Mendip Cave Rescue

Incident 29th April 2018

Mendip Cave Rescue were called by Avon and Somerset Police at 11:58 on Sunday 29th April 2018 for an incident in Sidcot Swallet in Burrington Combe. A party of three had entered and explored the cave and one of them became unable to climb out of the Lobster Pot on the return journey. After several attempts at extricating himself, the two other cavers left the cave and called the Police for assistance. Mendip Cave Rescue attended, with two Wardens entering the cave and providing an extra “foothold” so he could climb the Pot. Mendip Cave Rescue were supported by Avon Fire and Rescue and South West Ambulance HART team, and the incident was closed at 13:18 with everyone safely back on the surface.

Rescue Workshop, CaveFest 6th May 2018

The Sunday the 6th May Mendip Cave Rescue will be holding a rescue workshop as part of the Mendip CaveFest 2018 weekend. The rescue workshop will be held underground in G.B. cave, where there will be four different workshops held in different locations in the cave. These will be:

Communications - to be held at the entrance to Mud Passage from the Gorge.
Stretcher packaging - to be held in the Gorge above the Bridge.
Pitch hauling - to be held at the fixed ladder in the Devil's Elbow route.
Casualty assessment ("what to do before rescue turns up") - to be held on the 1st climb in the Mud Passage route.

There will be at least two MCR rescue wardens plus all the relevant equipment at each location.

The rescue workshop is open to all interested cavers, but please note that following:

Valid Charterhouse Caving Company permits will be required for everyone who ventures underground.
Please park considerately at the farm (as usual), making a £1 donation per car, and respect any directions from the farmer. It is recommended that people share cars to minimise parking space.
MCR will have a 'checking in' tent close to the entrance. Everyone who goes underground will need to check in.

There will be two time slots for cavers who wish to go underground - 10:30 and 13:00. Each slot can have up to 20 cavers (4 teams of 5 people, entering the cave at 5 minute intervals). Please can anyone who wants to attend register in advance with the CaveFest website, or with the CaveFest organisers over the weekend.

Mendip CaveFest 2018

Over the May Bank Holiday (from Friday 4th through to Monday 7th May 2018) weekend there will be a Mendip CaveFest taking place in Priddy, a free event that will see a number of visiting cavers enjoying the variety of caving that is on offer in the Mendips, along with a number of talks and demonstrations covering caving techniques.

On the evening of Saturday 5th May, there will be a 'cavers stomp' in Priddy Village Hall with the bar and food for the evening arranged by Mendip Cave Rescue wardens and entertainment provided by DJ Basher. All proceeds from the evening will be donated to MCR funds.

Then on Sunday 6th May Mendip Cave Rescue will be running a series of cave rescue workshops, suitable for anyone who is interested in finding out a little more about the challenges, equipment and techniques used when rescuing an injured caver.

Training at Monks Park mine, 16th September 2017

A MCR training event was held on Monks Park mine on Saturday 16^th September 2017. The training scenario involved having an overdue party lost in the mine, which included one person who had suffered multiple injuries requiring the use of a stretcher to extricate them and one person who had suffered minor injuries and was able to walk out when assisted by rescue team members. This rescue practice also included the successful use of the Cave Link underground communication system, demonstrating that this underground communication system works well in these stone mines when a good earth connection is found (or created using a bucket of water to damp the terminals!). During the course of the rescue scenario, a SARCALL log was created and the surface control team ensured that this was regularly updated. Some more photographs from this rescue practice can be found on our Facebook page. Our thanks to all at Hansons, and in particular the mine manager Gary Sales, for allowing us to use the mine for this training scenario.