On of our more unique roles in the Lightning Ridge Community is to attend to accidents underground in the Opal Mines around Lightning Ridge. During these types of incidents we need to gain access, search and find the injured miners, treat their injuries, and with the assistance of the Lightning Ridge SES Mines Rescue team, extricate them from the mine swiftly and safely so they can be taken to a medical facility. This involves a considerable amount of equipment and often a lot of hard and dangerous work.

We gain access to the mine, after the SES Rescue team determines the best approach to the area the miners were last seen or heard to be working, utilizes the nearest mine shaft, constructs a suitable haulage system using rope, descenders, a rescue mate and larkins frame and lower a team into the mine.

The rescuers are lowered into the mine. Depending on the situation the rescuers may be required to wear breathing apparatus and test for poisonous gasses such as carbon monoxide. The shaft is a potentially dangerous area due to the depth and instability of the shaft wall, helmets are worn at all times when underground.

When the rescuers deem the air to be safe they search for the miners. This may involve a considerable amount of searching as often adjoining mines join up at the boundaries. In some areas tunnels and drives connect allowing you to travel kilometres under the ground. The miners may be buried completely, partially, or just trapped by a wall of dirt. When the miners whereabouts are known the rescuers go about uncovering them, or digging them out.

The attending Ambulance Officers are lowered down the shaft to help with the location of the injured miners and assess the miners injuries and provide life saving treatment before they are moved. The majority of injuries from mining accidents involve spinal injury and trauma. Spinal immobilisation, pain relief, and fluid replacement are usually required. Miners often suffer serious life threatening injuries.

Following stabilisation the injured miner is placed in a stokes litter or basket stretcher and tied in securely in preparation for the extrication from the mine.

Working underground often involves difficult physical work in a confined space. Not everyone is suited to this kind of work.

The injured miner is moved along underground drives horizontally, but unfortunately the miner has to be removed from the mine in a standing position due to the narrow vertical shaft. This proves difficult when managing a hypovolaemic patient. The miner is securely lashed into the litter.

As the miners are being treated and prepared for extrication to the surface, the rest of the SES rescue team prepare the haulage equipment and prepare to pull the miners to the surface.

The injured miner, now stabilised and tied into a stokes litter is carried along the drives back to the vertical shaft where he will be extricated to the surface.

The stokes litter is attached to the end of the hauling rope (rescue mate), which runs up the shaft to the surface and is attached to the larkins frame. The rescuers above will pull on the rope and the injured miner will be hauled to the surface.

As the injured miner is raised to the surface, the larkins frame is "luffed" back (pivoted on its base so the head lifts up and away from the shaft) to bring the miner and the stokes litter out of the shaft.

A thankful miner is brought up from underground.

The injured miner is now again in the care of Ambulance Officers to be transported to a hospital to receive medical care. The patient is usually taken too Lightning Ridge Health Service (an A&E only). The patient is further stabilised and following the arrival of a retrieval team, transported to a base hospital for further care.

An average of three mine accidents occur each year in the Lightning Ridge area. Despite suffering serious life threatening injuries most survive these accidents to return and continue their search for the black opal. Unfortunately, many miners have been killed over the years as a result of mining accidents and collapses in the Lightning Ridge area. If you are fortunate to visit the Lightning Ridge area, when visiting the opal fields, be on the lookout for open mine shafts and keep a close eye on children and you will be sure to enjoy your stay.