GNJ: Tarnogórskie adits a diving training ground

In June 2015, during the eleventh Silesian Cave Rescue Manoeuvres, the Tarnogórski Klub of Cave Climbing organised, as one of the episodes, the transportation of an injured cave explorer in a stretcher through a corridor section flooded to the ceiling, simulating a real accident and rescue operation behind a siphon in a cave. This time, the task was undertaken by divers Paweł Jeziorny, Sławomir Pażonka (both WKGiJ), Mirosław Kopertowski (SGW) and Michał Macioszczyk (WKTJ) supported by rescuers from TSO, TKTJ, Aven, KKS. The action took place in the adits of the Tarnogórsko-Bytomskie voids, in which mining works were completed at the beginning of the 20th century.

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The group of rescuers reached the Scaffolding Well within 30 minutes of entering the underground, after covering several hundred metres and corridors flooded with water up to their knees. In order to reach the water level, it was necessary to prepare a set of railing ropes for the 12-metre descent of the rescuers and to prepare a stretcher system, as the injured speleologist was to return to the surface by the same route.

A Petzl Nest stretcher was used. In the ascent system, the balance method was abandoned this year in order to reduce the action time as much as possible, which brought beneficial effects. It is also worth noting that this year the team took a minimal amount of equipment from the base, which reduced the transport luggage, but forced one variant of rigging the cage.

Additional batinox anchors set earlier this year for the three-point rescue stations, allowed the rope systems to be conveniently relocated to the side passages, minimising rope operations on the rusty shaft formwork and reducing the number of rescuers working directly over the heads of the diving team. The walls and floor around the shaft are very friable, with loose rock fragments of various sizes falling out.

The divers used wet suits with no additional buoyancy systems and a cylinder attachment system on the sides to ensure full redundancy of breathing systems. The depth of the flooded corridors in this section does not exceed 3m. Traditionally, there were some problems with sinking the stretcher in which the injured speleologist was transported. However, after several attempts, assisted by divers, they appeared on the other side of the siphon, where a team of rescuers was already waiting for the “dry” part of the operation.

The stretcher with the victim was efficiently pulled up the well. Together with the stretcher, the Stefa lanyard system was used for the first time, which makes it very easy to manipulate the stretcher in the horizontal and vertical axis. The equipment used for the dive was then taken up to the level of the corridor using a flaszencug type hoisting system. The simulated action was completed.

The well was depored and everything that might have been left over from the two-day underground manoeuvres was taken to the exit of the adit. The diving episode was the furthest field of action during this year’s manoeuvres. The whole action, counting from leaving the base, lasted about five hours. Thanks to that, we all caught a group photo, summing up the whole commotion in Sucha Góra.

It is worth noting that in such narrow corridors flooded with water, three divers to operate the stretcher seems to be the optimal number. Next time, it is worth checking the suggested possibility of transporting the victim in the stretcher in the reverse position, i.e. head towards the bottom, which translates into a natural position for the diver and trouble-free use of the breathing apparatus. Underwater cave rescue is full of situations where anything can happen – it is worth remembering this.

As the manager of the underground action, I would like to thank all those who took part in it, for their commitment, smooth execution of tasks and not depleting the quantity of KTJ equipment.

Source: gnj.org.pl Photo: Magdalena Plata

The Group of Cave Divers (formerly the KTJ PZA Cave Diving Subcommittee) operates under the aegis of KTJ PZA. We deal with cave diving, popularization of this form of activity, cave exploration and activities for the safety of cave diving. We are cave divers, members of PZA cave clubs. We conduct dives in the Tatra caves, we also organise expeditions abroad. Seeking more and more new regions for our activities, we go wherever we can find siphons, in the caves we reach wherever there may be siphons.