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Science

The Transactions o the British Cave Research ssociation

BeR

[ Volume

14

Number

April 1987

I

Sediments and palynology in

Marble Arch Cave

Sump

Rescue Symposium

Caves

of

Jordhulef jel l Norway

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Science

The Transact ions of the Br i t i sh Cave Research covers

a l l

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TRANSACTIONS

OF

THE

BRITISH

CAVE

RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

Volume 14 Number

1 Apr i l 1987

Contents

The

Sedimentology

and Palynology o f some

Pos tg lac ia l

Deposi t s

from Marble

Arch

Cave

Co. Fermanagh

Gareth

LI

Jones

and

Madelaine

McKeever

The

F i r s t Br i t i s h Sump

Rescue Symposium

Proceedings

Caves o f

the Jordbrue lv

and

J o r dhu l e f j e l l

South

Nordland Norway

3

7

Trevor

Faulkner 31

Cover: The

Grand Gal le ry sec t ion o f the main stream passage

in

Marble Arch Cave

Co.

Fermanagh.

This

i s

now

seen

on the t ou r

in the

r ecen t

show

cave development

and

sediments in a t r i bu t a r y passage are the sub jec t o f a

paper

in

t h i s i s sue o f Cave

Science . By

Tony Waltham.

Edi tor :

Dr. T . D. Ford

Geology

Dept

. Leices te r

Univers i ty   Le ices t e r LEI 7RH

Production

Edi tor

:

Dr.

A.

C.

Waltham

Civ

. Eng .

Dept .

 

Tren t Po ly techn ic

 

Nottingham NG

I

BU

Cave Science i s published by the Bri t i sh Cave Research Associa t ion   and

is

i ssued to a l l

pa id up members

o f

the Associa t i on .

1987 subscr ip t ion r a t e s are :

Individua l

- EIO.OO In s t i t u t ion o r

Club

- E12.S0

Subsc r ip t ions

should be sen t to the Membership

Secre ta ry:

D. Stoddard   23 Claremont Avenue   Bishops ton Bris to l BS7

8JD

Individua l

copies and

back

numbers of Cave Science are obta inable from:

B. C . R.A . . Sa1es   20 Woodland Avenue

Westonzoyland Bridgwater

Somerset TA7

OLQ

Copyright the Br i t i sh Cave Research Assoc ia t ion

1987.

No

par t

of t h i s publ ica t ion may be

reproduced in

any

othe r

publ ica t ion   used in adve r t i s i ng s to red in an e l ec t ron i c r e t r i e v a l

system

or

o the rwise used

for

commercial pu rp

ose

s without the pr ior wri t ten

consent of

the

authors and of the Associa t ion.

ISSN 0263 - 760X

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CAVE

SCIENCE

Vol.

14 ,

No

.1

April

1987

Transact ions

of the

Bri t i sh Cave

Research

Associa t inn

The Sedimentology and Palynology

of some

Postglacial

Deposits

from Marble

Arch

Cave

Co.

Fermanagh

Gareth Ll JONES and Madelaine McKEEVER

Abstract

: Sediments

and

pol len

from

a sandbank in Marble

Arch

Fermanagh

,

suggest tha t they

may have been

deposi ted

between

3 , 500

years

BP

during

f lood events in a mature cave system .

Cave

,

7,500

Co.

and

INTRODUCTION

Two

organic r i ch bands in a sand

and

gravel

bank in the Skreen Hil l I passage

of Marble

Arch

Cave

were sampled

for

pol len in

1981

, and

suggested Postg lac ia l dates for

the

sediments .

Later tha t year

two shor t cores were taken

from

the sand bank

and

they are descr ibed here .

I t

was

not

possible

to t rench the bank ,

since

most of the

sect ion

was

below

water l eve l

.

The

Sample

Si te

The Marble

Arch Caves are par t

of

an

upland

kars t

system receiving

the dra inage from an

extens

iv e area

on the north

side of

Cuilcagh

Mountain

(J

ones 1974   .

I t

is a la rge mature

system with f ea tures suggest ing tha t it dates from

a g l ac i a l i f

not

pre - g l ac i a l per i od. These

inc lude the dr i f t -covered dol ines , descr ibed by

Ternan

(1 966 ) and exposed

during the

opening of

the new

show cave

en

t r

ance to Skreen Hil l I . The

Aghinrahan

i s

one of three major st reams which

s ink in to the l imestone . I t s

waters

flow

in to

Pol lasumera Cave (not shown ) ,

and

then through

Pollnagollum Cave

and

the Skreen Hil l Passages

of

Marble

Arch

Cave before jo in ing underground

with

the other st reams to form the Cladagh River , which

resurges a t the

Marble

Arch (Figure 1) .

The

sample

s i t e i s

a

sandbank s i tua ted

ha l f

way

up

the

Skreen

Hil l

I

passage

(Figure

2

  ,

a t

the point where the st ream eme rg es

from Lake

1 .

Immediately downstream a

minor

t r ibuta ry

emerges

from the smal l Crysta l Palace passage . Since the

cores

were

taken ,

Marble

Arch has become a

show

cave and the Moses Walk

has

been

contructed

through Lake

1;

the

sandbank

remains i n t ac t .

Core Al

was dr

illed in

the

cent re of

the

sand bank and penetra ted 72 mm of

sediment

. At

th i s depth the re was loss of

the f ina l

par t of

the

sample

and

the

hole was r ed r i l l ed (a s A2) and

taken

to a

f ina l depth

of 9

6 mm

.

Core Bl was

Cal',

Hole

Mlnastir

\

Wa y

I

•

3

dr i l l ed

close to

the

edge

of

the

sand

bank

upstream of Al and te rminated a t a depth of 72 mm

(s e e

Fig

.

3 .

SEDIMENTOLOGY

Both cores cons is t of

beds

of mostly

unconsolidated arenaceous mater ia l

varying

from

silt

, through f ine and medium to coarse quartz

sands, with some sca t te red quar tz pebbles near the

base

of

both holes

. Organic layers were present

in

both cores , but were th icker in hole

Bl

,

and

it

was

from t h i s

core

tha t

the pol len

samples

were

taken . Recovery was var i ab le in both boreholes ,

and sediment was e i ther l o s t through

compact i on

or

being washed out

(see

Fig .3 . Although

co

r r ela t ion

i s

poss ib le

between the

two

holes

,

the

var ia t ion over such a shor t d i s t ance bears out

the

I

N

I

etre

Bedrocic

Sendbe ni

o

A

S  reen

Hill

I

pe eQe

\

Borehole

Figure 2.

Borehole

l o ca t i ons on the Skreen i l l l sandbank.

Figure 1. The MarLlc Arch Cave

System Co . Fe rmanagh .

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comments

of

Osborne

(1984)

with regards to the

preva l ence of rapid

l a t era l fac ies

changes in cave

depos i t s .

Se

dime

n

t s

elsewhere

in

the

Skreen Hil l

I

passage , both upst ream and downstream of th e

samp

le s i t e , includ e c las t i c mate r ia l

up

to la rge

boulder s ize .

Some of

th is

i s autochthonous,

derived from breakdown

of

passage walls and roof,

but a l a rg e propor t ion

i s al lochthonous and

cons i s t s of

sandstone c las t s up

to boulder s i ze

mb

Ib

mb

mb

b

Ib

mb

Ib

mb

l 

Ib

mb

b

A1

11m

F. ; : ; : ; : ; : ;.j xbed

. .

w

.......... ......

 

.......

.....   ..... ......... .. 

B1

mb

b

mb

mg

mb

mg

mb

mb

mb

mb

mb

•

mb

mb

Ib

•

mb

mb

R b

ll

R b

ll

Ib

(grav)

720mm

~ ~ ~

mb

mbg 960mm

m

1XJ1len

sample

lam laminated

x bed cross beOl :rl

medium sand

grav

Tavel

lb

li(tlt brown

coarse sand

mb

ma:lium brown

wtf>hed

out

I J

d:lrk brown

or

com

pa:ted

t J

IiIrk

grey

Fi g

ur

e

3.

