CADIZ - The 33 teams representing mining operators in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia gathered Wednesday to compete in the 31st-Annual Ohio Valley Mine Rescue Contest held at the Jerry L. Stewart Ohio Mine Safety Training Center.

The event is coordinated by the National Mine Rescue Association's Post 6 region.

The simulated "mine" was marked by roof bolts stuck in the ground and strung with brightly colored tape.  Wood frames with construction fence draped across represented walls and airlocks in the crosscuts, and the travel ways were littered with white placards indicating hazards, mine conditions and miners to be rescued or recovered.

With seven minutes to prepare and consider the problem, they read their instructions, check their maps, put on and test their breathing apparatus, check their radios, grab their link line and head into the mock mine with a fold-up stretcher piled with their rescue pack in tow.

Then, they have just 80 minutes to solve their mine rescue scenario designed by Ronald D. Glasgow, Tri-State Post No. 6 president, which involved navigating the simulated mine to locate trapped miners and safely navigate the maze of hazards to bring the victim back above ground into clean air.

One member of the six-man team remained in a sequestered communications booth to coordinate the rescue as his five teammates went in, tailed by a similar-sized group of judges, consisting of state and federal mining agency staff armed with pens and clip boards.

Waiting on call is the victim, a rescue team member who will play the part of an unconscious miner waiting to be wheeled to safety.

"They really sacrifice a lot to be on a mine rescue team," Glasgow said of the rescue team members.

On average, Glasgow said, team members train about 400 hours a year, mostly on their own time.  They're required to take a 20-hour training course, attend at least 96 hours of training a year and participate in at least two mine rescue competitions.

Mistakes will cost a team points, Glasgow explained; if two teams are tied at the end, their time is used as a tie-breaker.  Last year's winning team was the Eastern Associated Coal Co., Federal No. 2 Team.

"This is a practice competition, but if a disaster should occur, these teams are going in to rescue other miners when the roof may be unstable, there can be flooding, cave-ins blocking the mines and there are usually explosive and poisonous gasses present and thick, and black smoke cuts visibility to just inches," Glasgow responded.

"We design the course to represent an actual mine rescue so that in the real thing we can properly attack the problem and safely get miners out," he said.

During the three-day competition teams are tested in a variety of activities, including 29 teams in the bench competition and 13 in the first aid competitions held Tuesday.

Craig Corder, certifications supervisor at the Jerry L. Stewart Ohio Mine Safety Training Center, was excited to be hosting the annual Post 6 regional mine safety competition at his center in Harrison County for the third year.  "We are very pleased that we are up to 33 teams this year.

"The judges for the competition include officials from the U.S. Department of Labor, the West Virginia Office of Miners Health, Safety and Training, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and from our own Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Division of Mineral Resources Management people," Corder explained.

Corder also noted the center will host the Ohio state competition on June 20, a one-day event.