Blue John Cavern
- Call out for year: 90
- Date: 13/10/18
- Time: 12:06 pm
- Grid ref:
- Type of incident: Walker Injured(1)
- Team members involved: 11
- Time taken: 2.47
- Total man hours: 27.17
Incident report
A geology student from Keele University was in the area on a field trip. The field study group had intended to visit the Blue John Cavern. During the descent, the lady slipped at the bottom of the cavern and resulting in a suspected fractured ankle.
Buxton Mountain Rescue, Edale Mountain Rescue Team and Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation, which was training in Peak Cavern nearby, were called to assist East Midlands Ambulance Service
A back-roped system was established to assist with the steep and humid ascent from the cave. The casualty was placed on an ambulance extraction chair and was slowly lifted to the surface, over 254 steps.
The extraction was all the more difficult due to the narrow staircase. After the casualty was safely bought to the surface, she was further assessed by the ambulance paramedics and transferred to hospital.
