No injured cavers recorded.
In March of 1977 a group of cavers was on the Huautla Plateau in the state of Oaxaca of Mexico for an extended push of Sotano de San Agustin. On March 26, three cavers entered to establish a camp at -1,800 feet. They were joined the next morning by three more.
On the 28th, a third group of six cavers headed for the underground camp. They proceeded for some time along the route which is mainly a series of vertical drops. About half the drops have waterfalls and some are more difficult than usual by virtue of not being free falls. The air and water temperature is about The cavers were heavily laden with duffle bags of gear and food.
At about 1,200 feet they came to the top of the longest drop, a pit of about 320 feet. Jean Jancewicz and Bill Steele proceeded down. As Blake Harrison (28) was traversing a canyon leading to the top of this pit, and in the midst of a difficult straddle, he lost his footing and fell.
He was not clipped into a handline that was present and fell about 30 feet down the narrow canyon, bouncing from wall to wall, finally landing on a sand floor. The fall was audible to Jancewicz and Steele and just afterward Jill Dorman screamed down the drop for help. This was incoherent to those below who feared damage to the rope and so did not ascend. Eventually they became cold, and continued on to the camp.
Jim Smith had previous EMT training and checked the victim's neck and spine for fractures, finding no evidence of such- neither the pain nor numbness associated with such injuries was present. Harrison did appear to have serious injuries and delirium indicated a possible concussion. With Mike Van Note and Jill Dorman staying with Harrison, Smith proceeded to the surface to get supplies.
On the surface, Smith found that another group had arrived, consisting of Bill Liebman, Joe Liberz and Maureen Cavanaugh. The combined group, armed with equipment for the evacuation but almost no food, proceeded to the accident site. Harrison was less badly injured than at first thought and was able to aid himself to some extent. The evacuation was carried out by the five cavers over the next 31 hours almost non-stop. The lack of food became a serious handicap, however, and toward the end the rescuers were running on adrenalin and body tissue- potential victims themselves. On ascending the drops the counterweight lift method proved most useful.
Once out, Harrison was trucked to Tehuacan, a day's drive away, to the nearest hospital. He was diagnosed as suffering a broken rib, broken finger, and minor lacerations and contusions.
Analysis: Harrison's personal life was in conflict at that time and it is felt by some that this contributed to the accident. The place where he slipped, after all, was not outrageously difficult and had been traversed by a number of others. Certainly, if Blake had clipped into the rigged hand line he would not have taken the fall he did, although one person pointed out that slack in the line would still have allowed a six to eight foot fall.
The lack of communication between those above and below the 320 foot drop would have been improved by the use of whistles and the five-mode European whistle signal system. It is difficult to criticize any particular situation, but the rule should be that every effort be made to re-establish communication when a party is separated as happened here.
The Ultimate helmet worn by Harrison certainly saved him from serious head injury. A helmet with simple elastic chin strap would probably have come off the first time he hit, leaving his head unprotected on the further bounces off the walls of the canyon.
The lack of food taken back into the cave for the rescuers was a serious problem. Everything possible should be done to prevent rescuers from becoming victims.