The real-life value of safety shares was on full display at PDAC

Safety. Collaboration. Technology. And most of all, taking care of one another while placing people first were all themes that stood out during the MINEXCHANGE 2026 SME Annual Conference & Expo as well as at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in late February and early March. These themes played out in real life in the most dramatic, terrifying and ultimately amazing way on the exhibit floor of PDAC when several geologists working at the Government of Quebec’s booth jumped into action to save the life of a colleague who suffered a cardiac arrest while sitting nearby. As geologists, Andrea Amortegui and James Moorhead are required to complete extensive CPR and first-aid training courses every two years. Their training prepares them for things like broken bones in the field, encounters with wildlife, hypothermia and lacerations. They did not think they would need such skills while shaking hands and speaking with attendees about the benefits of investing in the Quebec mining sector, but when the time came, they did not hesitate. Amortegui was one of the first people to act, quickly recognizing the severity of the situation. Her training, along with that of Moorhead and others who took over, came to the fore as they worked as a team to begin life-saving CPR measures. “We were all a bit stunned but she (Amortegui) was the first one to respond,” Moorhead told me. He spoke as the senior-level person and for Amortegui, whose first language is French. “We moved him first to the security position but then she realized he wasn’t breathing.” Amortegui took over and quickly began to assign duties — she directed one person to call 9-1-1, and another to find security and another to find an automated external defibrillator, commonly called an AED. This is where things could have been derailed had it not been for Amortegui’s situational awareness. The Metro Toronto Convention Center is huge, like any other convention center. The exhibit floor is three levels below the entrance level and getting there requires three escalators that are jam-packed with people during the week of PDAC. This year there were more than 32,000 attendees. Quebec’s booth was near the back of the hall, just a short distance from the SME booth. In a moment of panic and in a crowded room, searching for an AED without direction could have been catastrophic; however, because her father had suffered cardiac arrest and due to her regular training, Amortegui said she always makes a point of locating exits and AEDs in every place she goes. She directed Moorhead and others to the lobby outside the exhibit hall where she had seen an AED on a wall. She continued with CPR measures while others raced to find the AED. When a third attempt to shock the man’s heart back to life with the AED did not yield the desired results, Moorhead said he felt his own heart sink. “I really thought we had lost him.” The geologists did not give up hope and continued with what would prove to be life-saving efforts until finally, members of the Toronto Fire Department arrived through a loading dock in the back of the hall.Soon after, the man began breathing on his own and was later transferred to a Toronto area hospital, where I am told a stent was placed in his heart and he was expected to make a full recovery. During the SME Health & Safety Division Executive Committee meeting on Feb. 22 in Salt Lake City, UT, Lori Guasta spoke about the importance of safety shares and leaving the message at the top of mind.In 2016, while chair of the Health & Safety Division, she shared her thoughts with readers of Mining Engineering, writing then, “Far too often, after a safety share is offered, the volunteer is thanked for his or her contribution, and then attention moves directly to a separate topic or to the main purpose (or agenda) for the meeting. This familiar practice can devalue the safety share, not to mention the time and attention invested in the process.” Guasta has since suggested, and the Health & Safety Division has adopted, the practice of presenting a safety share at the end of the meeting with the belief that the information people are most recently exposed to is more likely to stay on the front-of-mind awareness. I admit that I have been guilty of not taking a safety share to heart, but after what I witnessed in Toronto I will be sure to check my surroundings for exits and the location of AEDs. I hope this safety share leaves you with a reminder to always be aware of your surroundings so that we can continue to take care of one another.

The real-life value of safety shares was on full display at PDAC

Authored by: William Gleason

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