Cores

Al - 2

and

81,

Skreen Hil l .

4

which have

been

brought in through sinkholes and

t r an s por ted by the Aghinrahan River

,

probably

predominant ly under f lood

condi t ions

Ford

1975).

The f iner

grade

mater ia l i s

considered to

be

mostly

a l

lochthonous since t

is

composed larg e l y

of quar tz

gra ins .

I t i s considere

d

t ha t

the

l igh te r

elements of

the be d - l

oad were

deposi ted in

a

region

of

qu i e t e r

flow, and

tha t subsequent

erosion

by

the stream

has

l e f t

the

sandbank

in

i t s

present posi t ion and co n

di t ion .

A

lthough

the

sediments are current ly wi th in

a

f luvia l

regime,

t i s

p r

obable th

a t

the e a r l i e r s tage of the i r

his tory

was f lu

vio

-

g l ac i a l

as mel twater

s t r

ea

ms

car r ied

products

of g lac i a t i on

in to

the

cave

entrances , in the manner

suggested

by Ford

(197

5   .

The

core sediments cons is t mostly

of

s i l t s

through to coarse sands and f ining-up sequences

were no t evident .

They

may represent

episodes of

f looding

when turb id

waters

dropped

t he i r

lo ad in

quie t corners . Modern water l eve l

monitoring

shows

a r apid drop in water l evel

following

a

f lood

p

ulse in the se

passages

Show

Cave

Management

pers

.

comm

.

1985)

. Th

i s would not

al low

gradual se t t l i ng out to

produce

f in

i

ng

-

up

sequences but

the depos i t would

va

r y

wi

th

each

be d - l

oad

content . However the uppermost beds of

both

cores do show some laminat ion

and i t

i s

possib

l e

tha t

there

were prolonged s t i l lwa te r

condi t ions

in the

recent

pas t

,

perhaps caused

by

damming of th e

stream to form Lake

1 .

The

po

l l en

record

indica tes

tha t

the

upper

55 mm

of

the

deposi ts are

a t the most

7

,5

00

years

old

and perhaps much younge r , so

tha t

these

sands

and gravels

have

been reworked

by

the post -g l ac i a l

streams

running through

passages

t hat are p robabl y

much olde r .

The

basa

l

par

t

of Core

A- 2

i s poorly

represented ,

but the

upper

par t conta ined

gravel

and

coarse sand , whi l s t

the hole

bottomed in

p las t

ic g rey-brown clay . The gravel suggests

tha t

t

here

was an i n t e rva

l

when more turbulent

flow

occur

red

a t

t h i s

side of

the passage. The

c

la

y

in t

e r val

suggests

exac t ly the opposi te , though a

l a rge

input of c l ay in t o

the

system can not be

ruled out . Such an in pu t might have occur r ed

as

f resh glac ia

l

depos i t s

we

re being

reworked

a t the

end of a

per iod

of

glac ia t ion .

CAVE

BIOSTRATIGRAPHY

Most bios t ra t igraph i c records from cave

environments

tend

to be o f faunas,

and

there are

many papers

on

oss i

ferous

deposi

t s from f i s sur

e

f i l l s

and

cave she l te r s

. The l i t e r a t u r e

on

palynological s tudies

i s remarkably

scarce ,

perhaps due to the poor chances of pol len

surviving in the cave environment

,

but

a l so

to the

lack of

a

t t en t ion tha t

t hi s aspect

has rece

i ve d .

I t

i s hoped

t ha t t h i s paper wil l encourage

some

de ta i l ed

f lo ra l

s tudies .

PALYNOLOGY

In general th e pol l en

counts

a re low and th i s

pa r t l y

r e f l ec t s

the aggressive cave

environ

ment

which

eas

 ly

de

s t

roys the f rag i le gra in

s .

However

some

t rends can be seen

which may

be s i gn i f i c an t ,

and

the y may

be

of

i n t e res t

in

future

yea

r s .

The

pol len

records

(see Table 1

and

Fig . 4) a r e

compared

with those

f rom the Li

ttl

e t

on

Bog ,

Co.

Tipperar

y (Mitchel l , 1981

emend

.

1965),

unless

s ta ted .

Hazel

i s the dominant pol len

recorded

and

t h i s

i s typica l for

the

per iod of Climax Woodlands

ILWC)

s t a r t ing

a t about 7,

500BP

up to the

s

t a r t

of in tens ive Farming

(I L

Wd2 )

a t about 1,7

00BP (se e

Table

2   . The la rge am ount of Alder in

the

sediments suggests tha t they are younger

than

abou

t

7,

500BP which

i s when

Al

de

r

f i r s t became

prominen t in

I re land. Pine

f lour i shed

during th

e

Beginning of the Wood l ands (ILWB), but

became

a

minor

cons t i tuen t

during the Climax Wood

l

an

d s

(7,500BP on) .

I t

pe r s i s t ed

a t

t

his l eve l unt

 l

about 3,500BP

when t

became loca l

l y

ext inc t

.

At

Sl ish Wood , Co . Sl igo , Dodson

and

Bradshaw

(1985)

showed

tha t

pine d isappeared

a t

t wo l ocal

 t

es

only

8

ki lometres

ap a

r t a t about 4000 year

s BP

and

a t

1850

years

BP .

Theref

o

re de

t a   l

ed

l ocal

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Depths

550mm 400mm 360mm 255mm

Omm

TREES

:

Hazel Corylus)

Oak

Ouercus)

Alder Alnus)

Elm Ulmus)

B

ir

ch Betula)

P

ine

Pinus)

Ash

Fraxinus)

SHRUB

Holly 1Iex)

HEATHER

Cal/una)

HERBS

Grass Gramineff)

Sedge [,Vperaceff)

Compositae L igultflorre)

Plantain Plantago)

Fem Polypodium)

Moss

5pllagnum)

Unknown/corroded

Actual totals

39 .9

27

.8

5.2

0.9

4.3

1.7

21.7

6.1

13

.0

1.7

43

5.2

1.7

6.1

115

52

.5

32 .3

2.5

8.9

2.4

1.6

4.8

25 .0

24

24

40

11.2

24

124

42

.6 46 .6

27

.1 38 .9

14 0.5

71

24

1.4

0.5

2.8

1.9

2.8 1.9

0.5

14

30.0 28 .4

71 0.9

2.8 2.8

0.9

0.9

114

24

43 0.9

70

211

N.B. Yields from samples at 330mm , 100mm and 40mm were too

small

to

be significant.

Table 1

Po   en

percentages

for

sa

mples from

core B1

U

IRISH

IRISH

WOODLAND

DEVELOPMENT PK .SES

STAOES

STAOES

Expansion of

1650

1 L Wd2

\ Woodland

by

Aff

orestat on

56

.6

37 .2

0.6

9.7

4.3

3.0

1.

2

0.6

0.6

32 .9

1.8

3.6

0.6

1.2

1.2

1.2

24

164

Advanced farming

1L Wdl

\ destroys woodlands

-

500

FLAND

LlTTLE-

PrImItIve farmIng

-RIAN

TONIAN

Damages

Woodlands

5000

Climax stage of

1 L WC

DecIduous Woodland

7500

Beginning and

I L WB

Immigrati on

of Woodland

10,000

DEVENS

MIDlAt )

I L

WA Absence

of Woodland

-IAN -I

AN

Open vegetation

after

Mitchell 19768.

1981

Table

2 Irish Woodland Development

phases

5

information

i s v i t a l to

the

accurate

in te rpre ta t ion

of

pol

l en diagrams

inc luding tha t

from the Marble Arch cores. Although Pine

was

l a t e r reint roduced to the area by man in the l a s t

few hundred years ) , the other pol len resu l t s are

more cons is tent with the

older

period

.

