ACRO Cave Rescue Workshop

Caves are unique environments containing features that may be both sensitive and hazardous to visitors. For the conservation of the caves and for personal safety, cavers require specialized knowledge and equipment, and these are best obtained through involvement with the organized caving community.

Caving accidents occur infrequently and many can be handled by the cavers involved, especially if they are well prepared. Rescues can be extremely serious and complex owing to the difficulty of finding a missing individual in an extensive cave system or extricating an injured person through numerous underground obstacles.

Rescue Response Workshops serve to build and maintain a cadre of competent and appropriately equipped personnel available on callout by agencies anywhere in either province to respond to a cave search or rescue emergency. Participants are introduced to the use of the Incident Command System (ICS), communications equipment and protocols, cave search methods, stretcher packaging and handling, and rescue rigging.