News and Events

BCRC celebrates 32 years of service by Jim Davis as BCRC Training Officer British Cave Rescue Council officers and teams expressed appreciation to Jim Davis for 32 years continuous service as Training Officer and Executive Committee member of the BCRC, … Continued

Morca Cave, Taurus Mountains, southern Turkey On Sunday 3 September, BCRC Officers were made aware of a medical emergency experienced 1,050 m underground by an expedition caver in Morca Cave, Taurus Mountains, Türkiye, through the European Cave Rescue Association (ECRA). … Continued

June 2023 After seeing the new Casbags and jackets at the European Cave Rescue Association meeting in 2022, the Norwegian Cave Rescue Group asked if we could make some for them. This was accompanied by an invitation to visit Norway … Continued

Mike Meredith, 79, was found dead at his house in Kuching, Sarawak, on the morning of Wednesday 11th January 2023. Mike was born on the 19th. July 1943 in Hereford.  At the age of 11 he obtained a Scholarship to … Continued

1926 – 2022 British Cave Rescue volunteers join with those across the UK and the world in offering our deepest condolences to all in the Royal family at this very difficult time.  

A special presentation was made during the closing session of the ResCon22 cave rescue conference in Castleton on Sunday 26 June. Peter Dennis, current BCRC chairman, on behalf of the BCRC Executive officers, presented Bill Whitehouse with a figurine of … Continued

A presentation of a photograph signed by members of the BCRC Executive committee, was made to Heather Simpson during the Annual General Meeting, Buxton on Sunday 10 April. This was a modest gesture to express appreciation for the six years … Continued

Incident Report for the Period 1st January 2020 – 31st December 2020 The summary of the incidents for 2020 (both underground and surface) in which cave rescue teams have been involved has been collated and is now available on the … Continued

Disinfectant Donation Keeping safe during the Covid-19 pandemic is really important for cave rescue teams, protecting our team members and the people we help. Thank you to Tristel for the very kind gesture of supplying teams with Tristel Duo for … Continued

Update on Developing the next generation of Casbag. Hypothermia is always on our minds as British cave rescuers. Our cave environment is a hostile one, with an ambient temperature of 8 to 12°C. Hypothermia is an ever-present danger for those … Continued

BRIEFING NOTE – 12 May 2020,  Guidance Should a Return to Underground Activity Become Available Update for cavers, mine explorers and the media compiled 23:10h BST, Monday 11 May 2020 Guidance from the government and the devolved parliaments on outdoor … Continued

BRIEFING NOTE – Friday 24 April 2020, 16:00 BST Update for teams and supporters All best wishes to cave and mine rescue teams, individual team members, families and friends during these unprecedented circumstances. During the current SARS-CoV-2 crisis, BCRC encourages … Continued

13th European Cave Rescue Meeting, Jama Baredine, Istria, Croatia 14-17 November 2019 Peter Dennis (BCRC Chair) represented BCRC at this European Cave Rescue Association meeting, after many years of attendance by Pete Allwright, both as BCRC Secretary and more recently … Continued

Thank you to Apeks Diving For the donation of 8 MTX-R regulators to be used by our rescue teams. The MTX-R is a rugged, reliable regulator developed for demanding conditions. The regulators were handed out to teams during the bi-annual … Continued

Thanks to all who made their way to Mendip (Somerset) for the biennial BCRC Cave Rescue Conference, hosted by Mendip Cave Rescue. Held over the long weekend of 6-8 September 2019 at Priddy we were lucky to have some warm, sunny … Continued

Honeywell Analytics Donate Portable Gas Detectors to all UK Cave/Mine Rescue Teams The British Cave Rescue Council (BCRC) is extremely grateful to Peter Barratt (Key Account Manager, Honeywell Analytics, Middlewich, Cheshire) and Joe Exon (Zone Manager, Honeywell Analytics, Poole, Dorset) … Continued

New Long Slix Stretcher The SMWCRT team has been working with React to improve some design features of the ‘slix’ stretcher. This latest version incorporates new designs for C-Spine immobilisation and head support for casualties, with improved lifting / hauling eyelet … Continued

Good News from Tennessee Last night BCRC was both pleased and relieved to receive some excellent news from the United States informing them that Josh Bratchley had been successfully rescued from Millpond Cave in Tennessee where he had been overdue on … Continued

Before you go Be AdventureSmart and ask yourself 3 questions: * Do I have the right GEAR? * Do I know what the WEATHER will be like? * Am I confident I have the KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS for the day? … Continued

Cave Rescue Organisation – Long Service Awards Night The Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) recently held a Long Service Awards night to recognise the contribution made by many of its’ long serving members to the Team’s mission of ‘Saving lives above … Continued

The 1st/2nd December saw the first BCRC Medical weekend. Underground medics and advanced first aiders from Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Wales, the Mendips and Ireland met to discuss and develop the best casualty care for injured cavers. There was extensive discussion of challenging … Continued

The Dales caving book “Adventures Underground” written by Dave Haigh and John Cordingley (published by Wild Places) has proved very popular, softback copies are still available, but the limited edition hardback sold out really quickly. When writing the book the … Continued

Bill Whitehouse, former secretary and chair of Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation, and Vice-chair of BCRC has been awarded an MBE for services to Cave and Mountain Rescue in the 2017 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Bill was involved in the formation … Continued