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ApachePunk wrote:I am a former EMT and I am interested in learning more about cave rescue and how to get involved. I want to know anything and everything and where to get training. I have seen the NCRC website, but I want to talk to people involved in it too.
ApachePunk wrote:I live in central Indiana. I start caving when I was 9, but have not caved in several years. I am looking to get back into it. Cave rescue came up in my online searching and it sparked my interest.
Stridergdm wrote:ApachePunk wrote:I live in central Indiana. I start caving when I was 9, but have not caved in several years. I am looking to get back into it. Cave rescue came up in my online searching and it sparked my interest.
Ah, an excellent area for caving and a very active area for cave rescue training. I'm sure Shibumi will get in touch with you shortly
We had our national weeklong seminar there 2 summers ago in Bedford. Great area.
Best piece of advice I find for agency folks... "things happen MUCH more slowly during a cave rescue."
Point in fact... one I was involved in, the patient was 300' or so from the entrance. Got trapped on Saturday afternoon. Was freed from the entrapment late Sunday night, got out early Monday morning. That's a more extreme example, but generally "distance != time". There are caves where moving a patient 300' might take 60 minutes and others where 3000' might take 30 minutes.
Oh and from teaching a number of EMTs.... THINK HYPOTHERMIA. Seriously, it seems to be the one medical condition that I find many "street EMTs" have next to no experience with and overlook it during a cave rescue. (During one mock, the EMT on my team was interviewing the "patient" who was sitting on a rock, her feet in cold water, and he was diagnosing diabetic shock, head injury and a few other things. I finally tapped him on the should and suggested hypothermia. He looked at me surprised. It had never occurred to him.)
ApachePunk wrote:It kind of surprises me that an EMT wouldn't think of hypothermia, because that's the first thing I would think of, esp. in Indiana caves. Maybe those EMT's don't have much cave experience? That's just weird. I don't have any practical experience with hypothermia, and I would need to review hypothermia and treatments and other associated conditions, but I would think of it (I hope, lol). The medics and EMTs that would have experience with it here would be the ones stationed at places that have water rescue teams...we have a few of those around Indy, but I have never worked at one or on a water rescue. Anyway, the time thing would take some adjusting to, lol. I worked inner city 911 in Indianapolis, in a ghetto....we moved fast fast fast. I think on one gunshot scene where we had to completely immobilize the patient and do a little bit of on scene work (shot in the head, among other places) we were only on scene for 6 mins. So the hours it takes for cave rescue would probably drive me a little crazy at first.
shibumi wrote:No problem. The CIG meets the first Wednesday of the month, 7:30pm at the War Memorial, downtown Indy. If he's there, get hold of Don Paquette, he's an NCRC instructor and former National and Regional Coordinator and he'll be happy to talk to you. If you get the opportunity for an evening away, several of us run the circle route in Buckner every Monday evening at 6pm and we welcome new folks. I will make note that if you want to be involved in cave rescue, get used to the idea of traveling. Trainings and rescues themselves rarely are close to home, and to really learn it well takes some dedication (as opposed to taking some awareness level classes). Most of us who are seriously involved in cave rescue put in hundreds of hours a year, and even folks who are interested in becoming skilled beyond simple safety will need to devote several days a year to it.
Anmar
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