07.04.2022

The National Mine Safety and Health Academy (MSHA) in Beckley, West Virginia, USA, has unveiled the 12th International Mine Rescue Competition, IMRC 2020, to be held September 11-16, 2022.

With Covid-related restrictions completely lifted, the opportunity for the postponed pandemic 2020 International Mountain Rescue Competitions, IMRC 2020, is now available.

The concept of learning through competition has been the foundation of rescue organizations around the world for decades, while the philosophy of countries learning from each other has been the foundation since the first International Mountain Rescue Competition in 1999.

The original initiative to hold an international competition came from Poland after the tragedy in February 1998, which claimed the lives of six Polish mine rescuers.

The same tragedy led to the establishment of International Mine Rescue Body (IMRB), which continues to meet every two years to promote rescue and improve knowledge and practice of rescue through global cooperation.

The International Mine Rescue Competitions (IMRC) has grown in size and importance since Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Canada were represented at the first IMRC-1999 competition in Louisville, Kentucky. The competition was organized by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration and was won by an American team.

The highest number of participants in the International Mine Rescue Competitions were in 2014, 2016, and 2018.

Twenty-one teams representing 13 countries including Canada, Russia, China, Poland, Australia, Kazakhstan and other major mining countries competed at the 9th IMRC 2014 in Katowice, Poland in 2014. Other major mining countries including USA, Ukraine and Germany were represented by observers and guests.

In August 2016, some 27 mine rescue teams representing 13 countries continued the tradition of learning from each other at the 10th "IMRC-2016" competition in Sudbury, Canada.

The 11th "IMRC-2018" competition was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in September 2018, bringing together 25 teams from 12 countries. Every continent with active mining operations had at least one team participating. A team of mine rescuers from the Republic of Kazakhstan took third place in the overall team competition.

The 12th "IMRC-2020" competition will be held in West Virginia, USA in September 2022.

Competition оrganizers

The 2020 International Mines Rescue Competition is being organized by a dedicated committee of mining and mine safety and health professionals and experts from across the USA.

Competition Venue
The National Mine Health & Safety Academy in Beaver, West Virginia, USA (National Mine Health & Safety Academy 1301 Airport Rd, Beaver, WV 25813, United States) will be the main venue for the International Mine Rescue Competition "IMRC 2020".

Accommodation for competitors
The official hotel for the IMRC 2020 International Mine Rescue Competition is The Resort at Glade Springs.

IMRC 2020 Program and Schedule of Events
The schedule of events below is preliminary and subject to change.
Competition Events

International Mines Rescue Contest Teams must compete in at least five events. All teams must compete in
• Team Mine Rescue Simulation
• Team Firefighting
• Team First Aid
• Team Theory Examination and Team Technician

There will be two optional events; teams must compete in at least one of them. If teams choose to compete in all six events, they must choose one even to count toward total score. Note: the sixth (6th) event will not count toward total score, but the team can still be placed according to their score for the sixth event.

The two optional events are:
• Team High Angle Rope Rescue
• Team Mine Rescue Skills

Event selection is part of the application process.

At the 12th International Mine Rescue Competition "IMRC-2020" organizers of the competition plan to attract more than 20 teams from 12 countries, every continent where there is an active mining.