Moderator: Tim White
AlanfromOz wrote:Hypothetical situation... You've got an injured caver with multiple fractures - eg leg, arm and collarbone. The only way out is through an extensive, tight rockpile - no chance of getting them out on a stretcher, and no chance of the patient being able to get through without a stretcher.
If it's bad enough, do you consider leaving the patient in a safe area of the cave and setting up logistics to bring them food, water, heat, light, etc for long enough for them to recover (weeks?)
Has it ever happened?
Historic examples
* Marcel Loubens from Pierre St - Martin Cave in the French Pyrenees in 1952. Loubens died from a fatal plunge down the 1,135-foot (346 m) entrance shaft after a clasp on his harness broke on ascent. Members of Loubens' expedition spent over 24 hours attempting unsuccessfully to haul their friend back to the surface. Despite the efforts of the team doctor, Loubens died 36 hours into his ill-fated rescue attempt. After his passing the remaining members aborted their recovery attempt. Louben's body remained in the cave for two more years before cavers returned him to the surface in 1954. The blood transfusion given to Loubens by the team doctor was likely the first subterranean care of its kind.[4]
* James G. Mitchell from Schroeder's Pants Cave in Manheim, New York in 1965. Mitchell was a 23-year-old chemist whose death made national headlines in February 1965 when he died of hypothermia after becoming stranded on rope in a 75-foot (23 m) pit with a frigid waterfall. Initial efforts to recover Mitchell's body failed. A rescue team was flown from Washington DC on Air Force 2. A subsequent three day effort to retrieve Mitchell was aborted after repeated failures and a collapse. The cave was abandoned and blasted shut, essentially making the cave a tomb. Mitchell's death made headlines again forty-one years later when a group returned to the cave and successfully recovered his remains.[5]
* Emily Davis Mobley from Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico in 1991. More than seventy people worked over four days to bring her to the surface after her leg was broken. This was the deepest and most remote cave rescue in American history.
* Floyd Collins from Sand Cave in Kentucky in 1925. Likely the first high profile cave rescue in history. Collins' desperate situation in the depths of Sand Cave made headlines across America. Over 10,000 spectators flocked to Sand Cave in the week following the news of Floyd's predicament. The National Guard was called in to control the carnival-like atmosphere surrounding the cave. Despite the heroic efforts of volunteers who attempted to dig a parallel shaft to free Collins, he was found dead, buried to his shoulders in debris. One 25-pound rock had jammed Collin's foot, preventing his escape. Collins remained trapped in Sand Cave for another 2 months until a crew of German engineers finished the digging of the shaft and extracted his body.[6]
* Neil Moss in Peak Cavern, England in 1959. Trapped in a narrow tunnel, he was eventually suffocated by carbon dioxide after prolonged efforts to free him. Rescuers were unable to free Moss and eventually the family asked that his body remain in the cave.
* Gerald Moni from McBrides Cave in Alabama in 1997. Moni and his group entered McBrides Cave in flood stage attempting a pull-down trip to the cave's lower entrance. A flash flood caused the situation in the cave to become extremely hazardous. While attempting to negotiate a pit being inundated with a high flow of water, Gerald mistakenly grabbed only one of two ropes necessary to descend the pit. The resultant fall to a ledge part way down the drop resulted in a broken femur. A few members of the group managed to negotiate the lower stream passage before it sumped and reached the surface. The others remained with Moni until local rescue agencies could mobilize and attempt a rescue. Rescue teams spent hours waiting for the water levels in the cave to recede enough to attempt an extraction. When teams finally reached Moni, he had been exposed to frigid water for over 12 hours. Rescue teams risked drowning themselves and Moni while traversing the flooded lower cave. 18 hours after his fall Gerald was returned to the surface alive.[7]
Thank you... one of the things I forgot to mention as well... the logistics of the whole thing.jaa45993 wrote: It could also be argued that all the supply trips in and out, plus the impact of someone living in the cave that long could equal or possibly exceed the impact of a new entrance.
AlanfromOz wrote:I suppose back / neck injuries would be worse... a broken leg will only hurt and cause a much longer recovery - a broken neck could easily kill them without immobilisation.
So there appears to be agreement that any more than a few days is too long to keep them in the cave.
Another sticky question then... assuming they're dead and it's necessary, do you cut the cave or *gulp* the body? (With appropriate approval from police or coroner of course).
AlanfromOz wrote:assuming they're dead and it's necessary, do you cut the cave or *gulp* the body? (With appropriate approval from police or coroner of course).
wyandottecaver wrote:I am pretty sure there is an example from Europe where a injured caver was supported in-cave for a lengthy time to heal injuries. I'll have to try and find the reference.....
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