Information for those wishing to lead in underground environments.

CAVE RESCUE

1. STATISTICS

Figures provided by the British Rescue Council for 2009-2013

Nature of call out:

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Total Assisting Police 5 5 9 4 6 29 - - 3 - - 3 Exposure/Exhaustion - 2 2 - 1 5 Fall 2 2 9 5 4 22 Flooding 4 2 2 2 - 10 Hung Up (Suspended) 1 1 - - 1 3 Lost/Overdue 11 9 7 9 5 41 Marooned 1 - - - - 1 Medical Emergency 2 - 4 1 - 7 Missing Person 1 1 1 - - 3 Other 1 1 1 2 2 7 Physically Stuck 3 3 4 2 3 15 Rock Fall 1 1 1 1 1 5 Self Marooning - - - 1 - 1 Unable to Climb - - 1 1 - 2 Total 32 27 44 28 23 154

Types of Injuries

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Total Abdominal Injuries - 1 - - - 1 Arm/Shoulder/Humerus 2 - 2 - - 4 Chest Injuries - - 1 1 - 2 Drowned - - 2 - - 2 Exhaustion/Hypothermia 4 7 2 1 2 16 Femur/Pelvic Injuries - - 1 - - 1 Head Injuries 1 1 - - - 2 Knee Injuries - - 3 - - 3 Leg – Lower/Ankle - - 5 4 3 12 Lower Arm/Hand - - - - 1 1 Medical Condition 2 1 3 1 1 8 Other - 1 - - - 1 Spine/Back Injuries 1 - 1 2 - 4 Total 10 11 20 9 7 57

2. CALLOUT PROCEDURE

Ring 999 (or 112 from a mobile phone) and ask for the Police. When connected ask Police for . If you know the local team ask by name e.g. Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation.

Produced by the North Wales Panel of the LCMLA scheme Information for those wishing to lead in underground environments.

Give the following details:  Location and name of mine / cave  Location of incident within the mine / cave  Nature of accident  Time of accident  Nature of injuries  Total number in party and their location, e.g. 3 with casualty, 4 on surface  Telephone number from where you are calling

Obey further Police instructions. They will probably ask you to stay by the telephone in case the Cave Rescue Controller needs additional details or guidance to the entrance.

3. LONG WILL IT TAKE

Conducting a thought experiment as part of a LCMLA course or staff training event can be a good way of exploring the difficulties and decision making process of a real underground emergency. An average rescue incident in an average group cave or mine might be:

 Attend to casualty, 1st aid etc.. 30 mins  Exit mine for help 30 mins or more  Find signal or payphone and call Police 15 mins  Police contact Cave Rescue Controller 15 mins  Controller contacts team members 15 mins  Controller gains further information 15 mins  Team organises gear and travels to site 60 mins  Initial Team reaches casualty Potentially hours  Remaining team and kit arrive Potentially hours  Casualty removed from cave or mine Potentially hours  Casualty taken to hospital 60 mins

TOTAL = 4 + hours minimum, frequently far longer

Team arrival to an incident and casualty extraction times will vary greatly. A short cave with a known location for incident may require only a short time but a large system with missing cavers would need a big search and could take a very long time. Rescuers carrying gear or a casualty in a stretcher will move very slowly in all but the most simple of terrain.

4. FIRST AID

As a qualified leader you should and indeed must hold a valid first aid certificate for a course of at least 16 hours with an element of assessment. You priorities in a cave or mine rescue scenario are the same as in any other environment. They are to be considered in this order:

1. You - Look after yourself as your group is in real trouble without you. 2. Group – The remainder of the group need to be safe. 3. Casualty – Only when the safety of yourself and the group is confirmed do you move onto the casualty.

Produced by the North Wales Panel of the LCMLA scheme Information for those wishing to lead in underground environments. 5. PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITIONS

From the tables above you can see that a small but noteworthy percentage of cave rescue incidents are relating to medical conditions. These may take the form of undiagnosed conditions or sudden illnesses but are more commonly things that the individual will already be aware of. Pre-existing medical conditions can be taken for granted by the individual but it is vital that they notify the leader and bring along any medication they may require. The most common things we may encounter as leaders are Asthma, Epilepsy and Diabetes.

6. HYPOTHERMIA

It could take at least 5 hours to get a casualty to hospital, far longer if there are vertical pitches involved or if the entrance is remote. Anyone will feel cold.

Remember that hypothermia is a killer – treat it immediately.

The symptoms are:  Coldness / shivering  Slowness of movement  Slurred speech  Irritable behaviour  Pale skin

A common way of remembering symptoms is the ‘Umbles’ – Grumble, Stumble, Mumble, Fumble.

The treatment is:  Take casualty to spot where they can be kept warm and dry  Give warm drinks and food (NO ALCOHOL)  Put extra clothing on them  Place in survival bag  Put another person in with them to share body heat  Use a group shelter if space allows with team members in for body head and moral support  If hypothermia is in the very early stages or if there is an improvement after a short period, slowly walk them out. NEVER walk a casualty suffering from severe hypothermia – it can be fatal

Produced by the North Wales Panel of the LCMLA scheme