Orientation to Cave Rescue

The weekend of September 14 – 15, found 16 cavers and fire-rescue personnel working together in classroom and cave for an Orientation to Cave Rescue course provided by the NCRC. Instructors were the regional coordinator for the NCRC, Tim White and his very knowledgeable assistant Berta. The course was a great introduction to the basics of cave rescue including logistics, planning, and implementation.

The first day was spent at the Hawthorne Fire Station with Tim giving lectures and slide presentations along with discussions on the general considerations for any would be caver or fire-rescue person that may be called out on a cave rescue.

This included topics such as:
• What to always have ready in your cave pack.
• What things to expect when arriving on a cave rescue scene
• How to deal with the set-up and implementation of an incident command
• Basic gear for rescue situations

Much was learned in the first half of the day and later after lunch we reconvened in the station house bay area to practice with skeds, ferno stretchers and packaging.

The next day found us all out at Bat Cave for some mock rescue practice. The first order of business was a dry run through a typical search and rescue call out and setting up an incident command. After the dry run it was time to put into practice what we had learned. Teams were formed, communication lines were laid and "Hasty Teams" were sent in to search for the patient. Once the injured caver was located, the hasty teams were recalled and the initial response team was sent in. Communication lines were in place we moved all the equipment inside the cave. The entire group then followed in and began packaging the patient and moving through different areas of the cave for practice. All of us got a chance to participate in each aspect of packaging and hauling and guiding the operation. A few lucky (?) ones go to ride the ferno and be the patient. We went over rocks, down tight passages and through the water.

The last test of the day involved getting the patient out through the old historic entrance of Bat Cave. If you have been this way you know it can be a little tight. Well it gets a lot tighter if you are trying to move a ferno with a caver strapped to it. Sarah was the willing volunteer for this ride. The team did great and we even got the patient all the way out and up the sinkhole entrance safely. We even managed to get past the angry swarm of wasp that appeared near the entrance gate with Sarah still strapped in. This is when you get to hear the command, "For Real." This means it’s no longer a drill and there is a real problem. The wasp were a bit of a problem but no one got stung. Wendy did get a nasty cave bite when the ferno fell and mashed her thumb but she kept it moving.

Special Thanks to Tim and Berta for coming down from Atlanta for the weekend and to Sarah Cervone for setting all this up and to all the cavers and Fire-Rescue personnel who came out to learn and work together.

For Real!