In view of the hostile environment and the isolation of the workplace the collier was more susceptible to accidents than any other workman in Britain. People working above ground rarely understood the problems below and it was a long time before the government introduced the required legislation to force owners to improve conditions and promote safety awareness. Since an underground worker in difficulty can only be helped by another underground worker it had long been desirable to have members of the work-team with an understanding of the principles of First Aid. The Miners Accidents (First Aid and Rescue Act) of 1910, made this requirement compulsory. The act demanded that “provision be made in all mines for the supply and maintenance of ambulance appliances and the training of men in ambulance work.”
By 1912, the death rate from accidents caused in mines had somewhat improved from the pitiful statistics of a few decades earlier. Despite this improvement one man continued to be killed for every five million tons of coal raised, while four hundred more were injured, many of a serious nature. It was evident that knowledge of First Aid was saving lives while ignorance was almost certainly sacrificing it, or at best causing unnecessary suffering and pain.
The act compelled every mining district to install and maintain a central rescue station, fully equipped with suitable appliances and trained men. It also demanded that every flat employing more than twenty men had to include at least one qualified ambulance worker. After new legislation even the most conservative owners understood the social and economical advantages available to those providing free training for those who volunteered.
Although ambulance classes for mine workers was inaugurated in 1878, they were initially self financing and in consequence restricted to management personnel. Mr G. H. Askew, Agent to Joseph Harris, was one of the graduates from the very first class held in Great Britain. Harris was a staunch advocate of promoting safety and encouraged his employees to attend classes. Local classes were introduced in 1890, and whereas they achieved initial success their popularity soon waned. Harris offered to provide a free site at No 5 pit to secure the siting of Cumberland’s first rescue station. This was eventually installed at Brigham at a cost of £5,000, funded according to means by all of the pit owners in the district. The chief lessons of the course were:
- The lifting of injured persons and the carrying of stretchers.
- The proper use of splints and bandages when treating fractured bones, with particular reference to the prevention of simple fractures becoming compound.
- To arrest haemorrhage and dress wounds.
- To understand the effects produced after the inhalation of the various gasses that may be present and how to treat persons that may have become overcome by them.
- The effect produced by electric shocks, how to handle the injured and avoid receiving shock also; and the method to be employed to resuscitate life.
The objectives of the course were to train rescue parties to penetrate the workings after a catastrophe; examples being an explosion, roof fall, fire or flood; and to assist in the work of reclaiming and saving property and life. The main proviso for team membership was a practical knowledge of coalmining and the ability to read plans and test for gas. Once a workman secured a certificate, he was eligible to join a brigade; normally comprising four men, one of whom acted as captain. Every brigade periodically underwent a course of training at the rescue station. The brigade could be called upon in the event of a disaster at not only their own but also at neighbouring pits. Every colliery had to have at least one brigade, larger ones like Aspatria had several and in the early 1930’s boasted a total of six. Each colliery had to have an ambulance of sorts. Men over fifty and men with large families were normally exempt. The men who undertook this dangerous work had to always be ready. At Aspatria the owner insured the members giving some security to their families in the event of death or serious injury.
The George Scoular Challenge Competition, an inter pit knockout competition, was inaugurated in 1901. Its purpose was not merely a means of winning trophies, but to prove by examination that the men could treat injuries. The contest became the blue ribbon of ambulance competitions in Cumberland and was conducted under the auspices of the Cumberland Mines and Quarries Centre of the St. John’s Ambulance Association. The competition open to every mine and quarry in Cumberland was split into four preliminary competitions with the top team advancing to the grand final. There were three parts to the examination and a total of 200 points. The tests were devised to simulate typical incidents found in the home or place of work. An oral test conducted in private carried Forty marks. In the practical individual test, the pupil was asked to treat a victim who was bleeding from the lungs or had suffered a fracture to the hip; this section carried eighty marks, twenty for each man. Finally, there was the stretcher bearing test which also carried eighty marks.
The success or failure of entries by early Aspatria brigades remain uncatalogued. However, we do know that a team reached the final stages in 1910. In the six-year period following the Great War the number of accidents nationwide remained staggering, 6,800 fatalities and over one million injuries, many of whom would most certainly have died had ambulance classes not been enforced. After the war the competition gained popularity. By 1933, the Brayton mines had their own competition involving six teams; a team from the Aspatria colliery won the competition on no less than six occasions, in 1925, ‘27, ‘28, ‘30, ‘31 and ‘33. After 1922, they were also represented in every final. They were runners up in 1922, ‘23, ‘24, ‘26, ‘27 and 28; placed fourth in 1927 and third in 1928; third and fourth in 1933. In 1928, teams from Aspatria set a remarkable record, when placed first, second and fourth. The winning team was captained by John Ben Holliday, a winner of three individual gold medals and assisted by E. Hillary, R. Dunglinson, and T. Reay. In 1933, the instructors were Robert Mansfield and J. B. Holliday, while the ‘A’ team was represented by W. B. Watson, T. Hewitson, J. Foster, and W. Wilson, with James Sowerby the patient. The Aspatria “C” team, who finished fourth, consisted of J. M. Stoddart, W. Varty, I. Oglanby and J. B. Holliday. The records between 1933, and 1938, are rather sketchy but Aspatria won the competition again in 1939, with a team represented by instructors, T. Hewitson and S. Foster, W. Wilson (captain), Fred Oliver and George Tunstall, with Geoff Simpson, patient.
The bravery of the team was highly commended by the county coroner in 1922 after making repeated attempts to rescue William Barnes from an area where the roof continued to collapse.
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