Mole Creek Caves exercise gives rescuers emergency practice
Two stretchers arrive at the final lift out of the cave (four ropes seen hanging down). The exercise had two ‘casualties’, Jess Bertels from the Mole Creek Caving Club and the other a dummy taken through more dangerous fast water sections so as not to risk a person’s life. Photo supplied by Deb Hunter.
Sharon Webb
A simulated rescue operation in the Mole Creek Caves last month has created a larger pool of people who understand what they are up against in a cave rescue.
Caveside caver Deb Hunter said, ‘Having worked together makes a real difference because people know each other when it comes to the real thing.
‘We don’t have many cave rescues in Tasmania but we can’t afford to take chances.’
At the weekend event, Tasmania Police Search and Rescue squads were joined by Ambulance Tasmania and several rescue and volunteer groups, including the State Emergency Service, Surf Life Saving Tasmania, Northern Caverneers, Southern Tasmanian Caverneers and the Mole Creek Caving Club to do scenario-based training exercises.
In two planned training exercises they also practiced skills and tested interoperability, coordinating in-cave operations with a base at the cave entrance.
Ms Hunter said several teams worked with a police commander on each team, police in charge delegating authority to the rescuers.
‘Four local people designed the course, and for the first time at Mole Creek we were given permission to drill holes in the rock for our equipment so we could practice techniques.’
She said Tasmania has two specialised cave rescue stretchers called NEST. One located in the north with the Mole Creek Caving Club and the other in the south with Southern Tasmanian Caverneers.
In the Mole Creek exercise one stretcher was used with a live human and the other a dummy for dangerous fast water cave sections.
Tasmania’s caving clubs are happy to have such interest from emergency services in learning what we have to do to get someone out of Tasmanian caves,’ Ms Hunter said.
‘The last multi-agency exercise in northern Tasmania was in 2014 but I believe we should do an exercise like this every three years, as they do in New Zealand.’
