Medical Workshop

Team: Heinke, Olli O., Steffen B., Schüssi, Steffen K., Zeljka, Marc, Mats, Tom, Aline, Marc-Christopher, Dierk

When our annual meeting was held in November, the foundation was laid to hold a medical workshop as a team this year. The goal of the workshop was to build some basic knowledge of the equipment available and to learn new materials and techniques. We had also acquired a new roll-up rescue stretcher in the team with whose handling we wanted to familiarize ourselves. Heinke and Olli O. had quickly agreed to prepare something. The date was also found quickly and so it went on the first March weekend in the north to Hemmoor.

A part of the team arrived already on Thursday evening, so that one did not have to make the long journey only for 2 days. Furthermore there was the possibility to do one or the other dive already on Friday. Zeljka and Schüssi made the shaker "unsafe" early Friday morning at fresh temperatures. Around noon Olli O., Steffen B. and Tom arrived. In the late afternoon Marc-Christopher joined us. For the afternoon a small scooter dive was planned for 5 of us. Unfortunately MC's scooter refused to work, so MC and Schüssi went on foot to visit some highlights of Hemmoor. Olli, Steffen K. and Tom went on their way with the scooters. Back in the apartments we welcomed Marc, who together with Steffen B. had already heated up the grills.

Almost Cavebase standard there was delicious grilled meat from Franconia. Also Dierk, Mats and Aline found in the evening still the way to Hemmoor and so we could let the evening end in comfortable round. Around 2 o'clock in the morning, the last participant Heinke arrived.

Saturday morning started with a delicious breakfast, before we started with some theory and practice. First Olli did a part with the basics of CPR and oxygen administration and gave us the opportunity to practice on a manikin.

Exercises such as the Heimlich grip also provided many laughs. Olli also introduced us to the RescuEAN, with which a normal oxygen stage could be used as a constant flow for a ventilation mask. Thanks to some self-printed parts from Steffen B. we now also have an adapter to connect a 2nd stage to a ventilation bag and use it as a "demand valve". All in all, super simple and yet so effective in a pinch. We practiced a scenario or two with this as well. During the lunch break, we were able to recharge our batteries with pasta and tomato sauce.

We use the second part of the day to learn more about Heinke's equipment. In addition to a defibrillator and a portable patient monitor, she always has a whole bag of useful tools with her to care for a patient. Here, too, we use the time for a few practical exercises and were also able to check the suitability or otherwise of the team members for the next project at the patient monitor.

To have some more exercise we decided to walk a little round the lake.

Here you get new views of the lake. After this successful day, how could it be otherwise, we stoked the grill again and strengthened us. Also this evening we let end in large round and already forged the one or other plan.

Unfortunately, Marc and Tom had to leave on Sunday morning, so we continued practicing in a smaller group. Last year we had purchased a roll-up rescue stretcher as a team. We used the morning to try out one or the other stretcher before we started to learn how the roll-up works. This stretcher has the great advantage of being able to be transported in a reasonably small size, but properly set up it is stiff and stable enough to safely transport a person. The stretcher also has appropriate brackets to transport a patient vertically in a shaft, for example, or to attach it to a helicopter. So after we safely packed Steffen B. into the stretcher, our first goal was to suspend him free-floating. So we used a beam on the terrace and attached a few slings. Now we just had to understand the technique of the ropes provided. But that was also done quickly. And so Steffen was hanging horizontally and vertically from the house.

After this challenge was also mastered, we also wanted to do some exercise in and under water. But before that we had a little refreshment with homemade vegetable soup from Heinke. Afterwards we grabbed our suits and equipment and headed for the E1. Fortunately, there was not much going on here on Sunday afternoon.

First of all, we tested the roll-up individually in the water to see how far it is positive or negative in the water - it is almost neutral, minimally negative. Then a diver was to be attached to it. Here Heinke declared herself to be the guinea pig. After determining the amount of lead needed and equipping it with an XDeep sidemount bubble as a buoyancy aid, we clamped Heinke onto the roll-up. Then we attached two stages to the sunbed and connected the cylinders to the dryer and bladder. Now came the moment of truth.

