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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - This thing keeps you alive, Steve Millar told a group of Aurora College students.

"It's called a BG-4," he said. "Make sure the hair is out of your face. It has to create a seal inside your mask."

Brennan Debassige wipes the moisture from inside the mask of his BG-4 – a self-contained breathing apparatus used in underground mine rescue operations. - Ben Morgan/NNSL photo

The BG-4 is a self-contained, closed-circuit breathing apparatus. It recycles air and allows a person to breath inside a contaminated environment, such as a mine after a fire.

"It's used in every mine in the NWT," he said.

Millar is safety supervisor at Giant Mine. This summer he's been teaching basic mine rescue to a group of 18 students from Aurora College - a 40-hour course done at Giant Mine. Late last month he was teaching the students how to operate the BG-4 breathing device.

"In general, people going into a mine are taught basic mine survival which is only eight hours long," said Millar. "These guys learn that in addition to a lot of other stuff."

The students are enrolled in the underground mine training program at the college, a 12-week training program offered by the school.

Kate Bruce, one of the program instructors, said the school's program is co-ordinated with the help of the mining industry, the mine training society and all levels of government.

"This will put them in a position to apply for entry-level positions at underground mines," said Bruce.

She said students are eligible for the GNWT's student financial assistance program and several students get additional funding from their community governments as well.

"Over the time we've had to work with each other we learned our strengths and weaknesses, so we can help each other out," said student Shawn Catholique.

Millar said he wants his students to get used to the breathing gear so they understand how to operate the equipment and get comfortable working together while wearing the devices.

"If someone has a problem with their gear in a rescue operation, that's it. The whole team has to abort and return to the surface," he said.

Millar said when a rescue team enters a mine there are six members - a liaison team leader stays on the surface and a five-member team goes underground. He said all underground mine work must be supported by a rescue team.

"Whether they were mining or if they were scientists, it doesn't matter, you still have to go and get them and you must have the ability to use this equipment to go and do that," said Millar.

Millar said rehabilitation of any facility requires that someone go down and ensure it's safe for regular employees to go back to work, and that would probably involve wearing the BG-4.