CRO
Member
We had a busy day yesterday, busy but very successful.
We received a call to assist an injured caver who had fallen down a pitch in Aquamole Pot in Kingsdale. A hasty party of team members went underground with first aid and emergency equipment to assess the casualty and report back as to what additional kit was required and also the extraction plan. Additional cavers followed with extra equipment and a surface team prepared a hauling system at the cave entrance.
The casualty was treated for leg, pelvic and possible lumbar injuries before being packaged in a drag stretcher. Due to space restrictions in the cave, the casualty was initially hauled using a counter balance technique where a team member is effectively attached to the same rope as the casualty and is used as ?ballast? to assist the other team members hauling the stretcher up the pitch of the cave. Once the casualty was suitably far enough towards the surface, he was attached to the surface hauling system which utilised a tripod over the cave entrance to assist in bringing the casualty up the final vertical entrance pitch.
Due to the nature of the casualty?s injuries, we requested the assistance of our friends at Yorkshire Air Ambulance who performed some superb flying in very tough conditions and some equally superb casualty care. After an initial assessment on the fell, the casualty was loaded into Helimed 98 and transported to LGI for further treatment.
The weather was a bit on the grim side towards the end of the incident so we didn?t waste much time de-rigging our kit and getting off the fell as soon as we possibly could.
We would also like to thank Louise and John, two Nottingham University Caving Club members who stopped their planned trip and came to assist us in hauling the casualty to the surface.
https://cro.org.uk/incident-11-2020-feb-29th-sat-12-50hrs-aquamole-pot-kingsdale-cave-incident/
Not long after team members had got home from the previous Kingsdale shout, we had a ?standby*? for some possible missing cavers at Alum pot. Fortunately the team was soon stood down when the cavers were able to inform their callout contact that they were out and safe, and we were able to relax for the evening. Or so we thought........
https://cro.org.uk/incident-12-2020-feb-29th-sat-19-50hrs-alum-pot-selside-cave-incident/
* Actually counted as an incident, because a team member went to Alum Pot looking for the vehicle belonging to the group.
The third, and thankfully final callout of a very busy Saturday for the team. We were called to assist a caver who had reportedly become stuck at a rebelay. After spending several hours trying to remedy his situation he had understandably become very tired and cold. Fellow cavers from the same group but a different party managed to get a knife to the casualty who was then able to cut himself free from his cows tail and descend the rope to the bottom of the pitch. CRO team members found the caver cold and exhausted and after treating him for mild hypothermia, he was assisted back up the pitch via a hauling system of ropes. Once on the surface, he, and his companions were able to make their own way back down to their vehicles. The CRO team members then returned back to the depot to replenish CRO1 (our cave rescue specific vehicle) for the second time that day.
Our best wishes to the casualty - hopefully he is none the worse for his experience. And also, a huge well done to the team - you all really did pull out all of the the stops yesterday.
https://cro.org.uk/incident-13-2020-feb-29th-sat-22-15hrs-rowten-pot-kingsdale-cave-incident/
The pictures are from the first incident at Aquamole. At this rate, we will actually be attending more caving incidents than surface incidents for the first time in many years!
We received a call to assist an injured caver who had fallen down a pitch in Aquamole Pot in Kingsdale. A hasty party of team members went underground with first aid and emergency equipment to assess the casualty and report back as to what additional kit was required and also the extraction plan. Additional cavers followed with extra equipment and a surface team prepared a hauling system at the cave entrance.
The casualty was treated for leg, pelvic and possible lumbar injuries before being packaged in a drag stretcher. Due to space restrictions in the cave, the casualty was initially hauled using a counter balance technique where a team member is effectively attached to the same rope as the casualty and is used as ?ballast? to assist the other team members hauling the stretcher up the pitch of the cave. Once the casualty was suitably far enough towards the surface, he was attached to the surface hauling system which utilised a tripod over the cave entrance to assist in bringing the casualty up the final vertical entrance pitch.
Due to the nature of the casualty?s injuries, we requested the assistance of our friends at Yorkshire Air Ambulance who performed some superb flying in very tough conditions and some equally superb casualty care. After an initial assessment on the fell, the casualty was loaded into Helimed 98 and transported to LGI for further treatment.
The weather was a bit on the grim side towards the end of the incident so we didn?t waste much time de-rigging our kit and getting off the fell as soon as we possibly could.
We would also like to thank Louise and John, two Nottingham University Caving Club members who stopped their planned trip and came to assist us in hauling the casualty to the surface.
https://cro.org.uk/incident-11-2020-feb-29th-sat-12-50hrs-aquamole-pot-kingsdale-cave-incident/
Not long after team members had got home from the previous Kingsdale shout, we had a ?standby*? for some possible missing cavers at Alum pot. Fortunately the team was soon stood down when the cavers were able to inform their callout contact that they were out and safe, and we were able to relax for the evening. Or so we thought........
https://cro.org.uk/incident-12-2020-feb-29th-sat-19-50hrs-alum-pot-selside-cave-incident/
* Actually counted as an incident, because a team member went to Alum Pot looking for the vehicle belonging to the group.
The third, and thankfully final callout of a very busy Saturday for the team. We were called to assist a caver who had reportedly become stuck at a rebelay. After spending several hours trying to remedy his situation he had understandably become very tired and cold. Fellow cavers from the same group but a different party managed to get a knife to the casualty who was then able to cut himself free from his cows tail and descend the rope to the bottom of the pitch. CRO team members found the caver cold and exhausted and after treating him for mild hypothermia, he was assisted back up the pitch via a hauling system of ropes. Once on the surface, he, and his companions were able to make their own way back down to their vehicles. The CRO team members then returned back to the depot to replenish CRO1 (our cave rescue specific vehicle) for the second time that day.
Our best wishes to the casualty - hopefully he is none the worse for his experience. And also, a huge well done to the team - you all really did pull out all of the the stops yesterday.
https://cro.org.uk/incident-13-2020-feb-29th-sat-22-15hrs-rowten-pot-kingsdale-cave-incident/
The pictures are from the first incident at Aquamole. At this rate, we will actually be attending more caving incidents than surface incidents for the first time in many years!
