Cave, Mine, and Tunnel Rescue
What this domain covers
This domain groups three enclosed, dark, long-duration environments where access is slow and communications are hard. The exam tests atmosphere monitoring, team management, and the patience these environments demand.
Cave
Caves mean total darkness, constrictions, vertical drops, cold water (often around 10–12 °C), and no radio. Rescues are slow and logistics-heavy: establish a surface command, move in small teams with a cave lead, and set communications by wire or through-the-earth systems. Protect both the cave and the patient from hypothermia.
Mine and tunnel
- Mine atmospheres can hold methane (explosive roughly 5–15% in air), carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and low oxygen. Monitor continuously; do not enter an irrespirable atmosphere without self-contained breathing apparatus.
- Mines use a fresh air base near the affected area, with teams rotating forward from it, and mine rescue apparatus with a known duration.
- Tunnel work adds heavy equipment, dust, confined-space rules, and long travel distances; ventilation and monitoring come before entry.
Worked example
A patient is 900 ft into a walking cave passage with a suspected femur fracture. The correct answer: a small team with a litter and a cave lead, staging the litter at the narrowest restriction, warming the patient, and rotating carriers - not a rapid grab-and-go that exhausts the team at the first squeeze.
Traps
Treating a cave as nothing more than a confined space entry. Entering a mine without gas monitoring or a fresh air base. Pushing the whole team past the first restriction.