Cave Rescue - in The United States

In The United States

Organized Cave Rescue Teams generally utilize the Incident Command System (ICS). Originally devised for wildland fire teams, today the ICS is used by a variety of agencies throughout North America. The ICS can be modified by each agency depending on the nature of their emergencies. Below is an example of a typical cave rescue Incident Command System.

Incident commander

is responsible for all activities, including the development and implementation of strategic decisions during the course of an incident. The IC monitors all aspects of an operation including planning, logistics, communications and information.

Underground manager

usually responsible for the implementation the plan provided by the incident commander. The underground manager assigns and monitors vital tasks including rigging, medical, patient packaging and transport, and communications with the IC on the surface. The underground manager is also usually responsible for the safety of the entire underground team.

Initial response team

a small unit of first responders. The task of the IRT is to travel through the cave to the patient and evaluate the situation with the purpose of reporting back to the appropriate manager. The IRT usually includes the medical personnel so medical intervention can begin early if necessary.

Medical team

varies in size and level of the medics ability from agency to agency. The medical team rarely participates in any other rescue function other than managing patient care.

Communications team

responsible for creating and maintaining communications between the teams in the cave and the Incident Commander. A common means of communications on a cave rescue are military field phones. Military phones are reliable but heavy, and the need for abundant amounts of com-line can make running communications deep into a cave difficult. Another, more advanced type of communication, are low frequency radios, which eliminate the need for thousands of feet of com line in a cave. Low frequency radios can communicate through thousands of feet of solid rock, making them ideal for use deep into caves.

Rigging team

responsible for one or more stations in a cave that require the rigging of ropes or systems to safely transport the patient and emergency personnel through the cave. In a large scale rescue, many rigging teams could be scattered throughout a cave, assigned with multiple tasks.

Litter team

made up of rescue personnel that are not already assigned to rigging, communications, medical or management positions. The responsibility of the Litter Team is the packaging and safe transport of the patient through the cave.

Entrance control

responsible for the logging of all personnel entering and leaving a cave. In some cases the Entrance Control could also be assigned the duty of logging all gear entering and leaving the cave. This is an important task on any cave rescue.