Cave Rescue

[billy]

Who's completed a cave rescue program? Are there any correlations to confined space rescue. What are the similarities and differences?

[EPFD-AL]

I was a paid firefighter in the mid 70s and when funds and schedules permitted my Chief sent us off for all types of specialized training such as bomb disposal, hostage, and for cave and mine rescue. The mine rescue seminar was strictly an audio visual lecture with some show and tell which stressed the existance of dangerous gases and of cave in.
It didn't cover many things I had expected such as; SOPs, shoring, cribbing, gaining access, or even a how-to on locating the victims. The cave rescue course came about after some students got lost exploring caves somewhere in Morris County NJ. It was an excellent presentation which stressed hypothermia, fatigue, lighting, animals that live in caves (snakes, etc) and all types of rope work; ascending, rappelling, and descending, all vertical rescue issues were well covered, MUCH LIKE CONFINED SPACE. Both the mine rescue and cave rescue courses were short lived due to lack of interest, and I'm sure that equipment and tactics have much improved in the 22 years since I went to the courses, but I found a book that greatly resembles the cave rescue course I attended: Manual of US Cave Rescue Techniques by Steve Hudson.