We lifted Heinke, under interested looks of the other divers, first on the water surface before we looked then how she goes down and whether everything functions correctly. A permanent OK sign from Heinke signaled us that we could go one step further. Since the foot area was slightly positive we decided to attach another piece of lead here. We then all slipped into our gear and attempted transport to the surface. 4 rescuers spread out around the stretcher and so we covered a few meters. For a whole lake round our motivation was not enough.

Another increase was on the program. We wanted to transport Heinke under water. Again we distributed ourselves around the stretcher, 2 divers on a rope in front of the stretcher, one diver each on the right and left and one last diver in the foot area.

The diver to the right was also responsible for monitoring the patient. In this constellation, we then dove a few meters to the fixed points of the former archway. The mixture of locomotion, buoyancy and stabilization of the stretcher requires some practice.

In the last step we wanted to test the whole thing with a scooter. The plan was to use a Seacraft Ghost 2000 as a tractor and stabilize the stretcher with 3 other divers. With level 9+ the team shot through the water. Against the foot march a lightness.

Nevertheless, we decided to reduce the speed to level 7. Again, we made very good progress in this team. We also tested whether a transport to 2. is possible. Here, the stretcher is pulled by the scooter and a second diver is directly above the stretcher and stabilizes and steers. At the same time, the diver can monitor the patient.

This attempt was also a complete success. With the impressions gained, a few pictures and videos, we made our way out of the water. Heinke already had cold feet due to the little movement and we did not want to do another exercise on hypothermia.

Back at the accommodation, the grill had to do its job again and we examined the video and photo material that was taken during the exercise. Unfortunately Marc-Christopher, Dierk, Heinke, Mats and Aline had to leave already.

Steffen K., Zeljka, Steffen B., Olli O. and Schüssi made themselves comfortable.

Later in the evening Timo Vierow from tauch.versicherung came by and showed us some possibilities how to insure our diving equipment.

On Monday morning we had to clear the boat and the rest of the team had to go home.

All in all we had a great and instructive weekend. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot for future projects.

In this sense

Your Cavebase.

Annual meeting 2021

After we could do our last annual meeting only digitally, we wanted to use this year again to organize a personal meeting. Not so easy in these crazy times! Nevertheless, we managed to hold our meeting in Bamberg under 2G+ rules. Like every year we use the annual meeting to do all the organizational points of Cavebase as a club: Board report, cash report, discharge the board and then elect a new board. But also other important points like fixing dates and thinking about the projects for the next year were big on the agenda. After a long day, these points were also successfully mastered and we could end the evening with delicious Bavarian food and good beer. On Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast with Weißwurst (Bavarian veal sausage) and one or the other "Nachburner" before the team went back home.

In this sense

Your Cavebase

Molnar Janos - CCR Cave Course

Team: Manu, Mats, Heinke, Tom, Aline

Cave diving? Sure - always, in warm water? Mega! and in addition in the evening the flair of bars and pubs?

The combination of all this alone attracts pretty much everyone. And therefore it was not far away to start a little trip to Budapest.

Heinke and Tom had already been to Molnar Janos the year before and could only report positive things. Also therefore the desire was large to go there.

For the participants Mats, Manu, Heinke and Tom the completion of their cave training was in the foreground. After many years of diving the IANTD Cave CCR course should finally fall as the last part of their certification.

The instructor Jozsef Spanyol is already well known to many from the Cavebase from the past. The course booking and the booking of the cave went smoothly. The logistics on site are perfect. Everything can be rented for small money.

Aline had already taken care of a perfect accommodation near Molnar Janos in advance.

Already before the course a few nice dives were made in the Molnar Janos. The cave is definitely one of the most beautiful caves in the world.

Crystal clear views and huge canyons and halls. Everywhere you can admire crystals and numerous fossils. Molnar Janos is currently explored on a length of about 8 km - but this is not the end. Every year new passages are found. The total length of the cave is still unknown.

The cave is a thermal spring; the water is between 28 and 20 degrees. The depth is up to 100 meters and more in the back part.

The course itself was intensive and very instructive. Especially in the theory, very valuable tips and tools were taught in order to complete the topic of bailout planning "on the fly" even safer and easier during exploration diving.

The focus of the practice of the course was - how could it be otherwise - not only in the perfect team play but also in the complex navigation. For this, the Molnar Janos is the perfect place.

