*** Cave Rescue Training ***

Subject: Cave Searching
Date:    Mon, 05 Aug 1996 10:45:00 -0500
From:    douglas.moore@svis.org (Douglas Moore)
To:      sar-l@islandnet.com

AS| Does anyone know of, or has anyone done any work on training
  | presentations, papers or modules on Cave Searching?
  |
  | We have a number of karst areas in "our patch" and have a role in
  | initial response to cave rescues and searches. I want to develop a
  | training module to bring our members up to a common standard, and
  | using standard methods.
  |
  | I'm not looking to re-invent the wheel, I mainly want to help people
  | to understand how cave searching differs from land/sea/air search. I
  | intend aiming the module at rescuers with caving experience and Land
  | Search qualifications.

Just a couple quick resources for those not interested in the rest of
the message. On the Web you can go to our home page at:

http://svis.org/erncrc/erncrc

We have a fairly large section on different aspects of cave rescue along
with links to all the other known cave rescue sites.

For resources concerning cave gear, my home page for my company is:

http://svis.org/msc/karst.htm

There is a section in the books/caving/rescue category that has the two
books in use for cave rescue training in the United States.

Now for some quick info on how cave rescue classes are structured in the
US. There are several levels all building on each other.

Basic Cave Rescue Orientation (16 hours)
        This is the first cave rescue class it is split into a two day
        course. The first day is approximately 4 hours of quick info
        on ICS, Medical Aspects, Documentation, Field Phones (Commo),
        Cave Environment, etc. The last four hours are stretcher
        packaging and handling for the cave environment. Its almost
        funny watching non cave rescuers move a litter through a cave
        for the first time. The second day is an all day Mock cave
        rescue excercise where the students do everything. There are
        normally two or more patients located in unknown areas of a
        cave. They have to do ICS, commo, medical, etc. The cave is
        normally selected for the mock at hand so as not to make the
        mock undoable for the students.

LVL-I, Team Member (80-100 hours)
        This course is just a pure expansion of the Basic Level with
        lots more time on each subject. Medical is taught to about a
        first responder level. There are several days of vertical which
        includes pick offs, haul systems, belay systems, lower systems,
        etc. The end of the course, normally held in conjunction with
        the upper level courses, is an all day mock that is much tougher
        than the one from the Basic level class.

LVL-II, Team Leader (80-100 hours)
        This class expands on the previous level class. It has numerous
        refresher courses since it's normally been a year or more since
        the previous class. All classes are expanded with more advanced
        techniques. There are a couple days of management level classes
        that deal with leading groups.  Most of the vertical classes
        are held in cave to better teach the "MUD" problem. In the
        vertical the students are introduced to high lines among other
        things.

LVL-II, (80-100 hours)
        As the previous classes go, this is just a further expansion.
        This class goes more into a micro-management level to teach
        ideas of cave rescue that don't happen that often but the skills
        required are real advanced. Some aspects are Crevice and Crack
        rescue, highlines within the cave, water problems, etc.

Beyond these are two more levels but these are normally for those
wishing to become Instructors and Class Coordinators.

Now, as for cave searching, I probably havn't answered your question.
What I would probably do is purchase both the Manual of U.S. Cave Rescue
Techniques, and the Universal Study Guide for Cave Rescue Training. The
latter being the newer book on the subject, but both cover certain
aspects very well that the other doesn't even touch.

If you have any specific areas of interest, let me know what they are
and I'll get the email address to you of the person best qualified to
answer your questions.

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|                      /\+/\ Douglas L Moore II /\+/\                      |
|                        NSS 33064SU - NASAR 102903                        |
|           UTM Zone 17 Coordinates 562,160 East 4,363,370 North           |
|    Staff - Eastern Region - NCRC  (http://svis.org/erncrc/erncrc.htm)    |
| Owner - Karst Sports (Caving, Climbing, & Rescue equipment) 304.592.2600 |
|          On the World Wide Web at http://svis.org/msc/karst.htm          |
|                      Catalog available upon request                      |
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