Archive: Opinions

When I heard the news that 17 local mine workers were trapped in an elevator 900 feet below ground my first response was probably the same as yours.  Worry for the mine workers and their families.  Concern that there be a successful rescue attempt.  But I quickly stopped stressing, because it appeared that everything was working the way it was supposed to work.  I was confident in a positive outcome, and the best possible outcome was what we got.  You might say that was lucky, but I say it has to do with dedicated professionals and volunteers who take emergency training seriously.

Safety devces on the mechanism stopped it from plunging the other 1,400 feet to the bottom of the shaft.  Cargill officials were in radio contact with their workers, who had light and food plus a lot of experience and training in the mine.  Emergency responders were on the scene almost as soon as they were called -- after all Lansing Central Fire Station is across the street from the Cargill property.  The Tompkins County Information Officer was getting news out to the community in a timely manner.

In other words, safety equipment and protocols were in place and working, and it was just a matter of getting the 17 men out of the elevator.  of course it isn't that easy.  The right people and equipment had to be deployed to the scene, and hauling humans 900 feet in a basket is not a routine matter.  The thing is, Cargill employees and emergency responders made it seem like it was.

When I toured the mine in 2012 the first thing was a video in a conference room near the shaft that was the scene of yesterday's incident.  I was impressed with a large number of plaques and trophies attesting to the company's safety record and the depth of emergency training they go through continuously.  Likewise, local emergency responders train constantly for all kinds of emergencies that we all hope will never come to pass.

The next thing they made us do was to don heavy equipment belts, safety vests and hard hats.  The equipment is constantly tested, and while we tourists only had cursory instruction, we were with highly trained professionals who could help us if we weren't paying attention.

The least comfortable part of the experience was the elevator ride.  This is not a shiny elevator with marble, mirrors and light up buttons.  It is basically a metal box, a two-story affair that is more like the set of a dystopian science fiction movie or some of the grungier locations in Star Wars.  It is a five and a half minute ride, noisy, dark, and wobbly.

And when I think of who I would like to be stuck in an elevator with, I don't think of 16 other guys dressed in work clothes, reflective vests, hard hats and a tool belt (unless it is Batman -- he has a cool tool belt).  But maybe that is who you want to be stuck with.  The mine manager said they spent their time joking around and telling stories to pass the time and relieve their stress.  They came together to make sure that everyone was as safe as possible.  And just over 10 hours after they got in that box, they were safe.

That is just part of the normal commute for mine employees who work regular shifts in the mine.  And even though going straight down a 2,300 foot shaft and then driving another thirty or forty minutes to your work area is not the usual commute for most of us, it is the norm for these guys.  As is a heck of a lot of emergency training.

From all reports that training paid off.  First and foremost, the mine employees who were stuck in the shaft knew how to keep warm, keep each others' spirits up, and how to decide, when the time came, which of them needed to be rescued first, and who could wait their turn.  Emergency responders reacted calmly and professionally.

There was much flap a couple of years ago when the Town of Lansing realized, in the midst of serious flooding, that it didn't have an emergency preparedness plan.  But one of the first conclusions by a committee formed to remedy that situation was that there are very good, well trained people in the Town and neighboring communities, and we are all well covered in emergencies, plan or not.

It is easy to forget that Lansing Fire Department members are volunteers because the sheer volume of their training and their dedication to making Lansing safe is staggering.  In 2014 alone Lansing volunteer emergency responders participated in 2,312.5 hours of training.

It was a good thing yesterday.  Everyone knew what to do, and they knew how to work together to do it.  It was all about emergency preparedness.  Luck had nothing to do with it.

v12i1