Construction of karst cave rescue system: A case study of Guizhou Province

Since the 1980s, with the development of joint spelunking activities between China and other countries, modern spelunking activities and techniques have been introduced and gradually promoted in China. Spelunking is now emerging as a popularized activity, which has been integrated into sports and tourism industries. Guizhou is located in the core area of the largest contiguous karst area of the world; therefore, cave resources in Guizhou have become an important part of China's economic development. However, cave accidents have occurred frequently, showing an increase in recent years. Establishing a sound cave rescue system is of great practical significance to support the construction and development of economy in sports industry and tourism industry in Guizhou. The cave environment is one of the most risky and challenging environments for human activities, and cave rescue has gradually attracted people's attention. As early as 1935, the world's first famous cave rescue organization was established in Yorkshire, England, and subsequently, cave rescue organizations have also sprung up in the United States, France, Italy, Belgium and other western countries. On 13–15 August, 1963, the first cave rescue conference was held in Bruxelles and Han-sur-Lesse, Belgium. Cave rescue manuals have been consecutively compiled and cave rescue websites have also been set up in Europe. At present, China's cave accidents mostly handled by rescue teams temporarily deployed from relevant personnel, mainly from the fire brigade. Most of the rescuers are cave professionals and enthusiasts lacking professional skills for cave knowledge and standardized training to carry out rescue operations. Consequently, it is difficult to achieve consistent and orderly rescue, which may even cause secondary injuries or delay in rescue. Based on the achievements of cave rescue and cave rescue manuals overseas, we analyzed cave rescue elements and summarized the composition of cave rescue in this paper. Taking Guizhou Province as an example, we analyzed the current types of cave accidents and rescue in China, on the basis of which we constructed a cave rescue system by combining the composition of rescue subjects and cave technical talents in China. It is believed that the cave rescue system consists of the following parts: (1) Under the leadership of the two functional departments—the Emergency Management Department and the fire brigade, the command center for cave rescue can be established responsible for alarm receiving and rescue dispatch. (2) At the same time, in cooperation with Guizhou Institute of Mountain Resources and Guizhou Cave Association, Technology Research and Development Center for Cave Rescue is expected to be set up for rescue personnel training, accreditation of rescue qualification, technology research and development, etc. Norms such as standardization of rope technology, training of rope technology and system of qualification accreditation, codes of conduct for cave rescue personnel, etc. should be established. (3) According to the distribution characteristics and main elements of caves in Guizhou, a provincial team deployed by Technology Research and Development Center for Cave Rescue in Guiyang should be established in charge of the cave rescue in complex situations of Guizhou and the training of provincial cave rescue team. With the fire brigade as the main body, this team consists of cave routing group, stretcher group, communication group, medical group, underwater diving group, explosion group and ventilation group. In Liupanshui City, Zunyi City, Bijie City, Anshun City, Tongren City, Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, rescue teams consisting of routing group, stretcher group and medical group should be deployed in charge of the city's ordinary cave rescue. The rescue force composed of cave clubs and civil organizations of cave enthusiasts and individuals in different cities should be made full use of under the leadership of Guizhou Cave Association. (4) By Guizhou Cave Association and Cave Rescue Center, a database of cave rescue experts can be established under the leadership of Cave Rescue Center to form a rescue system with top-down linkage and official and civil interaction.