Hello everyone, My name is DJ Walker and I live in Austin Texas. In May ’07 I accepted the position of Regional Coordinator of the National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC) of the NSS. I have fielded several requests to post my contact information on Cave-Tex for cave rescue related issues. Where I feel this may be somewhat appropriate, I did not want to post my phone number with any impression that it would be, or that I perceive it to be, the end all phone number for Cave Rescue in Texas or the South-Central Region of the US. Several issues ago in the Texas Caver I submitted an article about what to do in the event of a caving accident. I cut and pasted it below. Toward the end, it suggests to contact local authorities in the event that outside assistance is deemed necessary. I would like to stress the importance of this. The NCRC is not a response team and I as a representative of NCRC can only provide assistance if the local authorities accept that offer. Ultimately it is the responsibility of the local authorities to provide emergency services. My contact information is below. If I can be of any assistance please feel free to give me a call or shoot me an e-mail. Thanks and Cave Safe, DJ Walker South-Central Regional Coordinator National Cave Rescue Commission
PO Box 90146 Austin, TX 78709 512-751-6010 wakefir...@yahoo.com A quick look at how to deal with a caving accident As cavers we always try to keep safety as a priority. Though we attempt to cave safely the possibility of accidents is ever present. As reported in the National Speleological Society (NSS) publication American Caveing Accidents, many caveing accidents occur every year. The April 2000 issue Part 2, statistics report that a total of 808 reported accidents with a yearly average of 61 reported accidents occurred between years 1986-1998. 90% of those accidents were fatalities or required aid from other people to exit the cave. It is important to note that these are only the reported accidents that occurred. Many accidents happen and are not reported. With these numbers, and imagining the number of caving trip taken, it could be surmised that we are, in general, very safe and take measures to minimize injury. But they also tell use the sobering truth, accidents do happen. In the event of an accident, what are you going to do? What steps should be taken? Before we embark on what to do after an accident occurs we should take a moment and address accident prevention. The best way to deal with an accident is not to have one at all. Take note of a few safety tips: 1. Pack your equipment appropriately. Keep emergency and first aid equipment available and pack stuff to sustain yourself longer than your planed trip time. 2. Be proactive with Safety Checks. Have a buddy do a safety check of your gear, and safety check your buddies. Make sure vertical gear is on properly and that all equipment is in working order and ready for use. 3. Always double check rigging. More than one person checking rigging ensures mistakes are kept to a minimum. 4. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Protect climbs, rigg approach lines, know what’s below you, etc… 5. Always let someone know of your plans. Letting someone know about your plans and an itinerary can benefit you in the long run by allowing Search and Rescue personnel to locate you faster. Even with all of the accident prevention in the world, the reality is that accidents happen. This is not intended to be a guide for cave rescue techniques or accident management. Rather it is a list of suggestions about appropriate actions to take. For more information about cave rescue contact The National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC). The NCRC received its charter from the NSS in 1979, and serves as the Society’s representative on issues of cave rescue training and operations. It is a volunteer group developed primarily to train and track cave rescue resources throughout the United States. The NCRC is specifically NOT a functional cave rescue team, rather it provides training and development opportunities for persons and organizations engaged in cave rescue activities. Thus, while many of the persons associated with the NCRC perform rescues, they do this as members of their local rescue squads, civil defense units, or cave rescue groups. The NCRC is a component of the Department of the Administrative Vice-President of the NSS. When the unexpected happens and an accident occurs the first thing to remember is stay calm. The accident may be serious but if composure is not kept it could become catastrophic. There is nothing getting excited or angry is going to do to help the situation. In fact it could have ill effects on the outcome. So what to do now? Many decisions need to be made and some need to be made in a timely fashion. Here are a few suggestions on how to manage an accident: Make access to the victim safety. Don’t become a patient also. Realize if someone else got hurt doing something the chances of you or others getting hurt doing the same thing are pretty high. How did their accident occur? (rappelled off the end of the rope, rock fall with other rocks unstable, etc…) Do not have the same accident. Try and prevent your outcome from being the same as theirs. Do a Severity Evaluation. Once an accident occurs the severity of the accident needs to be evaluated. Is it just a sprained ankle or a fatality? If it is a fatality it is important to understand the law recognizes the area as a crime scene. Your best option in the event of a fatality is not to disturb the area (except to check for life and attempt to perform any life saving measures). Leave equipment as you found it and don’t remove anything from the deiced. Take pictures if you have a camera. This may aid in any investigation law enforcement may want to do. Document anything and everything you saw, heard, smelled, or felt as soon as you can. If it is not a fatality, how severe are the injuries (i.e. life threatening or minor brakes and scratches). Try and provide some kind of medical care. At the same time determine if outside help will be needed. If out side help is needed and there are enough people in the party send someone out for help. Start devising an exit strategy. Provide Medical Care. I am not going to go in-depth about medical treatment or patient management. If you are interested in learning more about medical care take a first aid class. I would suggest some sort of wilderness first aid/first responder training. Wilderness medicine has distinct differences from your basic street medicine. Medical training could prove to be priceless. Basic first aid starts with ABC’s (A-airway B-breathing C-circulation). Airway- Ensure they have an open airway that allows them to breath. Breathing- How is their breathing; fast, slow, shallow, full? Can we do anything to help this? Circulation- How is their circulatory system? Is their pulse rate fast or slow? Are they bleeding? If they are bleeding apply direct pressure and attempt to stop it. If they have broken bones splint the joint above and below. If there is suspected spinal injuries minimize spinal movement. Assess their mobility. Can they help with self rescue? Determine if self rescue/aided evacuation is possible. If the victim can aid in their evacuation by all means let them help. Evacuating someone that has to be carried by hand or in a litter complicates and increases the difficulty by many times. The amount of people required to safety and efficiently move a litter any distance is more than your normal caving party. It would take 8 to 10 or more people to tackle this task and possibly many more depending on distance and terrain. If the victim just has a sprained or possibly broken ankle, have them crawl or limp out aided by other cavers in the party. Who to call for help. If it is determined that outside help is needed, someone should be sent to call 911 or the local Sheriffs Department. Some areas of Texas, as well as other areas of the US, have the resources to adequately respond to most caving accidents. Unfortunately this may not always be the case. It is pertinent that you inform the dispatcher or Sheriff of the details about the cave environment witch the accident involves. You may suggest calling the NCRC Regional Coordinator for information about cave rescue resources in the area. Once you have notified the local authorities. You may choose to call the NCRC Regional Coordinator yourself and inform him/her of your situation. He/she can interface with the local jurisdiction and aid in the decision making process during the incident. Understand that NCRC is not a cave rescue team the Regional Coordinator will only offer cave rescue resources and can only act if given the permission to do so by the local authority. Currently the NCRC Regional Coordinator is DJ Walker. He can be reached at 512-751-6010. The Regional Coordinator changes from time to time. Up to date information about NCRC, Regional Coordinators throughout the US, as well as other cave rescue information can be found at ncrc.info. As stated earlier the best way to deal with an accident is not to have one at all. Accidents are few and far between but be prepared for the unexpected. Come check out a NCRC seminar. They can be very informative and a lot of fun. See the web site for the next class offering (ncrc.info). Cave safe and hope to see you around.