The appearance of

Ash a lbe i t a

very low

record) in

the l a t e r sediments

may

be

of

note

since t f lour ished from 4, 500BP

on

, whi l s t the

general decl ine in

the

Herbs f i t s in with

the

Woodlands per iods (ILWB

,

ILWC and perhaps

ILWdl) .

The

la rge

amount

of

heather i s notable

,

and

probably

r e l a t e s

to

th

e

mountainside

posi

t

on

of

the

cave entrances .

The Compositae are

a t a low

l eve l

which may

be s igni f i cant

-

a t

Red

Bog, Co.

Louth

they

did

not appears un t i l

abou t

2,800BP

Mitchel l 1981).

Taken

together we can

t en ta t ive ly assign

dates as fol lows :

T

op

255mm

550mm

Not

younger than

3 , 500BP

No

t older

than 4,500BP

Younger

than 7

,5

00BP

ILWd1 lower

ILWd1 lower

ILWC

The basa l s amples may have been depos i t ed dur ing

t

he Climax Woodlands

(ILWC) , and

the top during

the f i r s t par t o f the

Damaged

Woodlands

(ILWd1)

per iods . The

bottom

of

the

hole gave

no

information, but may represent a much older

period

according to the sedimentology.

4011-

TREES

JOlI-

Hazel

0IiI .

2l1-

Alder

Elm

4lI-

Blrt:h

4lI-

Ash

0.51-

Pine

4'

Holly

Il1-

:lOlI-

HE THER

HERBS

Gress

71 _

Sedge

131 _

Composltll 1-

PllOt.ln

4l1-

Fern

5l1-

Moss

Ill1

lInI:nown

c orroded

6

CTU L

115 124

TOT LS

70

211

164

DEPTHS

S50mm 400mm 360mm 255mm Omm

Figure

4

Hist

ogram o f pol lens for

samples

from core

Bl

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

8/52

Although these sediments were probably

deposi ted

by f loods, and the poss ib le e f f ec t of

scouring

cannot

be

calcula ted ,

the resu l t s

represent a maximum sedimentat ion ra te of 55 mm

in

4000 years or

lmm

per 7.2 years .

I t

i s however

possible to

argue th a t the

above dates represent

the

widest parameters , and t ha t the sect ion was

deposi ted during

as

shor t a per iod

as

1000 ye a

r s ,

with

a sedimentat ion ra te of about lmm per 2

year s .

Most cave

sediments are

reworked

to some

degree,

but

the

c l ea r

bedding

inf luence ,

plus the

cor rec t ly sequenced bios t ra t igraphy suggest tha t

the sediments

were deposi ted a t

t h i s

loca t ion

separa te ly

and in

s t ra t igraphic

sequence .

The

presence

of man i s

recorded

in th e Bann

va l l ey

and the Shannon basln a t about 8 , 500BP, and

the impact

of

his farming i s

documented

by the

Woodlands

Damaged ILWdl)

period from 5,000BP

onwards Mitchel l

198

1 . His

presence i s

known

in

the

Marble Arch area Jones

1974) from

the human

sku l l s

found by the 1972 U

l s t e r

Museum dig in

Pol lnagol lum of

the

Boats

Cave

800m

southeas t ,

see

Fig . 2  . These skul l s were

radiocarbon dated

a t

4,500BP P. Doughty

, pers . comm . ) ,

and would

thus

have been contemporaneous with

the

ILWdl

per iod seen in the upper par t of the sec t ion .

Recent

work on clays from the shat te red terminal

aven

a t the south

end of Legnabrocky

Way

see

Fig

.1) has

revealed

the presence

of

charcoal

A.

Hamilton , Coleraine, pers . comm.

1986).

This may

also

r e l a t e

to the

Woodlands

Damaged per iod or

might simply be der ived from accidenta l f i r es .

CONCLUSIONS

This paper suggests t ha t the top hal f metre

of sands

sampled

in the Skreen Hi   I passage

of

Marble

Arch

were deposi ted, by a

ser ies of flood

episodes

,

between 7,500 years BP

and 3,500 yea rs

BP.

This

i s imp

or tant in demonstrating

t ha t there

are

i den t i f

i able pol lens surviving

in

the cave

environment.

I t

i s hoped tha t fur ther sediments

can be

dated

and may

throw l i gh t on the previous

his tory of

the

cave .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We

wish

to

thank

Prof. W

Watts

for hi s help

and

advice ,

Dr.

D Drew

and

Dr. P. Coxon for

constructive

cr it ic ism  

and Mr

M Cairns

and Mr . D Berridge for

help

in sampling .

REFERENCES

Dods o n,

J . and Bradshaw,

R.

1985). Sl i sh

Wood - Pos t -

glac ia l

vegetat ion and

f ire

history

.

In

Thorn,

R H (Ed.)

Sligo and West Leitrim Field Guide No.8,

Ir.

Assoc. for

Quat.

Stud, 36 - 41.

Ford, T. O .

1975).

Sediments in Caves. Trans. Bri t . Cave

Res.

Assn

.

2,

41 -

46

Jones

, G.L. I .

1974).

The

Caves of

Fermanagh and

Cavan

.

Wat ergate Press, Enniski l len   117pp .

Mitchel l

,

G.F. 1976). The I r i sh Landscape. Col l in s ,

Glasgow,

240pp

.

Mitche l l , G. F

. 1981) . The

L i t t le tonian

Warm Stage - Pos t

lO.OOOBP. In

Holland

C.H. E

d .

A

Geology

of I r e l a nd .

Sc o t t i sh Academic Press ,

Edinburgh

,

259-272.

Osborne, R.A

.L. 1984).

Latera l

fac ies changes ,

unconformities and

stratigraphic

reversa ls :

the i r s i gn i f i cance

for

cave sediment s t ra t igraphy .

Trans .Br i t .Cave Re s

.

Assn. 11, 175-184.

Ternan, J .L . (1966). Geomorphological observat ions

on

the

karst of south Fermanagh.

Unpub .

B.A.

Thesis ,

Queen s

Uni v. Be l fa s t .

Received December 1986

G.

Ll.

Jones

Conodate

5 Kennington Crescent

Templeogue

Dublin 12

M  McKeever

c /o Stanley

Hil l

Slane

Co. Meath

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

9/52

CAVE SCIENCE

Vo l .

14,

N o . 1 , April 1987

Transact ions

of

the

Br i t i sh Cave Research

Associa t ion

The First

rit ish Sump

Rescue Symposium

Proceedings

of

the

Symposium

Organised

by the

Cave Diving Group

and

the Br i t i sh Cave Rescue Counci l

Cast le ton,

Derbyshire ,

June

7th

1986

CONTENTS

Preface

Openin

g Address

Safe

Cave Diving

Sump rescue

arrangements

in Bri tain

Northern

Derbyshire

Wales

Somerset

Bil l Whitehouse

Phil

Papard

Jul ian

Griff i ths

Richard Bartrop

John

Adams

Bob Drake

An

analysis of cave diving incidents John

Cordingley

A

review

of sump rescue types John

Cordingley

Rescue th r ough long and deep sumps Rob Palmer

Medical

aspects

of sump rescue

Dr

Peter

Glanvil l

The management of de co mpression

sickness

Dr Peter Glanvil l

Hospital isat ion

underground

Dr John

Frankland

The use of gas

mixtures

for cave diving

Through - sump and diver co

mmunications

Alter

natives

to

diving

Discussion

Closing

address

Appendi

ces

John

Cordingley

Bob Mackin

Terry Jackson

John Cordin

gley

Bill Whitehouse

1   The intern t ion l sump rescue symposium

Dijon

( France) 1985

2.

