Mining & ExplosivesMine rescue after a collapse: how the teams work
Every underground mine in the U.S. must have at least two mine rescue teams ready whenever miners are underground. This guide follows MSHA's rules, 30 CFR Part 49, and its official mine rescue contest rules.
Free to startWho is on a team
Each team has five members and an alternate. To join, a person must have worked underground for at least one year in the past five, pass a yearly physical certified by a physician and complete an initial 20-hour course on the breathing apparatus.
Entering and advancing
The captain checks each member's apparatus and a member checks the captain's; the first stop comes no more than 50 feet in and the check repeats at least every 20 minutes. The team tests the roof, ribs and gas at every opening, never travels through water over knee deep, and in smoke everyone holds or is fastened to the lifeline.
Survivors and the map
A barricade is not breached into a deadly atmosphere without clearing it first, and survivors get breathing protection to travel through bad air. Every face, stopping, fire, barricade and person found goes on the map. Practice the rescue free with Blocky.
Official sources
The law for mine rescue teams
30 CFR Part 49 sets who can join a team, the yearly physical, the 20-hour initial course, the refresher hours, the station equipment and how far the team can be from the mine.
The contest rules that guide real rescues
The 2026 Mine Rescue Contest Rules describe every step of a rescue problem underground, and the MSHA Mine Rescue Instruction Guides are the training materials for teams and instructors.
Quecreek and the 33 of Chile
The MSHA Quecreek investigation report tells how nine miners came out alive in Pennsylvania in 2002, and the NASA Chilean Miners Rescue oral histories tell how NASA helped bring the 33 miners up in Chile in 2010.
Making Synapses is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by MSHA, NASA or any mine rescue association. Agency names are named only to describe the content.