Winning rescue team

The mines rescue team from Hail Creek Mine

Hail Creek Mine’s emergency response team has taken out second place in this year’s Queensland Open Cut Mines Rescue Service competition.

The team competed strongly with its finely tuned emergency management procedures, taking home first place in the Road Accident Rescue category and missing out on first place overall by just three per cent.

Hail Creek Mine team member Bridget McBeth was the only woman to take part in the competition, which included rescue squads from eight sites across Central Queensland and New South Wales.

“The challenge tested our crisis and emergency response capabilities and provided an invaluable experience for all participants to get a taste of what a real emergency would be like,” Hail Creek Mine team captain Darryl Dhu said.

“Every member of the Hail Creek team learned something valuable from the competition and will bring these learnings and enhanced teamwork skills with them to site.

“I feel we have a very skilled and capable team and to be rewarded for our ability to respond and deal with a crisis is very humbling.”

Pictured: Hail Creek Mine’s emergency response team pictured from top left: Jason Hodgkinson, Andrew Brunker, Nigel Bliss, Darryl Dhu, Rob Bailey, Bridget McBeth and Brett Gordon.