Firefighters train for cave rescue

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A cave rescue this week by Austin firefighters brought the need for training to the forefront. The city has a vast system of more than 300 caverns running beneath it.

A KXAN crew crawled 300 feet below the intersection of Convict Hill Road and Latta Drive with 30 firefighters Wednesday.
Feeling their way through the limestone under southwest Austin, the team re-enacted a scene very similar to one played out a few days before.

"This guy’s got a broken femur,” said Eddie Martinez, “and we've located him."

"Getting these guys out of here as quickly as possible," said Brien Brown, “is our main objective.”

"Actually if you lay on the bare rock down here,” said Matt Turner, “even though it's 72 degrees, you can still get hypothermia."

Acting as the victim, Justin Slusher stayed still as the crew secured a plastic body board beneath him.

"There's just no way to get out with a broken femur,” Slusher said. “It would be a long haul."

Firefighters had to crawl on their stomachs back toward the cave’s entrance, dragging Slusher along the way. The trek back up took three hours.

"The thing that would hinder somebody coming in here,” said Martinez, “some of our bigger guys, our big linebacker football players, we came into some pretty tight places."

Through water, rock, and sand, they found their way out by leaving markers.

"Where your bag was,” Martinez pointed, “instead of going left, we need to go right."

Using their bodies as supports between the crevices all the way to the top, they emerged better prepared for the next time someone stumbles into the danger below.

"When I get up and am walking, that will be really good,” Slusher exclaimed, breathing in a gulp of fresh air.