KEY POINTS:
Police have asked health and safety officers to investigate how six students and their instructor became trapped in a flooded cave system.
The Auckland teenagers had to dive underwater in pitch darkness to escape the flooded Waipu Caves last week. About 60 police, rescue and fire personnel were involved in the dramatic rescue in pouring rain.
Waipu-based Peak Adventures took the group from Northcote College into the caves and director Ian Fox stands by the decision, saying correct procedures were followed.
A rescue debrief involving the fire service, cave rescue and police search-and-rescue was held on Tuesday. Northland search-and-rescue boss Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe said concerns were raised at the meeting about the poor weather at the time and whether it was practicable to have a school group in a water cave system.
A police report has been forwarded to the Department of Labour to consider.
"There's a plan in place and it worked safely, but it is time to revisit it and take the good things and pull out the areas that need improvement for future rescues," Mr Metcalfe said.
Communications were identified as a major problem. There was no cellphone coverage and police communication systems also failed. Rescuers used hand-held radios to talk to one another during the drama. Mr Metcalfe said there was a specific rescue plan for the exit where the students swam through, but there were at least four other exits that needed to have a rescue plan drawn up.
Mr Fox said he was annoyed he had not been part of the the debrief. "It's like having the key witness in a court case not there," he said.
During the three hours before the school group, along with guide Kane Flemming, went into the caves at 9.30am, Mr Fox said, there had been minimal rain and stream levels were normal.
Inside the cave guides watched for rising water levels, increased flow rates, water temperature change and increased waterflow off stalactites, he said.
"All these are monitored throughout any caving trip we run," Mr Fox said.
When the group had failed to make a check- in time he had gone to the cave. He decided the group was most likely waiting on a sand bank just inside the cave exit. He drove a short distance to get cellphone coverage and called a search-and-rescue team member.
Mr Fox and Mr Flemming, both members of the cave rescue team, had co-ordinated a training exercise for the team in the Waipu Caves last year. Mr Fox said he contacted fellow search-and-rescue team member Glen Hawk, rather than police, because he had an extensive knowledge of the cave system and police did not.
Once water had been pumped from the exit and the water level dropped, Mr Fox had gone into the cave and helped to evacuate the students. Mr Fox said as a result of the rescue further training would be given to his staff, particularly around flooding in that section of the cave.
Department of Labour spokeswoman Rachel Riley said reports from police and caving experts would be assessed and a decision made as to whether the department should be involved.
- Northern Advocate