Notes

on a prac t i s e rescue through

Lake

Sump , Peak

avern   by D RO

Eastern

team and diver s

3 . Not es on the of the Kirby Mor

gan

Band Mask

K

MM

)

4   Not

es

on

the f i lm on sump re s cue by the O

PREFACE

Anyone

who

has been

on

a

cave

rescue,

whether as

re scuer

or as

vic t im, wil l

apprecia te

jus t

how

d i f f i c u l t

they

can be . Any

cave,

even the eas i e s t ,

present s a se r i e s of obs tac le s seemingly

designed

to make t ranspor ta t ion of a he lple s s person

as

d i f f i c u l t

as

poss ib le . I t is probably t r ue t o

say

t ha t

a sump

is

the u l t ima te obs tac le

and

the re has

been little oppor tun i ty to eva lua te the multi tude

of

problems

associa ted

w

i th

rescue through one.

These problems

are not r e s t r i c t ed

to

Br i ta in

. In

1985 the Fren ch held

an

in te rna t ional

sump

rescue

symp

osium in order to bring toge the r leading

Eur opean dive r s t o discuss the problems involved.

John Cording

ley represented Bri ta in and

col l ec ted

a grea t

deal

of informat ion (see Appendix 1). The

French event ,

and

the

urgent need to d iscuss

sump

rescue problems

in

a Br i t i sh

con tex t

, provided

the impetus for a Br i t i sh sump

rescue

symposium

which

was

held in

Cas t le ton Vi l lage

Hall

on

June

7th 19 86. Cave Rescue

Organisat ion

personnel ,

cave

dive r s and othe r

in te re s ted

cavers

from

llover

7

the country at tended the meeting bo th t o hear

the various speakers and to con t r i bu t e information

of t he i r own.

In

the month before

the

meeting

a small

gr

oup of

dive r s

discussed

the

various

problems o f

sump

rescue and comp i l ed a l i s t of sub jec ts f o r

presenta t ion a t the symposium. Each sub jec t was

assigned t o an individual c aver

with known

expe r t i se in

the given f i

e

ld and

they

were

asked

to

presen t

a

t a l k

on the sub

j e c t

in

Castle ton .

These proceedings

rec

o rd

the

t a lk s given a t the

symposium and include some o ther re levant

informat ion . A br i e f review o f the da y s events

has

already

b

een

publ ished

by

the

Cave

Diving

Group

in

t he i r N

ewsle

t t e r

number 81.

Although very

few

o f the problems received

concrete

s o l u t i ons we n ow have a mu c h be t t e r

understanding o f what the

problems

a ctu a l ly are.

Meeti ngs of t h i s s o r t

should

be held from t ime to

t ime to

take s tock

o f

progress and

to

disseminate

the f indings

as w

ide ly

as p oss ible . Meetings

are

useful and informative

but it is impor tant t ha t

ca ve rescue organisa t ions and t he i r lo c a l

CDG

sec t ions

organise

prac t i s e rescues in t he i r

areas

;

and

t ha t

the f indings o f these are pub l ic i sed .

Only by ca r ry ing out p rac t i s e s in the

water

can

the rea l

na tu re

o f

any problem be ascer ta ined and

over co me.

Open ing

ddress

Bi l l W I TEHOUSE

I t

i s

appropr ia te t ha t Cas t le ton should have

been chosen as the

venue fo r

t oda y s

symposium

because l e s s

than

ba l f a

mile from

here the re

occu

rred

what was

probably

the f i r s t ever sump

rescue .

I t

happened

one

day in

1773

when a par ty

of

v i s i t o r s

being

guided round Peak Cavern

were

shown the

Buxton Water

sump . Suddenly one

of

the

par ty , a Mr . Day, plunged in to the

sump

and

vanished Afte r he had been gone some

t ime

. . .

the bystanders supp

ose

d

he

was drowned,

they

heard a voice

and then

a

plunging, upon which

Mr.

Daykin

, the guide" ( r ea l i s i ng of

course, t ha t

DCRO

was not

due

to

be

formed

for another

179

years)

. . .

ventured

as

fa r

as he

dared, and very

happily put his

hand

down

and

caught

hold

of Mr .

Day's arm

and

a man behind

Daykin

caught hold of

him and

saved the drowning man . Mr . Day," the

repor t

continues

"was

speechless

fo r some t ime.

(However) n o

sooner had

his senses r e t u r ned ,

but

he sa id he would t ake

another

plunge: but

those

presen t , f ind ing him disordered, prevented him "

I t wasn t only the f i r s t

sump

rescue, it was

probably the

f i r s t recorded

ca

ve

dive;

and

when

Mr

.

Daykin and the o the rs

s topped

the

"disordered"

Mr. Day

f r

om

making

a second dive, they ca r r i ed

out

the

f i r s t ever exerc ise in cave d iv ing

acc iden t prevention . I f

Mr.

Day

ha dn t

drowned

himself

a few

months l a t e r

t ry ing to

l ive on the

bottom

of Plymouth harbour wh o knows what he might

have done for e igh teen th

century

speleology

Now , why

have

a

sump

rescue symposium a t a l l ?

Afte r a l l ,

the incidence of sump rescue has n o t

been

inc reas ing

fas te r

than

cave

r escues

genera l ly. I t is

necessary

to

look a t what

has

been happening to cave diving in the l a s t few

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

10/52

years

and what is

l ike ly

to happen in the

near

fut

.ur-e .

Primar i l y   t h e r e has been a r i s e in the

popu l a r i t y o f c ave diving. In 1975 the

CDG

newslet.

t e r s

repc.

r t ed

a t .()ta l of

270

dives

in

c

luding

t r a in ing dives .

In

1985 787 dives were

repeort

.

ed excluding

t r a in ing dives,

meaning t ha t

cave diving ha s in c reased fourfold

during

the

l a s t

dp c ade.

I t would

he ni ce

i f

the fac t tha t diving

ac c idents

have

not

a l so

increased f ourfold was

wholly a t t r

ibutable

to

the c

are

and ex p

e

r t i s e

of

th

os e

diving.

In fac t 1

am

s

ure tha t t h i s

,

t oge t.he r wi t .h improvements in equipment

and

tech

niques

, i s most of the answer ;

but

the

pess imis t (or

i s

t

r ea l i s t ? ) in me cannot help

b

u t a t t r ibu te

pa

r t

of the

reason

t o lu ck . And

luck,

so oner o r

la t.sr,

ha s a nas

ty

habi t. o f

running out

.

Mo re dive r s and more dive s ha ve meant the

explora t ion and, on many occa sions,

the

conquering

of

increas ingly

long ,

deep and

sometimes

horr ib le

sumps. Th

e l

on

gest ,

deepest and

most horr ib le have

inva r iably

been

pi()neered

by

well equipped and

very experien ced divers ,

but

in years to

come,

as

numbers in c re as e f u r ther , t hey wil l inevi tably be

f o

l l

owed by

the

l ess well

equipped,

l ess

experienced an d l ess

care

ful , while

the

sumps wil l

be

n o

shor ter , jus t as

deep and, in

a l l

probabi l i ty ,

no

l ess ho

r r ib le

At a

gra t i fy ing

ra te cave dive r s are discover ing

and

expl or ing more and more

dry

passage beyond

s umps. Many l on g extensions

have

been made

throughout

the co

untry in

recent

years but most

remain

inaccess ib le to non-diving cavers

. This

i s ,

and wil l

co nt inue

to be

,

an incen

t i ve

to cavers to

take

up diving in

order

to v i s i t

these

passages

;

and

also , perhaps,

extend them or

f ind others

by

diving

in

othe r lo cat ions .

So, the potent ia l

problem

becomes clearer . The

fu ture wi l l see

more

dive r s diving more sumps more

often to get a t more dry passage, and perhaps more

sumps,

on the o the r

side

. Regret tably a small

propor t ion wil l have accidents

e i ther

in

sumps,

beyond sumps or even beyond several

sumps.

Cavers of both amphibious and non-amphibious

persuasion

sure ly

owe themselves,

and

fu ture

generat ions, the duty to exerc ise a l i t t l e

fore thought

and

to

prepare ,

t r a in and

equip

for

the

worst.

That

i s r ea l ly

why

t i s necessary

for

us

to

be here

today and

t i s gra t i fy ing to see

t ha t

s o many

dive r s

and rescuers

have been

able

to

at tend.

