SAFETY: Canmet team invents better mine rescue stretcher

VAL D'OR — The team at the experimental mine belonging to Natural Resources Canada's Canmet Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories (Canmet MMSL) is dedicated to accident prevention. But when rescue is necessary, the team has invented a better stretcher for underground use.

During a regular mine rescue, a stretcher carried by four rescue workers is used to evacuate an injured person. A person’s weight makes the task difficult since miners, with their clothing and personal protective equipment, weigh on average 100 kg. In order to make the rescue workers’ task easier, the experimental mine team designed and produced a collapsible stretcher-carrier with large wheels and brakes. After several tries, they motorized the stretcher-carrier, further reducing the rescue workers’ manual efforts.

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