In the evening the ruins bars and the pubs were made unsafe. The group enjoyed the nightlife.

Actually, it's a pity that the nice time was over so quickly. But it is sure - we will be back.

In this sense

Your Cavebase

The journey with the unknown destination

Team: Mats, Max, Oliver O. Steffen K., Steffen B. Aline, Dierk, David, Marc Christopher

Our project 2021 should lead us again to the Gourneyrou. We had prepared well, equipped ourselves with new equipment and wanted to continue the survey there. From the team we were joined by Mats Pape, Max Fahr, Oliver Ober, Steffen Kiesecker, Steffen Burger and two guests David Runde (OC) and Marc Christopher Menzel (RB80) as well as our supporters Aline Schiersmann and Dierk Schwick.

This time it was not Covid-19 but the weather that threw a wrench in our plans. The week before our project week it rained all over Europe. Rain clouds stretched from the Atlantic to the Adriatic. We contacted our contacts in France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia. No one could give us the courage to get into any cave. A rescheduling to Greece, to visit the island of Kefalonia and to look for further entrances into the 30km long cave system was unfortunately not possible at short notice due to the enormous effort involved.

We postponed our planned departure from Friday to Saturday. From Saturday to Sunday. Every day we contacted our informers in the cave regions, always with the hope that something would improve.

Finally, we agreed to send a team to Valstagna on Sunday afternoon. The guys reached the valley only after midnight and went to sleep to check the conditions on Monday. The rest left early Monday morning. The plan was that we spontaneously decide on the way to Valstagna at the latest shortly before Trieste whether we go to Lake Garda or to Valstagna.

Since the conditions were not optimal, Fontanazzi doable, Oliero poor visibility but doable, we decided to go to Lake Garda with a trip home and stop over Valstagna.

In our luggage were survey tools, habitat, lines, manuals and a lot of trimix. If we can't move forward with our project, we wanted to spend the time expanding and strengthening our skills.

We nestled in a nice aart hotel in Riva. The hotel has a nice garden with playground and a pool. The pool for skill training, the playground for surveying, as well as a grill for the daily dinner ;)

Arrived in Riva we unloaded the cars for hours and shipped the equipment in the rooms. In the evening the grill was stoked. Grilled was day after day, but without charcoal, but with wood from the beech and olive trees over the blazing embers.

Tuesday we used for a small trimix dive at the harbor of Riva, dives to tune in at 50 - 80m were planned. An initially planned training in shallow water had to be cancelled due to poor visibility.

On Wednesday a dive was planned at the crack. We wanted there through the crevice, with target depths between 120m - 150m with 120min - 300min runtime. The crack is a crevice in the rock where you can dive from the top to about 50m in the "bottom". The exit ends at a slick wall between 70 - 90m depth. One dives into the "blue water", super visibility and steep wall up to 120m. In the deco we caught up on some skill training from the day before. Besides standard situations from CCR diving, the focus was also on changing from JJ-CCR to Bailout-RB.

On Thursday, the topic of surveying was on the agenda at 8am. After an hour of dry practice in surveying with MNemo and the subsequent visualization on the PC, we went to the lake again. This time we split up - one troop went to the crack again, looking for the end of the dump at the foot of the steep face there. The end was not reached, the guys turned around again at 160m and enjoyed the following 4.5h deco with laminated magazines.

The other troop amused themselves with hammer and chisel. It was set the habitat with hammer blow, without a drill. After one or two hours it was ready ;) For remote cave projects it is important not to rely only on one card, uh hammer drill. In case of emergency a bit sweaty, but the habitat could be set without a UW hammer drill. There is enough man- and woman-power in our team.

The trip home on Friday was for most via Valstagna and an extensive dive in the Oliero. The visibility was moderate, but diveable. Behind the Oliero hides a huge cave system, in which there is certainly still one or the other new territory to find. Due to the later journey home, as well as the fact that it was the first visit for some, the focus was rather on a relaxed dive at the end of the "Gourneyrou Project Week". David and Aline said goodbye to the rather short week with a last dive in Lake Garda. In Bolzano we met up with the rest and headed home.

In this sense

Your Cavebase