This is a r a the r unusual caving

symposium

in

t ha t

none

of

the

caving

organi sa t ions can

rea l ly

take

c r ed i t

f or br inging t

about. The

Cave

Diving

Group

have helped, the

Bri t i sh

Cave Rescue Council

A poorly equipped cave

diver

using

jus t

the

bare essentia ls

(Photo:

G Attwood) •

8

A well equipped cave diver

with

two independant breathing

suppl ies three l i ght s

navigation

equipment

and

two

decompression

s la te s

(Photo: J Cording ley) •

have

helped to f inance t (with a

Cave

Rescue

Organisa t ion br idging loan) and var ious other cave

rescue

organi sa t ions

and caving clubs , such as the

Technical Speleological Group, have chipped in.

However

the

rea l ly hard work

of

get t ing t

a l l

toge the r has been put

in by

three individual cave

dive r s

whose

idea

t h i s was:

Chris Danilewi cz,

John

Cordingley and Barry

Sudell. I f t h i s weekend

i s a

grea t success

t wil l

be l a rge ly due

to

t he i r

ef for t s .

Safe

ave D iv ing

Phi l

PAPARD

I t

has been found t ha t

some

of the most

accepted

safe ty precaut ions taken by open water dive r s

are not appl i cable

to

cave diving. Techniques

have

been Ip.arned and developed over many yea rs by cave

dive r s

to

meet

t he i r

needs . These

techniques

are

appl icable

to

a l l

closed

water  

environments.

The Cave Rescue

Organis

a t i on (CRO)

has

been

concerned

for

some

t ime a t the

number

of cave

diving accidents involving

inexperienced

or poorly

t ra ined

cave

dive r s . In addi t ion, we have

been

concerned a t

the poss ib i l i t y of

open water dive r s

having fa ta l acc ident s in f looded caves and mines

in

the

UK Incidents of

t h i s

nature

have occurred

in

othe r count r i e s , for instance Austra l ia , seven

l ives in

s ix years

(Lewis,

1977), and the USA

To

date there

has

only

been

one accident of

t h i s type

here (Hodge

Close),

but there have been

some near misses

(Watkinson,

1982) .

I th ink

t

the duty of a l l

dive r s

to encourage new

ent rants to t r a in

proper ly

and

learn the

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

11/52

techniques t ha t have been and

are

being developed

by

experienced

cave divers .

DIVING S FETY

Some cavers are approaching cave diving by

t r a in ing

as

open water divers . I

should

l ike to

consider the

di f ference in safe ty techniques

between closed

and

open water diving.

Open

Water Diving

Safety

O

ver the

years a number

of safe ty

techniques

and specia l i sed equipment have

been used

by most

open

water

divers . The

following i s

a l i s t of

twenty on e of them.

I t

i s by

no

means

comprehensive.

Open Water Check L is t

1 Never dive alone

2 Know your l imi ta t ions

3

Check

equipment

before

dive

4

Plan dive

5

Use l i f e j acket

6 Quick - re lease weight

b e l t

7 Knife

(on

leg)

8

Depth

gauge

9

Watch

10

Buddy

l i n e

11

Surface marker buoy

12

Fluorescen t

hood

13 Contents gauge

14 Snorkel

15

Safety

face

mask

16

Never

ascend with empty cy l inder s

17 Keep in t r a i n i n g

(eg a i r

sha r ing)

18

Know your

buddy ' s equipment

19

Compass

20 Know the s i t e

(Currents)

21 Know the s ignals

(and know

t ha t

your

buddy

does)

Looking a t

the

l i s t , t can be seen

that the

i tems

f a l l in t

o

three

groups:-

a)

Those promoting mutual help (**)

b) Those aiding

safe ty v ia the surface (*)

c) The res t ,

of which

the

most

important

(2 ,3 ,4 and 20) are

matters

of experience.

We

can say t ha t

the

philosophy behind the rules

i s mutual help wi

th in

reach of the surface .

Closed

Water Safety

By closed

water

I mean

flooded

caves, mines,

pipes

e tc

where access

to the

surface

is

severely

l imi ted.

In t h i s environment there i s

no easy

access to a safe

surface.

This basic fac t led

Oliver

Lloyd to s ta te that we should emphasise

the need

for

the

cave diver to

learn independence

and

to

fee l , when

he

i s diving,

that

he i s

ent i re ly

on his own.

Diving

in pai rs has

no

rea l

advantage , unless there i s plenty of room and good

v i s ib i l i t y .

We

can

thus

el iminate cer tain items

from

the

open

water

l i s t

and add

othe

rs to

produce the

closed water

l i s t .

By analysing the new l i s t we see

t ha t the

philosophy for

closed

water

diving i s com

ple te

se l f re l iance in equipment ,

the

use of

the

equipment and the abi l i ty to f ind the way

back

to

base in a l l eventua l i t i es . This i s achieved by

using a l ine search rep.l to f ind a

l o s t

l ine (Fig.

7), compass

and

s l a t e to ass i s t in

f inding

the way

out i f the l ine

i s

l o s t or

broken,

two independent

a i r

suppl

ies in

case

one

fai

Is e tc. In cave dives

in t h i s country

space

and v i s i b i l i t y may be

severely l imited hence the need to have a l l

equipment

access ib le

even

i f

t

i s not poss ib le to

bend down . Figure 1

shows

the

normal se t up for

each type of diver . Note

t ha t

the open

water

diver ' s

equipment i s

posi t ioned

such t ha t

t

i s

not a l l access ib le and var ious i tems could eas i ly

be

caught in

a

l ine .

Also

note

t ha t

the

use of

a

hand

lamp

resu l t s in

the

diver not having his

hands free.

9

Closed

Water Check

L is t

1 Know your l imi ta t ions

2

Check equipment

3

Plan the dive

4 Knife

(on arm)

5

Compass

6

Depth

gauge

7

Watch

8

Contents

gauge

9 Safe ty

mask

10 100% a i r s a fe t y margin

11 Two independent a i r suppl ies

12 e

independent

13 Always

be

connected

to base by

l ine

14 All

equipment in reach

15 Minimum

o f two

independent 'lamps

16 Hands f r ee

17

Sla te + penci l

18

Search ree l

19 Training (Line laying)

20 Safe demand valves

21 Helmet

THE D NGER RE

Unti l ten years ago t was

considered

in open

water and cave diving c i rc les

that

the two sports

were separa te

(Pearce,

1972) .

This view

i s

represented

by

the top of Figure 2. At t h i s t ime

cave diving had

an

appal l ing

record: 0.161% deaths

per man-dive ( 1957 -1977) in

closed water as

opposed to

0.0011%

deaths per man-dive in open

water

(Churcher and

Lloyd, 1980). All cave diving

accidents involved

cavers and resul ted from

pushing new

caves

with

inadequate

equipment and/or

t ra in ing .

The

dual

spor t s i tua t ion

is ,

in fact , a r t i f i c i a l

and

stemmed

from the hos t i l e

nature

of most

Bri t i sh caves .

Looking

a t

the bottom diagram in

Figure 2 we see t ha t the two environments merge

and

there

are a number

of

s i t es

of

r es t r i c t ed

sur face access

that

an open water

diver i s

l i ab le

COMPASS.

DEPTH

GAUGE.

SLATE

and

PENCIL

REEL

CLOSED WATER

DIVER

Fiqure

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

12/52

  Open Water

SE

L KES

RIVERS

QU RRIES

etc

Closed

Water

C VES

MINES

PIPES

etc

SEPARATE VIEW

OF

TWO

SPORTS

SE

L KES

RIVERS

QU RRIES

etc

Figure 2

Figure 3a

Figure

3b

C VES

MINES

PIPES

etc

FED LINE

HODGE

CLOSE

~ : : U . ,

SOm

KELD

HE D

1

\ .

to encounter .

This

happened a t Hodge Close (Fig.

