Terry DeFraties, Darla White, Rita Worden and Brent Wilkins started down the shaft at about 1800 on Friday, 11-10-06 and finished exiting at about 1500 on Sunday, 11-12-06. We floated most of the way to the Jerry's cairns campsite and camped there both nights. This was the easiest leg of the trip. Most of this part of the cave would allow a litter to be floated. This would reduce the physical effort and speed up evacuation a lot but could still take 10-12 hours. Somehow, the patient would have to be kept warm. The rescue committee has discussed various approaches to this in the past and has no definite conclusion. However, with standard flotation, your eyes are just above the water as you look to the side while you cruise in the litter. A leader with two teams of 6 could probably handle this.
There are no major obstacles from the campsite to DL-7; but the passage is not especially friendly to a litter evac due to some ups and downs and some squeezes. A litter would have to be carried most of the way. There are some anchors that could be used in places if needed; but this would add to time or require additional people to rig ahead of the litter. It could take 4-5 hours. A (different) leader and two (different) teams of 6 (plus possibly 2-4 to rig) could probably handle this.
From DL-7 to the Lake Room, the passage is not at all friendly to a litter evac except for the last part just before the Lake Room. There are lots of ups and downs with a lot of them over mud. The litter could slide but would need a line on it. I do not recall any anchors; so people would probably be the solution. This passage could easily take 8-10 hours. A (different) leader and two (different)teams of 6 could probably handle this. The Lake Room itself would be very difficult due to the mud. (It is bad, even for Carroll; and there isn't much else that I remember.) It is a big room with high ceilings. We did not attempt to get in or near the lake because we were not sure we could get someone out of the mud at the edge given the mud conditions we experienced quite a ways back from and above the water. Flotation would be a wise precaution. I came close to not getting out of some mud on my own a long ways above the lake.
If there is an evac from a point beyond the entrance to DL-7, it will be very helpful to have communication either to DL-7 or Jerry's cairns (depending how deep in the cave the problem is.) A com team should go in immediately whether with the radio (we need to do a locate at both places) or with wire and a field phone. Absent com, a runner(s) would take 2-3 hours for a round trip. Com would make it easier/possible to get teams into position at the right times and avoid extended staging in the cave or failing to arrive soon enough to relieve other teams. It is likely that, for evac from areas beyond Jerry's cairns back to Jerry’s cairns, two teams of 6 would need to be four teams of 6 due to the amount of effort to (a) just to reach the patient with a litter & supplies and (b) moving the litter from the patient’s location back to Jerry’s cairns.
We deposited a small blue dry bag with a few emergency supplies at the campsite. Supplies are intended only for emergencies and inventory is on the bag. We will add more in future and need to coordinate with the first aid kit already there. Please notify the safety/rescue committee if anything gets used just as you would for supplies in the galvanized can in the silo.
Whatever we cache at any location should support small group self-rescue or survival until help can arrive. It also needs to be transportable to where it might be needed.
What we left at the campsite was a full length closed cell ground pad (insulation if someone is immobile and/or to be cut up for splints,) roll of plastic wrap cut in half (hold splints on, hold bandages on, blood in and dirt out or swath/sling to immobilize arm, etc.) lighter, sterno, votive candles, foil to reflect light/heat and catch wax, contractor trash bags (heat tents and human waste) and TP (hard to improvise a good substitute.) Stuff is independently containerized inside the blue bag. The bag has some very small minor leaks which would not be a problem beyond this point.
Terry DeFraties