Cave Rescuers accidentally pack items inside their casualty

Cavers and cave rescue teams across the UK are still discussing last November's major rescue operation at Ogof Ffynnon Ddu cave, in which a man in his 40's was rescued over 3 days of combined effort. The incident involved around 300 cavers and required a painstakingly slow stretcher carry through a variety of obstacles before reaching the surface, where the man was taken to hospital and has been recovering for the last few months.

However, reports have started emerging that commonly used rescue equipment, such as ropes, handcuffs and battery powered dildos were accidentally packed INSIDE the casualty during the rescue operation.

Murmurings within the caving community suggested it may have been because of the colour of the equipment bags, but details had been unclear. After further speculation from those using UK Caving, well known for being trustworthy sources, the rescue teams involved have finally spoken out.

Ben T. Legg from Wales And North Cave Rescue (WANCR) who led the operation shed some light on the concerns:

"As has been reported recently, we experienced some confusion in relation to the placing of equipment during the rescue at OFD last month. Unfortunately, on multiple occasions during the stretcher carry, various items were placed inside the casualty. An investigation was launched immediately after the rescue and our findings have only just been documented."

He continued: "As a team, we hold our equipment stocks in red tackle bags which are used for transport to and within the cave environment. Despite the availability of various other colours for these bags, it was decided that as a team we wanted to encourage team members to memorise the exact markings and contents of every bag so that we do not need labels to be taken underground".

"Unfortunately, we did not consider that the packaging for our casualty was also red, and that he was wearing a red oversuit. This obviously caused further confusion for those sorting equipment in and out of bags during the rescue and in the ensuing chaos some equipment was inserted into him."

Dankness Below contacted some members of the rescue team for comment. One person responded, though under condition of anonymity.

"It was chaos", they said. "Equipment was everywhere and we had no idea what was where or how to find it. When the realised what we had done, everyone was initially in shock - but luckily for us, the casualty took it like a champ".

When we asked whether the rescue team planned to change the colours of their bags in the future, they insisted they would not.