Rant about the WV mine disaster
Although I don't say it outright in my profile, some could probably figure out from the info there that I am a miner. More specifically I am a mine foreman at a lead/zinc mine. I am also a member of one of our mine rescue teams. With that in mind, you can imagine how my coworkers and I kept tabs on the WV mine disaster as it unfolded. I had a crew of 13 guys under me last night. Just as we were getting ready for dinner we saw on Fox and CNN that 12 miners had been found alive. You can imagine what this meant to a bunch of guys who were working 1,000 feet underground. Most of us had long given up hope and here we were proven wrong. Unfortunately, before our shift was over we learned that there was only one survivor.
I spend at least one day a month in mine rescue training. This includes testing of our knowledge of mine rescue procedures, testing for hazardous concentrations of mine gases and working "problems"-solving mine rescue scenarios where we encounter simulated hazards and do our best to rescue survivors without endangering team members. During months that my team will participate in a regional or national mine rescue competition we will spend and additional 4-10 days training. One of the things spelled in the MSHA training module is how you should restrict access to the command center, and that NO information should be disseminated outside of official channels. Initial reports that I have read suggest that someone (possibly a mine foreman) overheard a cell phone conversation of one of the rescuers that stated they had found 12 miners and were checking for vital signs and from that information he deduced (right word?) that they had found 12 miners alive and passed that misinformation along to the loved ones waiting at the church.
Now I can't say how that news and reversal felt to those people, but I do know how it made me and a bunch of unrelated miners 600 miles away feel and that can't begin to compare with what they felt both on the upside and on the downside.
What an emotional rollercoaster for those poor people. I started this rant really pissed at the person that had leaked this misinformation, but by this point I find myself wondering if I wouldn't have been guilty of exactly the same thing had I been in their situation.
I guess if there's any good to come of this it would be the way it has cemented in my mind the necessity of keeping a lid on the command center during a crisis so a similar situation doesn't occur on my watch.
Well, I must say that putting my feelings down on blogger has been carthartic.
'til next time,
leadbelly
I spend at least one day a month in mine rescue training. This includes testing of our knowledge of mine rescue procedures, testing for hazardous concentrations of mine gases and working "problems"-solving mine rescue scenarios where we encounter simulated hazards and do our best to rescue survivors without endangering team members. During months that my team will participate in a regional or national mine rescue competition we will spend and additional 4-10 days training. One of the things spelled in the MSHA training module is how you should restrict access to the command center, and that NO information should be disseminated outside of official channels. Initial reports that I have read suggest that someone (possibly a mine foreman) overheard a cell phone conversation of one of the rescuers that stated they had found 12 miners and were checking for vital signs and from that information he deduced (right word?) that they had found 12 miners alive and passed that misinformation along to the loved ones waiting at the church.
Now I can't say how that news and reversal felt to those people, but I do know how it made me and a bunch of unrelated miners 600 miles away feel and that can't begin to compare with what they felt both on the upside and on the downside.
What an emotional rollercoaster for those poor people. I started this rant really pissed at the person that had leaked this misinformation, but by this point I find myself wondering if I wouldn't have been guilty of exactly the same thing had I been in their situation.
I guess if there's any good to come of this it would be the way it has cemented in my mind the necessity of keeping a lid on the command center during a crisis so a similar situation doesn't occur on my watch.
Well, I must say that putting my feelings down on blogger has been carthartic.
'til next time,
leadbelly
posted by Delinquent Miner at 1/04/2006 10:29:00 AM
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