The Gahcho Kué Mine Rescue Team is headed to Fernie, B.C. this week to represent the NWT & Nunavut in the biennial National Western Region Mine Rescue Competition after sweeping most of the surface mine events at the Yellowknife competition earlier this year.
The Gahcho Kué team will join surface and underground mine rescue teams from Alberta, B.C., the NWT, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Wyoming and Nevada in a showcase of safety, skill and teamwork. With just one year under their belt, the Gahcho Kué team earned the chance to compete at the Western Region event by winning four individual competitions and being named the Top Overall Surface Mine Rescue Team at the NWT/NU competition held in Yellowknife June 9-10. This will be the team’s third official competition and it comes with Gahcho Kué Mine only having been in commercial production since March of this year.
“The mine rescue competition team is a diverse group of volunteers who exemplify our pursuit of brilliance toward establishing Gahcho Kué as one of the top performing diamond mines in the world,” said Kim Truter, CEO of De Beers Canada. “I know they have the full support and encouragement of everyone across De Beers Canada.”
“For this team to be eligible to take part in the Fernie competition in only our first year of operation speaks highly to the commitment of all members of our emergency response team,” said Allan Rodel, General Manager of Gahcho Kué Mine. “The level of professionalism and skill they demonstrate on the competition field is second only to their commitment to the safety of all of us working at Gahcho Kué.”
The team will face a number of different tasks during the competition, including firefighting, rope rescue, smoke/search obstacle course, extrication, first aid, practical skills test and a written test.
“This is a tremendous learning opportunity for the Gahcho Kué team members,” said Emerson Squires, team captain. “Everyone who gets to compete at this level is very strong. There will be so many things that we learn that we will remember for the rest of our careers – good, sound principles.”
The team has spent the last two weeks in enhanced training to hone their skills in advance of the Fernie competition.
“We have been training for 12 hours a day doing a lot of rappelling and (rope work), three days of first aid, smoke tasks, spill response and extrication training,” said Shantana Wood, one of two women on the competition team.