Australian Cave Rescue for one lucky guy

[Ernie Coffman]

Here's a link to an Australian Cave rescue for one lucky guy, who went off on his own.

http://www.abc.net.au:80/news/stories/2 ... ion=justin

[cavedoc]

Sounds like one of the rare times that the "diabetic with problems" needed insulin instead of sugar. Sugar is a fine first step but getting a glucometer in is important, especially two days into the incident.

[Anonymous_Coward]

Sounds like one of the rare times that the "diabetic with problems" needed insulin instead of sugar. Sugar is a fine first step but getting a glucometer in is important, especially two days into the incident.

That's crazy talk! Somebody get me a pencil!

[cavedoc]

That's crazy talk! Somebody get me a pencil!

I was going to say something like that but it seemed too obscure. You just had to be there.

[chrismc]

Thanks a lot, I just spit water all over my keyboard.

[Ernie Coffman]

That's crazy talk! Somebody get me a pencil!

I'm not sure what "crazy talk" means, or is this an inside joke? Or did you mean that Doc Mortimer didn't pick up that they did give this guy insulin, rather than sugar? As for it being crazy, there definitely are a few things in the article that points out that the guy 1) was a little crazy for going caving by himself 2) especially being diabetic (this seems to run with a number of diabetic cavers, me thinks 3) that it was in a potentially dangerous cave, what with muddy, slimy small crawls, and 4) that it was in the beginning of early winter, as the helicopter couldn't even land to hoist him aboard; thus, it put more than 200 caver-rescuers in a "harry" situation, as well. Wonder why these guys never think of that?

[shibumi]

Gee, it's too bad NCRC doesn't do realistic mock rescues...

[Ernie Coffman]

Guess there always has to be a finale to things like this cave rescue, so go to the link and read away:
http://www.news.com.au:80/story/0,23599 ... 77,00.html

[cavedoc]

I'm not sure what "crazy talk" means, or is this an inside joke?

Very inside Ernie. It was a comment during a field exercise at NCRC last week+.

Medic: "Have them get me two amps of D50 and a glucometer"
Andy: "Whoa, that's just crazy talkin'. I gotta write that down."
Roger and multitudes nearby, and others for the rest of the week:

I've always quipped that we had far too many diabetic patients at mock rescues, as Anmar notes...maybe we don't.

[fuzzy-hair-man]

This was posted on Ozcavers:
(This seems to be one of the best reports of what went on)

Hi All,

I think I can provide an update of the situation. Most of this is from
the media but as a significant number of CRS personnel and cavers were
on the ground I think this may be more accurate. The operation
proceeded well with representatives from all the major combat agencies
working well together: VRA (CRS and Berrima), Police, Ambulance and
National Parks.

A single male, highly active NSW caver of English descent (name not
released yet so please keep speculation down), entered W-3 (Bouverie
Cave) late Friday afternoon, most likely for photography. He was alone
and had not informed anyone of his intentions.

At this stage this appears to be an illegal entry as the insitu gate was
bypassed and we are not aware of the existence of a specific permit.
However, this needs to be confirmed.

The caver became stuck in an upright position in a manner similar to
Floyd Collins: ie he was negotiating a vertical squeeze when a rock he
dislodged pinned him via the shoulder and wedged him in place.

Local resources (VRA Berrima and Goulburn PRS) were alerted and
responded after dark Saturday afternoon, approximately 18:00. On-site
cavers were able to assist by locating the exact cave that the caver was
trapped in - ie they found is personal effects that had been left near
the entrance.

CRS was called at approximately 6am Sunday and responded with an initial
team of 6 personnel. CRS entered the cave for an initial assessment at
around 11:30 Sunday. The cave was re-engineered to allow access to the
casualty. Three vertical haul systems and a Tyrolean traverse were
installed to aid the extraction.

The casualty arrived at the surface after dark and was stretchered to a
4WD ambulance for further transfer.

I suspect that this incident may become a text book example of how not
to cave.

Regards
Peter Brady

- --
Peter Brady
Secretary
NSW Cave Rescue Squad Inc.

and also this came in today:

Hi Alan,

I neglected a few details from my previous post deliberately but now
have further brief to release information.

| Another item ,he was within 90 m of the cave entrance & after freed by the
| rescue party ,it took them 30 minutes to get the casualty out of the cave
| .Was he in there for a serious bit of solo caving ( as been reported ) or
| was he filling in time having a poke around the cave entrance area when he
| went 1 squeeze to far ?

Yes he was found, officially, about 90m from the cave entrance. It took
almost 4 hours to release the entrapment then 6+ hours work to get him
back to the entrance. Unfortunately this is a fairly tight cave and 90m
from the entrance was several boulder chokes and a very tight squeeze at
the gate. I think that the distance was probably close to 150m but I'd
like to sit down and work that out - given that it is a good 60m vertical
drop alone into the lower section it must be more than 90m in. Remember
most of the initial interviews were given by SCAT ambulance officers and
while they are vastly experienced operators they are not cavers. The
gate is a good 30-40m from the entrance and down several boulder squeezes.

[snip]

| All very well, but remember this: the popularist media exists for just one
| thing, and that is to sell popularist media and the truth be damned,

Unfortunately that is true. Despite our efforts yesterday with the
media it looks like a lot of what got reported is actually wrong.
However, I have not had time to review this mornings papers. Last
nights television was mostly correct although perhaps with a
sensationalist spin.

- -pete

[fuzzy-hair-man]

Another couple of news reports that gives some better details and seem accurate.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23726899-5013404,00.html
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/trapped-caver-between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place/2008/05/19/1211182703269.html

[Ernie Coffman]

Here's a follow-up on that Aussie bloke, who went caving by himself.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... 84,00.html

Guess he saw the light.

[Ernie Coffman]

Here's a follow-up article, with a good interview of the Aussie caver, himself.

http://www.smh.com.au:80/news/national/ ... 96544.html

[Ernie Coffman]

Here's an interesting article on that rescue in Australia, where the guy went in the cave to do some photography, you recall? http://afp.google.com:80/article/ALeqM5 ... Fweyhx-f2w

[fuzzy-hair-man]

It seem Geoff McDonnell's court case is over:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/13/2334144.htm

A lone caver who sparked a rescue effort involving 200 people when he became trapped for two days has been ordered to pay $15,000.
Geoff McDonnell, 47, had entered the cave illegally when a rockfall trapped him in a standing position in the New South Wales southern highlands in May.
The Sydney man drifted into shock without water or medication.
Authorities were contacted the next day when other cavers noticed him missing, but it took until the following night for him to be freed from the Wombeyan Caves.
McDonnell was charged with entering a cave without authority and risking the safety of those in a park.
He was fined $3,000 and ordered to pay $12,000 in compensation for his rescue in the Goulburn Local Court today.