Don’t scream.

Please stop.

Steve’s body landed on the rocks in a sickening thud.

Is he alive?

He only fell about 15 feet. You shouldn’t die from that. Right?

Geeze that’s a lot of blood.

“Steve don’t move!”

Why is it that when you tell someone not to move they still do?

Well… he’s moving I know he’s not paralyzed.

I can feel the warm blood soaking into my glove as I press it against the back of Steve’s head.

Should I take off my shirt and use it to stop the bleeding? No… It’s cold in the cave. I don’t know how long Ill be down here.

My eyes follow the rope ladder up to the top of the cave and I see my friend staring over the edge. I yell at him to throw me his shirt and our small first aid kit. I grab it and yell back that he needs to find a ranger and have them get a cave rescue team down here

I turn back to Steve. Blood is everywhere, running down his neck, his shirt and soaking his pants

I need to stop the bleeding.

What’s in this kit? Band-Aids, tape, gauze. Not much to work with…

I press the shirt against the back of his blood soaked hair and tie it in place with gauze.

Hopefully the bleeding stops. I wonder if he has swelling in his brain.

“What Steve? “

….

“Yes, you fell.”

….

“Yes, you were climbing that ladder and fell about 15 feet to the ground.”

….

“Yes that’s your blood on your shirt.”

….

“You want me to take a picture for your wife? Okay, try not to move”

I sit against the cold cave wall behind Steve with my hands holding the shirt tight against his head.

The bleeding seems to have stopped. Now what?

I’m glad I don’t have to do CPR; I don’t think Id like doing that much on a guy.


“What Steve? “

….

“Yes, you fell.”

….

“Yes, you were climbing that ladder and fell about 15 feet to the ground.”

….

“Yes that’s your blood on your shirt.”

….

Why is he repeating himself? I wonder if he has a concussion.

Let me try to wipe some of the blood off your neck.

I toss the red stained alcohol swabs onto the cave floor.

I watch Steve's neck to see if more blood is running down from his head. Nothing.

Good.

At least that’s stopped.


“What Steve? “

….

“Yes, you fell.”

….

“Yes, you were climbing that ladder and fell about 15 feet to the ground.”

….

“Yes that’s your blood on your shirt.”

….

“Its okay, head injuries bleed a lot”

…

I wonder if Steve will have permanent short term memory loss. He would be like the guy in Memento. That would be a frustrating life.

Voices. Who is it?

I look up and see Steve’s brother leaning over the edge looking down at us. I tell him to talk to Steve for a few minutes.

Good, he’s still talking. Is it bad for him to pass out?

I have no idea.

I need to keep him talking and conscious

Where’s Mike with the cave rescue team?

What else can I do? I think back to my first responder class at college. I run through what just happened in my mind. Stopped the bleeding, no apparent broken bones, and possible concussion. I check his pulse, not very high, seems about normal for him. I look at his eyes.

Wow. They are dilated.

Never seen that before.

I think he has a concussion. Hopefully that is the cause of his memory loss and not something worse.

New voice.

Who is that?

Good, Mike found a border patrol agent

…

“Yes, he seems stable, bleedings stopped, doesn’t appear to be in distress”

…

“Yep, I’m holding his head so it doesn’t move. “

Good. Sheriff department was notified. Rescue team should be here soon


“What Steve? “

….

“Yes, you fell.”

….

“Yes, you were climbing that ladder and fell about 15 feet to the ground.”

….

“Yes that’s your blood on your shirt.”

….

It’s been 2 hours since the border patrol agent was here. What is taking so long? Steve seems to be doing okay. He still has no short term memory. I wonder if it’s permanent.

Who’s that?

A paramedic. Finally.

….

What? You can’t come down until the rope rescue team arrives?

Okay.

The medic throws down a neck brace

Good, that will make my job easier

I put it on Steve’s neck.

Only used these one time before in school.

Hopefully I did it right.

Another hour passes by. Headlamps still work, that’s good. If my batteries run out it will be pitch black. Not an idea I’m looking forward to.

I turn off my lamp for a few minutes to see what it would be like.

Can’t see a thing

Nope. Not looking forward to that

More voices

Sheriffs back. Says Fry fire department rope rescue team is here

Good.

I watch as two EMT’s rappel down from the ledge

….

“No, I’m not hurt Steve fell about 15 feet. Bleedings stopped. Possible concussion”

…

The medics slowly take off my home made bandage from Steve’s head and dress it properly. They lay Steve down onto an inflatable mat and start checking his vitals

Seems like its time to wait again. The rescue team is preparing a stokes basket to lower down for Steve

I’m glad they are here. I’m not responsible for Steve’s life now. It’s up to them.

The baskets down, Steve’s strapped in and hauled up. I snap a few pictures with his camera as he’s being pulled out

My turn

They attach a harness and rope to me. Kind of nice not having to climb out. About a minute later I’m up at the top of the cave and heading out.

Steve’s being loaded onto a truck and taken to the helicopter.

I walk over to Michael.

Wow, I feel like I’m shaking. I look at my hands, they are steady. I must be coming off my adrenaline rush.

Steve’s flown to the hospital where we meet him there a short while later. Doctors check him out staple his head closed and release him

Dinner at Denny’s anyone?

Good write up.
Took me back and probably captured it well for those that weren't there.
Thanks

Oh it did. I closed my eyes and was there.

That was awesome, sorry about your head Steve.

Wow