3a)

where

a

g i r l

los t

her way in a tunnel and ran

out of a i r . The opposi te type of

accident

happened

a t

Keld

Head when a

cave

diver drowned near a

large

a i r

bel l

with

a

buddy present . This

l a t t e r

i s

more akin

to open water diving accidents in

some respects than to other cave diving accidents.

We must be on the look out for signs of a

recurrence

of

the Hodge Close

inc ident

a t

perhaps

a large resurgence. We

as

cave divers , wil l be in

the bes t pos i t ion to rescue or recover

such

a

person. Police divers

must not be put

in

the

posi t ion

they

were

in

a t

Hodge

Close

where

they

recovered

the body using base-fed

l ine

and back

mounted bot t l es .

At

Hodge Close

t

worked jus t )

because the

tunnels

were square cut

with no

bedding planes .

In

a

cave

l ike

Keld

Head

(Fig. 3b)

a base-fed

l ine

would soon pul l in to a

bedding

plane.

In fu ture we may be r esponsib le for deal ing

with a s imi lar incident .

Publ ic i ty

of exci t ing

cave

dives l i t t e r s the open water

diving press

and

now appears on t e lev i s ion . How

long

wil l t

be

before

there

i s

a mult iple

accident

l ike the

one

in Aust ra l ia involving

seven sp

or t s

divers?

TRAINING

With the advance

of cave diving, CDG

divers now

use many open

water

techniques, pa r t i cu l a r l y in

large c lear sumps.

These techniques include

buoyancy

aids,

back

packs,

diving in

pai rs

and

decompress ion stops. The Bri t i sh

cave

diver of old

never had to consider

such matters.

The modern

cave diver

needs

to be an excel lent open water

diver ,

as

well as a caver, pr ior to

his cave dive

t ra in ing . The basic diving s k i l l s c

an

be gained by

a number of methods. Most new cave divers in the

North of England

e i ther

join

a diving club or t r y

to t r a in

themselves. The

l a t t e r

route

has in the

pas t produced some

of

our bes t

cave

divers , but

has

also ki l l ed .

I would

l ike

to make a

plea to

a l l cave

divers .

Consider cave diving as much an extension of open

water diving as of caving and make cer ta in you get

the

necessary

t raining.

Cave

diver t r a in ing has advanced a long way in

the l a s t ten years af t e r the

in t roduc t ion of

The

Cave

Divers Training Manual (Lloyd, 1975) and

L

ine

Laying

and

Following

(Yeadon, 1981)

. I

do

not purpose

to

repeat these books here . I wil l

however

emphasise

three basic techniques.

i ) 100

%

Air

Safe ty Margin.

This

basic safe ty technique i s

of ten

used

wrongly . The objec t

i s

always to

have two

se t s

of

breathing apparatus each

with

enough a i r in t

to

get

you out. The

simplest method

to achieve t h i s

i s to use 1/3 out of one tank, change to the

second tank and turn round when

t

i s 2/3

fu l l .

Figure 4

JUNCTIONS AND JOINTS

5

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

13/52

Final ly , swap back to

the

f i r s t tank when

the

second

is

1/3

fu l l .

You should

then

reach

your

base with 1/3 in each. I have heard of divers

using 2/3 out of the f i r s t

tank

before swapping

over

What happens i f the second tank

is

inoperat i

ve? This

simple method i s

of ten

modified

to

chan

ging over

tanks

every

ten

minutes so the

diver knows t ha t

both

se t s

are

working and

can

take act ion ear ly

i f

one

f a i l s .

i i

)

Line

Laying.

I t has become the custom of

l a t e

to

become

a

cave

diving

t ou r i s t ;

laying

no

l ine

but

jus t

going

on es tabl i shed

dives

on

exis t ing

l ines .

This

is

f ine

as long

as

the

diver knows

how

to

lay

l ine

,

rec ove r a l ine

that

i s

los t

or f ind his way out

using

his compass

e tc

i f t h i s fa i l s . I get the

impression t h i s does

not

always occur. Every

cave

diver

must

t r a in himself in l ine laying and

rec

o

very.

He

must

also always carry a compass ,

s late ,

penci l

and

emergency ree l on

every

dive

•

except the

very shor tes t . In laying 1 ines he

should be fami l ia r with joining l ines , using loops

to f ix new 1 ines and avoiding knot.

tying

under

water ( a t l eas t

one

death has resul ted from a knot

coming

undone)

( Fig. 4

).

He

should also use

di f fe rent

coloured

l ines

for s ide passages

and

c lear ly mark

des t ina t ions . Belaying

the l ine a t

bends and

junct ions

can be

done

using

severa l

methods . Different

aids

have t he i r own advantages

and

disadvantages .

The

diver

must

be

fami l ia r

with

them a l l . (Figs. 5 and 6).

A useful car r ie r

for

"snoopy

loops"

i s shown in

f igure 6.

I t

i s cut

from

a piece

of

sink

waste

pipe cut

to

the length of

the

"snoopy loops" in

use. The snoopies" are so

at tached

to the

car r i e r

that

only the top "snoopy's" cord loop is free . By

pull ing down on the cord

loop

the

snoopy

i s

removed and the next "snoopy's" cord

loop i s

released .

i i i

) Recovering l o s t l ine .

Yeadon

(1981) explains

t h i s procedure

as

follows: -

1) Don't

lose the

l ine

( technique ) but

i f

you do: -

2)

Know the bear ing of

the passage

di rec t ion .

3)

Be

aware

of

your

posi t ion

relat ive

to

the l ine .

4)

Slowly

scan the side on which the l ine

was los t . Don't

move

more than

one metre away.

5)

I f you are being followed

by other

Figure

5

BELAYING LINE

Lea d Weights

.,

,.

','

- .

,.,',

 

Natural

Belays eg eyeholes or

rocks)

11

inn

 r

tu e

Figure

6

SNOOPY

LOOP HOLDER

Figure

RECOVERING

LOST

LINE

search pattern

of

diver

main

l ine

ensnared

y search

line

diver , s tay

where

you are,

watch

and l i s t en . Be

ready to a t t r ac t at tent ion by l igh t and

sound

(knocking rock

or

knife on

tank) .

6) I f a l l the above f a i l then search

across

the passage f loor ,

walls

and

roof

using

the

emergency search ree l (Fig.

7).

Note

t ha t i f you

have looped

the

ent i re

cross-sec t ion

of

the

passage

you should have ensnared the l ine in the

search ree l

l ine

.

7) A l a s t resor t would be to use your

compass and notes on di rec t ion , made during the

inward dive , to f ind the way out .

CONCLUSIONS

The

modern cave diver has

a

l o t

of s

ki l l s to

learn . Not

only caving

but also open water d iv i ng

sk i l l s . For those who are content to follow

others, they s t i l l

need to know the basic

s k i l l s

of l ine

laying

and

have the cor rec t equipment.

The

most

important piece of equipment the d iver has i s

his br

a in

.

I f

he fu l ly u n d e r s t a n d s the

impl icat ions of

a

dive

an expe r ienced diver

wi l l

e i t he r

take the necessary

precaut ions

or postpone

the

dive

unt i l

he has

gained

the

required

knowledge, equipment or s k i l l .

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

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Sump Rescue rrangements n Northern England

Jul ian GRIFFITHS

Two equipment dumps have been

es tab

l ished

,

one

a t

the

Cave

Rescue Organisa t ion

CRO)

depot

in

Clapham and

one

a t Upper

Wharfedale

Fel l Rescue

Associat ion UW

FRA)

depot in Grassington.

These

c

omprise su f f i c i en t

diving gear to k i t out tw o

divers

who

on ly have

wetsui ts

to hand

. A

drysui t

is also avai lab le

a t

each

locat ion but there i s

a

need to

acquire

pressure

r es i s t an t

conta iner s

to

fer ry medical supplies through sumps.

A l i s t of

divers

in

the region

who

would

be

able

to

ass i s t

in

a diving

rescue

i s

maintained and

i s

used by

the CRO

and

UWFRA

res cue control l e r s .

