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
![Smile :-)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
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.)