Captain: Leads the team and makes final decisions with input from other members;
• Co-captain: Maintains communications with fresh air base (where rescue teams can safely breathe without a breathing apparatus) and ensures team’s general well-being; 
• Gas person: Proficient in knowledge of mine gases that could be hazardous; 
• Map person: Documents conditions when team enters the mine;
• First aid person: Assumes control in a medical emergency, directing team in caring for patients;
• Fresh air base specialist: Monitors and controls activities at fresh air base, maintaining communications with team and command center;
• Bench person: Responsible for maintaining and repairing self-contained breathing equipment; and 
• Alternate: Prepared to step in and replace any team member who is unable to perform.

   WIPP’s mine rescue team members are volunteers. They are employees of Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), the WIPP management and operating contractor, with jobs ranging from hoisting supervisor to mining operator.

   “We’re very proud of our skilled and dedicated mine rescue team members,” said NWP President and Project Manager Phil Breidenbach. “All of our employees know that they can depend on them for life-saving assistance in the event of an emergency.” 

   Over the years, WIPP’s mine rescue teams have earned special recognition, with three members inducted into the National Mine Rescue Hall of Fame.