Department of Health and Human Services

Man Mountain's Refuge: Mine Refuge Chamber Training: Instructor's Guide and Trainee's Problem Book Department of Health and Human Services

Publisher Marketing: This instructor's guide is designed for use by instructors who train mine employees on how and when to use a mine refuge chamber, and aids the instructor in reinforcing the critical decisions that have to be made during a mining emergency. The discussion notes and teaching points included in this instructor's guide are based on a paper-and-pencil simulation exercise that trainees use to learn about the choices that must be made in an emergency situation. In this exercise, trainees work through an interactive story that presents a scenario in which a section crew, along with additional general labor workers, must decide what to do when they learn there is a fire somewhere in the mine, but do not know the exact location. One of the characters in this story is Man Mountain, a member of the labor crew. As time goes by, the miners face a series of choices about how best to increase their chances for survival. The story is taken in part from real-life incidents. The teaching instructions in this instructor's guide have been designed for use with the simulation exercise, which is included in the Trainee's Problem Book. The completion of this exercise can help new miners, experienced miners, trainers, and others, who must deal with issues of self-rescue and escape, to become more aware of: (1) the need to gather as much information as possible as early as possible; (2) the value of knowing one's escapeways; (3) the need to use self-contained self-rescuers (SCSRs) properly; (4) the value of a multigas detector in an emergency; (5) when, and under what circumstances, to enter a refuge chamber; and (6) how to recognize the reaction signs of traumatic incident stress.