This law about calling 911 seems subjective. If we were required by law everytime there was a cave "accident" (whatever that is) I think I would have called it at least a half a dozen times by now. There are plenty of times I've been with someone "stuck" or have been stuck myself for far longer than I'd ever care for. Each time it has taken a great amount of willpower to remain calm, ignore the cramps and just stop moving and think for a few minutes. I've also had times where it was so tight, I felt like I was moving more with my ribs than with any help my arms could provide. I've grabbed a friends ankles and repeated the inch-worm movements backwards to pull them out of a tight spot. I can't imagine what chaos would have ensued if I had called 911 instead.
I think common sense would dictate that an "accident" is 911 worthy when you've exhausted your personal resources/contacts or feel that they may not be adequate. And as far as caves go, I think my few contacts may be more adequate than most teams that 911 may put together for these specialist rescues. my $.02 -B On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 1:01 AM, David <[email protected]> wrote: > I feel like I have posted this before, but can't remember. > > Back in 1995, caver's gathered in the Sierra Alvarez for the 3rd Mexpeleo. > > There was a female on rope in and found her self upside-down in a > tight vertical crevice. The cave was only about 1/4 mile from camp. > Her husband rushed back to > camp and found a group of about 7 cavers huddled around a campfire > trying to stay warm. > > He was practically in tears begging for a cave rescue. We all just > looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. But one caver stepped > up and went and rescued her. I will let him tell the story as he is > still an active caver in the U.T. Grotto, and probably on Cavetex. > > I stood outside the entrance trying to use my Spanish to help with the > Red Cross Rescue Team that had showed up. I am not sure where they > came from or why they were there so quickly. Maybe the were > attending Mexpeleo ? Anyways, there were about 20 of them, but > only one looked like he was prepared to go caving. They didn't go in > the cave, but they did > help on the surface, after she came out. > > My memory tells me, that had that caver not rescued her, I might have > had to put on my gear and go down there. I think the reason I > didn't gear up was that I heard there was some tight crawling to get > to her. > > Factors affecting the rescue were the weather was miserable ( fog and > cold, I think ), and all the experienced cavers were gone on the other > side of the "cordillera", in a cave that had a 700 foot drop. They > were not expected back for at least 10 hours. > > I only bring all this up, because it could have been bad. > > There was another accident the next day. A caver got lost in the fog > in the middle of the night. A search team spent hours looking for > him. I don't know the > outcome of that, but I presume he was found. A person could easily > step off into a pit up there in the fog. There were something like > 80 pits within a mile of camp. I would love to go back up there > someday. > > Feel free to correct any of this or to add to it. > > David Locklear > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
