Injured man in hospital after eight-hour rescue from remote cave in Tasmania
An injured man has been stretchered out of a remote cave on Tasmania’s west coast after he fell several metres, triggering a complex eight-hour rescue effort.
Police said the 62-year-old man, from the north-western coastal town of Ulverstone, was caving with friends near Mount Cripps on Saturday when he fell several metres off a ladder inside the narrow cave system, sustaining a back injury that left him unable to climb out.
Mount Cripps is a karst cave system about 20km west of Cradle Mountain.
Two of his companions hiked to a point where they could use their mobile phones and raised the alarm.
An emergency response team of around 40 ambulance, police, SES and Northern Caverneers Caving Club members reached the caves about 1am on Sunday.
Acting Insp Dave Chapman of Tasmania police told reporters on Sunday: “It only took about 20 minutes to get from the main entrance of the cave to the injured person, but it took almost eight hours to bring him out through the narrow system.
“It was highly technical – a crawlin, and then a downward section, and then another downward section with a waterfall in it.”
He said the man – who was suffering from mild hypothermia as well as his initial injury – was constantly monitored by ambulance officers.
“He was unable to move so he had to be stretchered up. It took a lot of a equipment to pull him out.”
Rescuers reached the surface with the injured caver about 8.30am and were met by a rescue helicopter, which airlifted the man to Royal Hobart Hospital in a stable condition.