Great

emphasis i s p laced on ca l l ing

out

divers

when t

i s f e l t t ha t they might be able to help

ra ther than having them on standby

.

A

number of

pra

c t i ce

r s ~ u s have been attempted

in sh or t sumps. The

co nclusion

drawn from these

is t ha t

in most cases, i t i s not

safe to

take

the

vict im

through

a sump on a

s t re tcher . I t

i s

far

be t te r , where possible , to

sp l in t

the par t of

the

body af fec ted and for two divers to drag the

victim.

One

a t the f ront provides

the

motive power

while the

one

behind

keeps

the

vic t im s

legs

together. I t should

be noted

t ha t t h i s technique

increases

the

lead

divers

a i r consumption

appreciably.

Famil ia r i ty

with

sumps and communication with

rescue cont ro l l e r s

are

important

in diving

rescues.

While

there may be a

case for

a

national

l i s t of divers wh o are avai lable

to

ass i s t

a t

rescues , the

div ing

rescue function

sh

ou ld not be

put onto

a

national basis . Ideally each rescue

o

rgani sa t i on should appoint t he i r

own diving

contro l lers .

Sump Rescue rrangements n Derbyshire

Richard BARTROP

Sump

rescue arrangements in Derbyshire

were

rad ica l ly modified as

a

resu l t of the

Ilam

Risings

Rescue

in

1977

.

Before

th i s

the

arrangement

was

t ha t the Derbyshire Cave Rescue

Organisat ion

DCRO)

would contact one or two local

cave divers

who

ass i s ted

DCRO under

a

cont ro l l e r

who

was not

a

diver . The system proved inadequate on

t h i s

rescue

.

The divers a t the scene refused to enter

the

sump

for

var ious

reasons

.

This caused some

animosity

between the

cavers

and

the

divers . After

the

event,

through informal

conversat ion,

a new

system emerged. Diving

was

becoming more popular

a t around t h i s

time

and there was

a

l a rger pool of

divers to draw from for rescue purposes

.

Al Harrison i s the present cont ro l l e r of

a

diving

sec t ion

of

the DCRO. Being

a

diver and

a

rescuer ,

he i s bes t su i ted to provide l ia ison

between the normal

cave

rescue personnel and the

divers and to i ron out di f ferences in at t i tude and

prac t i se

in

the event

of

an incident .

Divers

from other regions

are included

on

the

ca l l -out

l i s t

because

of

the

small

number

of local

divers

who are

e l ig ib l e

for

inclusion.

The l i s t

current ly being expanded to include

even

more

personnel . Divers are cal led out in

a

se t order

.

Cr i t e r i a

for the

order

include; time required to

get to the DCRO s tore in

Buxton,

ava i l ab i l i t y due

to work

and hol idays and

present

level of diving

ac t iv i ty

.

This

l i s t i s revised regular ly by John

Cordingley

who assesses

the changing s i tua t ions of

the d ivers concerned.

The

ca l lout procedure

was

bypassed

in the

case

of the

Bagshaw

Cavern inc ident

when

the DCRO

ca l lout of f i ce r rea l i sed t ha t divers could be

contacted

a t the Technical

Speleological

Group's

headquar ters a t Cast leton.

This enabled the

divers

to

get

to

the inc ident

sooner

and

to

do what was

important to

them:

so r t

out t he i r gear.

Divers,

cave

rescup.rs and cont ro l l e r s worked together

well

in

an

at tempt

to

rescue a four teen year old

boy

who had entered a sump unequipped.

Assuming him to

be

a l ive

,

speed was of the essence even

though the

2

c

hances of

a

l ive rescue we r

e

minimal. The drowned

vict im

was

located

12

m. into the sump.

The DCRO

owns a Kirby

Morgan Band

Mask

KMM) and

a small

amount of cave

diving equipment.

Tw

o

co

mplete se t s

of

diving

eq

u ipment (minus

wetsui t s ) ,

peripheral

equipment

to

modify the

MM

f

or rescue

purposes

and 600 m. of l ine combined

with telephone wire to provide through-sump

communications

are

required

urgent ly.

The

sump

rescue s t re tcher also

needs

modifying.

Money

to

fund

t h i s

equipment has

yet

to be found .

However

,

on

a

br ighter note, DCRO divers have

been

prac t i s ing

with

the

equipment

avai lable

s

appendix 2). Hopefully the

problems

ident i f i ed

during these prac t i ses

can be

solved

before

the

equipment i s

required

in earnest .

Sump Rescue rrangements n Wales

John

ADAMS

The present equipment

holding

for

use

in sump

res cue in Wales i s

o

ne sharkskin neoprene wetsui t

sump bag

with

arms)

and two

double

l ined

neoprene drysui t

sump bags

(without

arms) .

The wetsui t

bag

and

one of

the drysui t bags

are

held

by South

Wales Cave Rescue

Organisat ion

(SWCRO

),

the

other

drysui t

bag i s held by

the

equipment

of f i ce r

of

the

Welsh

Section

CDG

.

There are

,

however,

severa l

immediate issues of

concern with regards t h i s equipment.

Firs t ly ,

the

drysui t

bags have

drysui t

zips

but

do not

have

e i t he r

neck or

face sea ls . Therefore the

vict im

wou ld

become wet and cold

unless a

bar r i e r

to

water

can

be added. Se

condly

,

i f the

vict im had

sus ta ined

head, neck or back in jur ies

a

sea l could

prove troublesome or

even

dangerous.

Although the Welsh Section has nine cylinders

none

are

designated

for rescue purposes. I f the

concept

of a

national rescue

squad

becomes

a

r ea l i t y then cylinders

wi l l need

to

be

provided.

There i s also

the

most immediate problem of

obtaining

a

fu l l

face

mask.

Two sec t ions (Somerset

and Derbyshire) current ly

own a

Kirby Morgan Band

Mask but

the Welsh Section has re f ra ined

from any

such

purchase

because

of the

lack

of

a

su i tab le

mask a t

a

pr ice

t

can

afford

.

Although a successfu l sump rescue was ef fec ted

in Wales l a s t year there are other potent ia l

problem areas. The terminal

sump

of Daren Cilau

connects

with

Agen

Allwedd Risings some 500

m

downstream.

However, the work on the

Agen Allwedd

Risings

has

not yet completed a

connection

whi

ch

would allow the

possib i l i ty

of

a

rescue via

t h i s

route.

When

the

through dive i s achieved t wil l

undoubtedly become

a

possible rescue

route.

This

wil l of course be

an extremely

serious

undertaking and

a

team of prof ic ien t divers wil l

be required to e f fec t such

a

rescue.

In

conclusion there

are

several

problems which

plague the Welsh Sect ion with regards

to

sump

rescue

.

These

include a shor tage of funds and

subsequent lack of equipment; di f f icu l t i e s in

organisat ion and

coordinat ion

caused

by

the

complicated

re la t ionship

between

the

SWCRO

and

the

separa te pol ice

author i t i es

which

cover

the

caving

area and

f ina l ly

the

at t i tude

of some cavers

who

assume

t ha t

a

rescue through

a sump

i s

a

simple

affai r .

Sump Rescue

rrangements

n Somerset

Bob DRAKE

In Somerset any i n i t i a l ca l l received by the

Pol ice

i s passed on to the Mendip Rescue

Organisat ion MRO) and

the

appropr iate warden

i s

then

contacted .

The

Somerset Sect ion of the CDG and the MRO

have

been using

sump

rescue apparatus for

over

20

years;

f i r s t

with a

Normalair

fu l l

face

mask

un i t

and more recent ly with

a

Kirby Morgan Band

Mask

KMM) 10. They

have

had the MM for about f ive

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

15/52

The M

en d

i p Re

scue

Or

ga n i

s

a t i

on

su

mp r

escue apparatus

a t a

pr a

c t

i c e

s e s s i on

a t Wook e y

o

l e .

