Tunisian Cave Rescue
Between the 3rd & 5th May, two members of staff, joined by 4 other UK based cavers travelled to Tunisia to deliver a cave rescue course for local cavers.
Technical Development Manager, Mike Clayton and Instructor, Bartek Biela were part of the British Cave Rescue Council team, which consisted of members from Midlands Cave Rescue Organisation and Gloucestershire Cave Rescue Group, who helped to train the first cave rescue organisation in the country.
The intensive training course involved one day in the classroom, one day in a sports hall and the final day in a disused mine, putting all the skills into practice in a rescue scenario. Training covered incident management, communications, casualty care, stretcher packaging and rigging.
All cave rescue teams in the UK are run by volunteers and teams are funded by donations. The team funded the trip to Tunisia and training at their own costs and gave their time free of charge.
Total Access generously supported the fledgling Tunisian cave rescue organisation by providing ropes and karabiners. The Tunisians have limited equipment and suffer from high equipment costs and therefore the support by Total Access was greatly appreciated. A return visit is planned for 2015.
