About 50 cavers, SAR personnel, firefighters and others converged on the El Paso County SAR facility for an Orientation to Cave Rescue (OCR).  This two-day course was organized by the Colorado Cave Rescue Network (CCRN), with instruction provided by CCRN and National Cave Rescue Commission instructors.  The course had three parts: lectures, hands-on practice above ground, and a mock rescue in a real cave.  CaveSim was used during the hands-on practice to give participants a sense of what real caving is like.  This gave participants the chance to learn just how fragile the cave environment is prior to entering a real cave for the mock rescue.  Some participants had never been in a cave before, and learned a lot about what kind of gear is appropriate for the cave environment.

Above, participants practice packaging a patient in a Sked stretcher. Below, the CaveSim trailer fit well in the El Paso County Search and Rescue building. We had a late snowstorm which explains the water below the trailer.  Photos by Dave Jackson.