A 2000 l i t re c yl in d e r s uppl ies a

Ki

r

by

Mo r

ga

n b

and

m

ask

a nd

ne ut ra l buoy an

cy

s a c

hieve

d

wi

th

a c he s t mo

un t

e d

adjustable

b uoya ncy l i f e ja ck e t (P ho t o :

R Bu ry ) .

year s and v

ar i

ous s ump res cue pra ct ces

have

be

en

organis ed

usi

ng

d

i f feren

t re co very t e chniques .

The

f i r s t te chnique was w it h th e vi c t im st rapped t o

the s t r e t che r and the

a i r

supply

t o the mask

c

a r r i ed

separa

te

l y by a suppor t

div

e r . A l ong hose

was requi r

ed.

The

next

me

th

od was wi

th

a

s e l f

co ntained a i r

supply

was s t rapped on t he s t

re t

ch er

between th e v ic t im ' s l eg s. Both t hes e t ec

hn

i que s

involve

the us e of tw o o r mo re ba ckup di v

ers

t o

mano

euvre an

d ho ld t he s t r e t cher .

They

c

an

be

ass is ted

in t h i s

by

the use

of

an adjustabl e

buo yancy

l i f e ja

cket ( ABLJ ) mou nt ed across t he

ch

es

t o f the

pa

t

i en t

an d a weight

bel

t s trapped

ar ou

nd the

middl e. Bu oyan cy c

an then

be adjusted

as ne c essary.

However

these

meth

o

ds

are only

su i tab le for t he l a rger sumps. Mo re re c ent ly

the

idea has been t o d o · away with th e s t r e tcher

a l t

o

ge the r

and

j u

s t

u

se

t

he

MM

t

ogether

w

i th

a

loca l i sed

support for

t he in jury .

I t

i s

then

po

ss ib l e for

a s ingle

diver

t o ef fec t a recovery.

This would save a

grea t

deal of

time

and manpower

but i s dependent on the type of in jury and

nature

o f

the

sump .

There are s t i l l problems

to

overc ome with

long

and deep

sumps

. For

instance,

the MM uses a lo t

of a i r

therefore

a change

of

bot t le could

be

ne c

essary

underwater . This c

an

be

made

poss ib le

with the

manufac

tu re of

a va l

ve

and

co

nn ec t io n but

the p r ac t ica l applicat ion co uld s t i l l be very

d i f f i cu l t . Fo r very sh or t sumps , su c h as Swild ons

1, the

a i r

c an

be

fed from the base t o the mask

with the long hose; ho

wever pr

o

blems

of ho

se

length ,

hose

vol ume and pressure

differen

ces

between

f i r s t and

se co

nd

s t age valve s

are

a l l yet

to

be

dea l t with .

All

the

res

cue apparatus i s stored

a t

a cent ra l

base on Mendip

t oge the r with

l i s t s of

te leph one

numbers where backup fa c i l i t i e s

and

ex t ra

equipment can be obt a ined qui ckly . The Somerset

Section

feels that

t i s

well

prepared but we must

keep

an

open

mind

for new ideas.

n na lys is o f Ca ve Div i

ng

Inc id ents

J ohn

CORDINGLEY

The wri ter i s gra te fu l to Bi l l Gas co

igne

, Jim

Hanwe l l Ian Watson and Bi l l Whitehouse for

supplying him with a large amount

of

information

on diving res c

ue s

.

I t

i s d i f f i c u l t t o

kn

ow how

to

present these data without drawing

misleading

conclu

s

ions

.

To

keep

t

simple

I

decided

to

categorise incidents according to t he i r

prime

re a

so n

. The resu l t s

are given

in

t ab le 1. I t

has

13

Summary o f main c auses of in c idents attended by rescue

team divers

in

Br

i

tain

Categor y

1

3

4

5

Cause

of

In

c

ident

Cause

no t kn own

Line problems

Gear

fa i lure / Unsui t able

gear

Inexperien

c

ed

/

  Unjust

i f ied

pani

c

Problems

t o

caver

s or

would-be divers

Number

of

Incidents

<

7

<

23

to

be s t ressed

t ha t

there must inevi t

abl

y be s ome

degre

e of over l ap , es pe c i a l ly between cat egor ies

2 , 3 and 4 . I t i s also

possible t ha t

the l i

s t i s

not

comprehensive

bec

ause

i t

r e f l ec t s

the

response

I re c

eived

and

n ot

an

exha

us t

ive

sear

ch

of

the

l i t e ra

t

ure

.

Ther

e

have

been nu

mer

o

us

"

s tand-by

"

incidents and , wh i l s t

these

a

re

n ot in c luded on

the

l i s t

, t sh o

uld

be noted

t ha t these

are almo

s t

a l l ass ocia ted with c ategory 5 . The incidents have

been f a i r ly

evenly

d is t

r ibuted

throughout the main

Bri t i sh

caving

areas , and al th o

ugh

s t a t i s t i c a l l y

speaking

they

represent onl y a

small

sample from

50

years

of cave

diving

,

they

are broadly

s imi lar t o

s t a t i s t i

c s

f r

om o

ther countr ies

.

Several

useful

co mments and observat i ons c an be

made c

oncerning

T

able

1 . Fi r s t ly

t i s

extremely

important that fu l l deta i l s

of an inc ident

are

recorded a t

the t ime. My co rrespondents who

suppl ied t he i nf ormation were able t o give

me

deta i led accounts of many of the incidents

r e fe r r ed

t

o.

Only by making

th i

s

information more

widely avai lable c

an

we hope to av o id s imi lar

accidents in

the future

.

Alth

o

ugh

incidents may

be

ca tegor i sed

the fa c t i s

t ha t

they

often ar i se as a

r esu l t of a number

of

seemingl y

t r i

v i a l problems

occurr ing s imultaneously. Inexperience is

of ten

a

fa c t o r . The f o l l owing was overheard recent ly

in

a

Dales pu b : "No one is a perfe c t

cave dive

r

but

almost everyone c ould

be

a safer one . This i s

food

for thought indeed  

There

have

been too

many

deaths

f rom

unas r ertained " c

auses

;

r e f l e

c

t ing

the need

for

exhaust ive inve s t iga t ions by coroners in

every

case . Loss

of

, o r inabi l i ty t o re turn along, the

l ine

has

been a major cause of diving deaths

whereas

problems with equipment

are

r a r e l y

responsible .

Cave

divers sometimes s pend

hour

s

prepa r ing the i r gear yet they have

of ten

l a id

l ines

quickly and badly .

For t

unate ly t h i s tends

not

to be

the

case nowadays .

The most

common cause

of ca l l -out s involving diving teams i s s t i l l t o

ass i s t

ordinary cavers in

t rouble

and t h i s

should

be borne in mind when

requests

to rescue

organisat ions for money to

buy

more

equipment are

8/21/2019 BCRA 14-1-1987

16/52

made by t he i r d iv ing teams.

I t

is d i f f i c u l t

to

make predic t ions

about

fu ture

t rends

but t seems to

me

tha t there

are

two

main

problem

areas which

need

adequate prepara t i on by

d iv ing teams.

F irs t ly ,

there i s go ing to be a

ser ious ac c ident t o a diver who i s c aving

beyond

a

l

ong

s ump. All

the

maj o r Bri t i sh c aving areas

no

w

have

extensive pass ages beyond sumps of

betw

ee

n

200m

and

600m

in length. There are

not ye t

any

whi c h requ

i r e

decompression

on

the inward

dive

but

t h i s

wil l become

an

added co mp l i c a t ion

in

future .

Secondly,

with

the regula r explora t ion of deeper

su mps there

wil l be

s i tua t ions where

dive r s

with

dec

ompression

s ic

kness have

to

be

ev a

c

uated. This

wil l require sp e

c ia

l

arrangements and

c asua l ty

t reatment.

I t

i s t o be ho

ped

t ha t the

rescue

or

ganisa t ions

and

cave dive r s wi l l cont inue to

work

toge the r

to overcome the d i f f i cu l t ies

involved i