Miners Trapped In WV Coal Mine

[Details]

I understand. I just wanted to make the point that it's not always so simple as it sounds - it could be something so expensive or slow to install as to make mining unprofitable and eliminate all the jobs, or some such. Or it could be sufficiently fragile that any mine disaster that it was useful in would also destroy the wireless installations (I'm assuming that the only way to make wireless work in the mines is basically to put in every few hundred feet a mini-wireless tower).


We'll see what the companies and gov't can come up with, hopefully there is a solution. It'd save a lot of rescuers lives if they could know for sure when people are alive and when they are not, when to take a risk and when not to and what the conditions are at the other end (at one mine disaster 11 rescuers were killed when they went in too fast).

I hope there's a solution, but it's never so easy as it seems - if it was easy, the mining companies would probably have implemented it in at least some mines, just for the cost savings in insurance and payouts to injured miners. The question is, is it merely difficult, or is it downright impossible (given profit margins, equipment effectiveness and durability).

 

[indigomood]

Sago Mine was repeat offender, inspectors said...

Managers of the Sago Mine repeatedly ignored or simply missed hazardous roof conditions and dangerous buildups of combustible materials during required safety checks, according to federal records released Tuesday.

Federal inspectors cited Sago over and over for serious violations of roof control rules, explosion prevention measures and other safety lapses.

But more importantly, safety experts say, the Sago Mine management was found by government inspectors to be unwilling or incapable of properly checking the mine’s conditions before workers went underground.

link to article

 

[indigomood]

Please Note:
Because of the large volume of requests for public information regarding the Sago Mine, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has decided in response to this overwhelming request for public information to begin a process of scanning and reviewing the most frequently sought documents related to the mine. Some of these documents must be reviewed for applicable FOIA exemptions (for example, all Social Security numbers or personal telephone numbers will not be released), and all documents will need to be properly prepared for viewing. As documents are prepared and reviewed, they will placed in this temporary reading room file. The agency intends for this posting to be a convenience to the public seeking information and the MSHA staff who must process the large number of requests that are pending.

Mine Safety and Health Administration - Link

 

[Shadow205]

This appeared in a Chicago Newspaper

 

[ember]

This appeared in a Chicago Newspaper

Ain't it the truth! That's why the Sun is yellow and the sky is blue!
They don't call it almost heaven for nothing!
Beautiful way to tribute...love that!
West Virginian, I'm proud to be!

 

[indigomood]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181426,00.html

Williams visited privately with Randal McCloy Jr. and his family at Ruby Memorial Hospital.

 

[ember]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181426,00.html

Williams visited privately with Randal McCloy Jr. and his family at Ruby Memorial Hospital.

Gotta love ol' Hank! He is classic!
Guess he figured he needed to see the embodiment of his song "A Country Boy Can Survive"
Good karma on Hank!
Blessings to Randy!

 

[T'sNana]

Yeah, I saw an interview with Anna McCloy and Randy McCloy's doctor...Hank was on the phone and promised to come visit. Being the way Hank is...he did it privately, which speaks VOLUMES about Hank Jr. KUDOS!

 

[Liz]

http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=7968

Posted 1/12/2006 06:00 AM

Mine explosion survivor shows considerable brain wave activity, doctors say

MORGANTOWN -- Encouraged by slow but continuing signs of organ recovery, doctors for Sago mine explosion survivor Randal McCloy Jr. began to talk Jan. 10 about brain function.

<snip>

After receiving treatment at both Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown and Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, McCloy was returned to Ruby Jan. 7.

While McCloy was in a moderate coma Jan. 9 and his condition remained critical, doctors noted improved organ functioning and responsiveness to painful stimuli and were "generally optimistic, or guardedly optimistic, and encouraged," said Julian Bailes, chief of neurosurgery at Ruby.

<snip>

Along the spectrum of recovery from prolonged carbon monoxide poisoning, a best-case scenario would be minimal memory and attention problems that possibly could fade over time, Cody said.

A worst-case scenario would be failure to emerge from the coma.

"So the first thing we want to see is for him to come out of the coma," he said.

<snip>

At a press conference Jan. 10, Bailes reported that, while a test detected some damage in McCloy's brain to the white matter, or the fiber tracks that enable brain cells to communicate with each other, it showed considerable brain wave activity on both sides of his brain.

>>> more at link

 

[Michelle Read]

There is a tribute to the miners on people.com's website, with photos of the deceased. It really shows the human side of these men. Click on the "next" link to view all photos.

http://people.aol.com/people/galleries/0,19884,1148588,00.html

 

[indigomood]

There is a tribute to the miners on people.com's website, with photos of the deceased. It really shows the human side of these men. Click on the "next" link to view all photos.

http://people.aol.com/people/galleries/0,19884,1148588,00.html

Thanks for the link Michelle Read, that was very heartwarming... and sad

 

[PrayersForMaura]

There is a tribute to the miners on people.com's website, with photos of the deceased. It really shows the human side of these men. Click on the "next" link to view all photos.

http://people.aol.com/people/galleries/0,19884,1148588,00.html

That was so so so so so very sad
I can't imagine what those families are going through. Each picture and caption told a different story and I just could not imagine each families heartache and the void they must feel. I was very curious about the one that mentioned that they asked for no further information to be released about him.

