Highland Valley Copper wins mine rescue competition
The HVC team prepares for competition.
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Updated: September 17, 2009 10:36 AM
Highland Valley Copper's mine rescue team took top honours in the Surface Competition of the ninth Western Regional Mine Rescue Competition held in Fernie, B.C. on September 12.
The team took first place in smoke, rope and extrication events and had the highest aggregate points to take first place overall. Highland Valley Copper was competing against teams from the Northwest United States, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon and another teck team from B.C., all of whom had to qualify to attend this competition by being successful in earlier regional competitions.
The Highland Valley Copper team, comprised of coach Gerry Wong, captain Dirk Werring, vice-captain Dale Konowalchuk, Steve Hippisley, John Brennan, Peter Lapointe, Dave Potter and spare Sean Davies, went into this competition with no expectations because the caliber of competition was very high and the tasks were very challenging.
The format of the competition was set so that no team was aware of what challenges they would face in any of the six task events until they reached the site; much like a real rescue situation. The mine rescue competition, while enhancing the mine’s ability to react quickly and efficiently to disaster, also serves to remind the industry that it must continue to focus on making the industry safer in hopes of never having to use these services.
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