Post by L Roebuck on Aug 18, 2006 11:36:14 GMT -5
AFD Trains For Cave Rescues
Imagine being stuck in a cave disoriented, out of breath and in the dark. It happened to a woman last month, who went into a cave in the Barton Creek Greenbelt and couldn't get out.
Firefighters brought her to safety. It was a job they could only do because of specialized training.
KXAN NBC Austin's Jenny Hoff went along on the training trip hundreds of feet inside a South Austin cave to show you what they endure to save your life.
Whirlpool cave is an underground maze stretching hundreds of feet with tunnels so tiny you can't get through without having rock mass touch every part of your body.
It is the perfect training ground for a cave rescue.
With more than 200 caves in Travis County, Austin firefighters need to know exactly what they're doing.
"Some people get in there, and they get claustrophobic. They get panicked. They don't really know where they are so they go the opposite way of where they need to be," AFD Lt. Andy Reardon said.
All of a sudden that inexperience becomes a rescue emergency.
Now one of the big problems firefighters face in cave rescues is obviously limited space.
The small tunnels is what they're going to have to take people through if there's a medical emergency. It can get even tighter.
"You may only be 10 feet away from someone, but with these rocks and the way the sound resonates, you can yell all day and never be heard," Reardon said.
Six hundred feet into the cave, crawling on your knees or lying on your stomach or back, it can a daunting task to do empty-handed, but how about doing it while carrying a 200-pound injured person.
"When someone is injured, your training kicks in and you're just saving them as fast as possible," Keith Haddock with the Austin Fire Department said.
In this case, the fastest way out of the rocky tunnels is for firefighters to lay on their backs and pass the victim's body over them all the way to the top.
Article
Imagine being stuck in a cave disoriented, out of breath and in the dark. It happened to a woman last month, who went into a cave in the Barton Creek Greenbelt and couldn't get out.
Firefighters brought her to safety. It was a job they could only do because of specialized training.
KXAN NBC Austin's Jenny Hoff went along on the training trip hundreds of feet inside a South Austin cave to show you what they endure to save your life.
Whirlpool cave is an underground maze stretching hundreds of feet with tunnels so tiny you can't get through without having rock mass touch every part of your body.
It is the perfect training ground for a cave rescue.
With more than 200 caves in Travis County, Austin firefighters need to know exactly what they're doing.
"Some people get in there, and they get claustrophobic. They get panicked. They don't really know where they are so they go the opposite way of where they need to be," AFD Lt. Andy Reardon said.
All of a sudden that inexperience becomes a rescue emergency.
Now one of the big problems firefighters face in cave rescues is obviously limited space.
The small tunnels is what they're going to have to take people through if there's a medical emergency. It can get even tighter.
"You may only be 10 feet away from someone, but with these rocks and the way the sound resonates, you can yell all day and never be heard," Reardon said.
Six hundred feet into the cave, crawling on your knees or lying on your stomach or back, it can a daunting task to do empty-handed, but how about doing it while carrying a 200-pound injured person.
"When someone is injured, your training kicks in and you're just saving them as fast as possible," Keith Haddock with the Austin Fire Department said.
In this case, the fastest way out of the rocky tunnels is for firefighters to lay on their backs and pass the victim's body over them all the way to the top.
Article