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Forensic Clues Could Explain Mine Disaster

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - They will probably look for scorch marks and melted plastic, examine equipment for signs of a short-circuit, establish whether the methane detectors were working and take air samples to check for highly combustible coal dust.

They will also take notice of where the bodies lay, track the victims' footprints and perhaps look for farewell notes in the miners' lunch pails.

Sometime in the next few days, once the toxic gases in the Sago Mine have cleared, federal and state investigators will go in and begin gathering forensic clues in an effort to establish exactly what touched off the deadly explosion and how the victims spent their final hours.

At the same time, investigators on the outside will pore through safety records and interview just about everyone connected with the mine &#8212; inspectors, managers and coal miners alike.

The blast Jan. 2 killed one miner and spread carbon monoxide that slowly asphyxiated 11 other men 260 feet below ground as they waited in the farthest reaches of the mine to be rescued. Establishing how the tragedy unfolded will be something akin to the way highway patrol officers try to reconstruct a car accident.

"It's the same approach, in that every bit of evidence is very crucial," said Richard Begley, a former mine boss, now an engineering professor at Marshall University.

Much more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060113/ap_on_re_us/mine_explosion_investigation;_ylt=AhAHDWcsJIqsQRUu2AbR2CRvzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

 

[nanandjim]

There is a tribute to the miners on people.com's website, with photos of the deceased. It really shows the human side of these men. Click on the "next" link to view all photos.

http://people.aol.com/people/galleries/0,19884,1148588,00.html

They seem like a really nice bunch of guys. Thanks for posting.

 

[scandi]

Yes, thanks Michelle for that link.

I came over hoping to see if there is any news on Randy about how he is doing. Has anyone heard anything at all in the last few days?



Scandi

 

[indigomood]

link to article

National Enquirer runs photo of Randal McCloy
*snippet*

On Wednesday, McCloy had two surgical procedures -- a tracheotomy was performed, and a feeding tube was placed into McCloy's stomach, according to doctors at WVU Hospitals.

A tracheotomy involves a surgical incision in the neck, generally for a breathing tube. McCloy's tracheotomy includes a short tracheal tube that replaces the longer breathing tube that had been in his throat since last week, according to a WVU Hospitals news release.

"Getting the tube out of the mouth and throat reduces the chance of infections in his throat," Case said.

Case said he does not know if fevers McCloy experienced earlier this week were due to the breathing tube.

McCloy remains in critical but stable condition at Ruby Memorial Hospital. He remains in a coma.

Dr. Larry Roberts, director of the Michael Moore Trauma Center at WVU Hospitals, reported Thursday afternoon that McCloy's overall condition remains essentially unchanged.

 

[indigomood]

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/s_413087.html


Doctors operated on Randal McCloy Jr., the only miner rescued from the Sago Mine disaster, to make him more comfortable, the West Virginia hospital where he is being cared for announced Thursday.
McCloy, 26, received a tube in his neck to help him breathe and a feeding tube in his stomach to provide nourishment, according to Dr. Larry Roberts, head of the trauma center at West Virginia University Hospitals. Before the operation, the tubes went through his mouth and nose.

"They are trying to make him more comfortable and protect him from infection," said hospital spokeswoman Sandra Overbey, adding that McCloy wasn't stable enough for the operation earlier.

He has been showing brain activity similar to that of someone sleeping.

 

[scandi]

Thanks Indigo for the reply. He's in God's hands to be healed now and am so thankful he has had this wonderful care.

I really want to see him come out of his coma and live because I think he tried very hard to stay alive in that mine, knowing that his healthy body had a real chance if he was found soon enough. He must have known the other men were thinking the end was near for them as they wrote their notes to their loved ones. To think of the agony. After just viewing Michelles link, I see how they all felt as though they were family.


Scandi

 

[indigomood]

Thanks Indigo for the reply. He's in God's hands to be healed now and am so thankful he has had this wonderful care.

I really want to see him come out of his coma and live because I think he tried very hard to stay alive in that mine, knowing that his healthy body had a real chance if he was found soon enough. He must have known the other men were thinking the end was near for them as they wrote their notes to their loved ones. To think of the agony. After just viewing Michelles link, I see how they all felt as though they were family.


Scandi

:blowkiss:

 

[Linda7NJ]

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/s_413087.html
EDITED



He has been showing brain activity similar to that of someone sleeping.

If this is true. it's terrific news.