Post by Tech Support on Jul 22, 2005 11:15:33 GMT -5
American Caving Accidents (ACA) has been published as double- or triple-year issues in recent years to save money. It costs about the same to print and mail a two-year or three-year issue as it does for a one-year issue, so this saves the NSS at least $10,000 each time. The last issue was published in June 2003, and the latest issue is in final production for distribution this month. This issue will cover 2002 and 2003 incidents. The next issue will cover 2004 and 2005. I am not sure at the moment whether that issue will be published in 2006 or 2007 - that depends primarily on budget and finance issues.
Work is already under way to re-publish the out-of-print issues of ACA in electronic form (PDF files). Another project under consideration is the addition of reports from back issues to the ACA web page in hypertext form.
Regarding the commentary that follows some incident and accident summaries in ACA, that's part of my job as editor. I collect all the information I can find about an incident and use it to write a summary. That sounds simple, but actually it's quite challenging, especially for complicated incidents and for poorly documented ones. If I feel that there are any points that should be highlighted or emphasized, I put those in the comments. I don't generally do "analysis" - that is left as an exercise for the reader. ACA is not about finding fault or assigning blame - it is about education and documentation.
When an issue is completed (all summaries and comments written and proofed) I run the entire manuscript by a committee of reviewers. In addition to catching errors, omissions, confusing or misleading language, etc, members of the review committee often provide additional comments and observations. Whenever I feel those comments are helpful to the reader, I include them and give attribution to the source.
Unattributed comments are generally mine, though they often reflect a concensus view of all or most of the review committee. The occasional (hopefully) amusing or humorous comments can be blamed on me and my somewhat warped sense of humor. I do try to make things interesting, and keep folks turning the pages.
The group of reviewers changes from year to year, but generally includes the NSS Safety & Techniques Chair, the NCRC National Coordinator, a number of past and present NCRC regional coordinators and instructors, specialists in certain areas such as cave diving, Mexico caving, etc., people whose judgement and experience I know and trust, selected contributors, and people who have helped with ACA year after year. I try to invite a wide range of reviewers to participate, and like to get people from different regions, different backgrounds, and different styles of caving in order to get a committee with a diverse and well-rounded set of perspectives and experiences.
Publishing of ACA is handled by the department of the NSS Executive VP, along with most other NSS publications. The NCRC has no formal connection with the ACA. First and foremost, it is not part of the charter or mandate of the NCRC. There are a number of other reasons as well. One is that ACA is about accidents, not about rescues. Its focus is on accident causes, results, documentation, and prevention - not on rescue operations or techniques. ACA is an educational tool for cavers, and also serves as the journal of record for caving accidents and safety incidents in North America (and occasionally South America - you might say for the Americas or the Western Hemisphere). There are other magazines that focus on wilderness search and rescue, and major cave rescues are sometimes written up in those venues.
The most current information about ACA is available on the ACA page of the NSS web site at www.caves.org/pub/aca. An online accident report form is also available on the page. And of course, I am always happy to answer questions and supply any information available from the incident files.
Bill Putnam
Editor, American Caving Accidents
Work is already under way to re-publish the out-of-print issues of ACA in electronic form (PDF files). Another project under consideration is the addition of reports from back issues to the ACA web page in hypertext form.
Regarding the commentary that follows some incident and accident summaries in ACA, that's part of my job as editor. I collect all the information I can find about an incident and use it to write a summary. That sounds simple, but actually it's quite challenging, especially for complicated incidents and for poorly documented ones. If I feel that there are any points that should be highlighted or emphasized, I put those in the comments. I don't generally do "analysis" - that is left as an exercise for the reader. ACA is not about finding fault or assigning blame - it is about education and documentation.
When an issue is completed (all summaries and comments written and proofed) I run the entire manuscript by a committee of reviewers. In addition to catching errors, omissions, confusing or misleading language, etc, members of the review committee often provide additional comments and observations. Whenever I feel those comments are helpful to the reader, I include them and give attribution to the source.
Unattributed comments are generally mine, though they often reflect a concensus view of all or most of the review committee. The occasional (hopefully) amusing or humorous comments can be blamed on me and my somewhat warped sense of humor. I do try to make things interesting, and keep folks turning the pages.
The group of reviewers changes from year to year, but generally includes the NSS Safety & Techniques Chair, the NCRC National Coordinator, a number of past and present NCRC regional coordinators and instructors, specialists in certain areas such as cave diving, Mexico caving, etc., people whose judgement and experience I know and trust, selected contributors, and people who have helped with ACA year after year. I try to invite a wide range of reviewers to participate, and like to get people from different regions, different backgrounds, and different styles of caving in order to get a committee with a diverse and well-rounded set of perspectives and experiences.
Publishing of ACA is handled by the department of the NSS Executive VP, along with most other NSS publications. The NCRC has no formal connection with the ACA. First and foremost, it is not part of the charter or mandate of the NCRC. There are a number of other reasons as well. One is that ACA is about accidents, not about rescues. Its focus is on accident causes, results, documentation, and prevention - not on rescue operations or techniques. ACA is an educational tool for cavers, and also serves as the journal of record for caving accidents and safety incidents in North America (and occasionally South America - you might say for the Americas or the Western Hemisphere). There are other magazines that focus on wilderness search and rescue, and major cave rescues are sometimes written up in those venues.
The most current information about ACA is available on the ACA page of the NSS web site at www.caves.org/pub/aca. An online accident report form is also available on the page. And of course, I am always happy to answer questions and supply any information available from the incident files.
Bill Putnam
Editor, American Caving Accidents