mon am helicopter heros on now

me

Active member
Great work by the CRO  (y) showed how professional they are.

What is the story behind the rescue ? (one can always learn something especially where ropes are concerned)

And who let the presenter underground with a silly hat with no straps  :thumbsdown:

It's as bad as the British Equestrian team exercising their horses with no hats on at all  :eek:

 

barrabus

New member
Here is the iplayer link (which will probably only work for the next week):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0150my0/Helicopter_Heroes_Series_5_Episode_6/

The caving incident starts about 27 minutes in.

The CRO report can be read here:

http://www.cro.org.uk/2010 (incident number 51).

Sep 11 [2010] Sat 15.13 Diccan Pot, North Yorkshire - Cave Rescue
A caver (m, 39) abseiling down the first pitch in Diccan Pot in high water conditions became hung up under the waterfall. His novice companions raised the alarm but were uncertain about his location. A search of Long Churn Caves and Diccan Pot found him half way down the pitch. CRO descended to him before hauling him to the top and out to the surface. Following treatment for hypothermia the casualty was airlifted to hospital by air ambulance.

Also, the caver (black helmet) interviewed with Alum Pot shaft in the background is Duncan Morrison (not Paul Nicholls as the caption says), the next interviewee (red helmet) is of course the real Paul Nicholls.
 

me

Active member
So do we know what 'hung up' means?  Did the volume of water stop a piece of equipment working? Did something get trapped in it? (debris coming over the waterfall?)

So is more knowledge usefull or does it add to the fear and therefore make you more nervous and prone to mistakes  :-\
 

Alex

Well-known member
Incident 51 on last years list, I pressume. That show also seemed to have featured incident 55.

As for the silly helmet given to the presenter, that was because he was merely in a show cave, I noticed some signs in the background.
 

Fulk

Well-known member
So do we know what 'hung up' means?

A good question; and did he get 'hung up' as a result of being cold and wet . . . or did he get cold and wet as a result of being hung up? I dare say the CRO guys who were there at the time could answer these questions.
 

Alex

Well-known member
If I recall correctly the CRO guys in the film said there was no way to continue upwards. Though that does beg the querstion why he did not descend, perhaps the water was even worse below? Having been down there the only shelter I can think of would be the traverse over the last pitch. Quite a way to go in those difficult conditions.

He was in the water for over an hour, that amazed me I thought you had about 10 minutes max.
 

Roger W

Well-known member
So you could get "hung up" simply by getting too cold to use your ascenders?  And quite quickly too, from those tables.
 

damian

Active member
My understanding at the time was that he abseiled down a rope that was too short - intending to pull-through - and had no ascending gear. Please note, though, that this is not first-hand information.
 

dunc

New member
damian said:
My understanding at the time was that he abseiled down a rope that was too short - intending to pull-through - and had no ascending gear. Please note, though, that this is not first-hand information.
If that's the case he's probably learnt an easy lesson a rather hard way!
 

JJ

Member
Another bit about CRO on Helicopter Heroes today about 9.40min in.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0150p3z/Helicopter_Heroes_Series_5_Episode_10/

This is the incident from the CRO website

Jun 24 Fri 12.07 Quaking Pot, North Yorkshire - Cave Rescue
A caver (m, 22) fell about 10m when he lost control abseiling down the third pitch, sustaining fractures to both heel bones. Following treatment by CRO he was hauled up the pitches and assisted along the crawls to the surface. A team doctor provided further treatment before the casualty was transferred by stretcher to an air ambulance for evacuation off the hill.

 
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