Iowa cave rescue incidents, 18 July 2008
Posted: Jul 20, 2008 8:27 pm
Two rescues in Iowa on the same day:
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/07 ... txt?sPos=3
2 teenagers rescued from Maquoketa Caves
MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Two teenagers had to be rescued in separate incidents Friday afternoon at Maquoketa Caves State Park, one of whom was trapped for several hours in a cave.
Maquoketa Rescue Squad members spent three hours chiseling rock from around a 16-year-old boy from Wisconsin who got wedged in a 90-degree angle cave. He was taken by MedForce ambulance to a Dubuque, Iowa hospital with minor injuries after he was stuck for nearly four hours in a cave.
A spokesman for Camp Wyoming confirmed the youth was part of their group, but declined to release his name. He said the teen was doing fine Friday night.
Also, an 18-year-old who was not part of the group fell near the Natural Bridge in another part of the park a couple of hours after rescue squad members arrived. Doug Gonner, Maquoketa Rescue Squad member, said it appeared she fell 20 to 25 feet in another part of the caves. Rescue squad members strapped her to a back board and hauled her out of the cave and about a quarter-of-a-mile to a waiting ambulance. Gonner said he did not get her name. Her condition was not available.
Officials say the 16-year-old boy may have been stuck in the cave for nearly an hour before the rescue squad was called. The youth apparently had been in the cave before and was wearing spelunking equipment. Officials say he slipped in a V-shaped cave known as Steel Gate Passage and got his legs stuck in a 90-degree angled part of the cave and couldn’t twist or pull himself out. The cave is near the park’s main cave, Dance Hall Cave, and is open to the public.
Rescue workers used chisels to try to chip away the rock around the youth. When that didn’t work, they began to use compressed air chisels and ultimately set him free. Assistant Fire Chief Al Muhlhausen said they called an extricating team from Rock Island to bring additional tools. Two members arrived a short time before the youth was freed.
Gonner said they used eight air bottles on the air chisel to get the trapped youth free. They chopped off stalactites because the outcropping of rock was biting into the young man’s chest. They also cut away part of the cave wall to get him out.
Firefighters said the teen walked out of the cave, but had minor injuries. Two Maquoketa firemen were treated at the scene for dehydration.
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/07 ... txt?sPos=3
2 teenagers rescued from Maquoketa Caves
MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Two teenagers had to be rescued in separate incidents Friday afternoon at Maquoketa Caves State Park, one of whom was trapped for several hours in a cave.
Maquoketa Rescue Squad members spent three hours chiseling rock from around a 16-year-old boy from Wisconsin who got wedged in a 90-degree angle cave. He was taken by MedForce ambulance to a Dubuque, Iowa hospital with minor injuries after he was stuck for nearly four hours in a cave.
A spokesman for Camp Wyoming confirmed the youth was part of their group, but declined to release his name. He said the teen was doing fine Friday night.
Also, an 18-year-old who was not part of the group fell near the Natural Bridge in another part of the park a couple of hours after rescue squad members arrived. Doug Gonner, Maquoketa Rescue Squad member, said it appeared she fell 20 to 25 feet in another part of the caves. Rescue squad members strapped her to a back board and hauled her out of the cave and about a quarter-of-a-mile to a waiting ambulance. Gonner said he did not get her name. Her condition was not available.
Officials say the 16-year-old boy may have been stuck in the cave for nearly an hour before the rescue squad was called. The youth apparently had been in the cave before and was wearing spelunking equipment. Officials say he slipped in a V-shaped cave known as Steel Gate Passage and got his legs stuck in a 90-degree angled part of the cave and couldn’t twist or pull himself out. The cave is near the park’s main cave, Dance Hall Cave, and is open to the public.
Rescue workers used chisels to try to chip away the rock around the youth. When that didn’t work, they began to use compressed air chisels and ultimately set him free. Assistant Fire Chief Al Muhlhausen said they called an extricating team from Rock Island to bring additional tools. Two members arrived a short time before the youth was freed.
Gonner said they used eight air bottles on the air chisel to get the trapped youth free. They chopped off stalactites because the outcropping of rock was biting into the young man’s chest. They also cut away part of the cave wall to get him out.
Firefighters said the teen walked out of the cave, but had minor injuries. Two Maquoketa firemen were treated at the scene for dehydration.