Cave rescue

Cave rescue is a highly specialized field of rescue in which individuals are to be removed from caves or other natural features in which they may be stuck or injured. Cave rescue borrows from certain disciplines, including firefighting, confined space rescue, and rope rescue, but also has developed its own special subset of techniques and skills for performing work in conditions that are almost invariably suboptimal.

Notable cave rescues include the extrication of Emily Davis Mobley from Lechuguilla Cave in 1991, involving more than 70 individuals over 4 days to bring her to the surface after breaking her leg.

Perhaps the quintessential cave rescue attempt was that of Floyd Collins from Sand Cave in Kentucky in 1925. Despite heroic attempts to the contrary, Collins died after a little more than two weeks, his foot trapped by a rock while less than 150 feet from the surface.

Cave rescue techniques have improved somewhat since then.