incident at Mcclure's Cave

Date
1st Jun 1977 approximate
Publication
ACA 1976-1979 p. 27
Cave
Mcclure's Cave
State
Pennsylvania
County
Unknown
Country
United States of America
Category
Cave
Incident type
Bad air
Group type
Other
Group size
7
Aid type
None
Source
Unknown
Incident flags

Injured cavers

No injured cavers recorded.

Incident report

A group of seven cavers were visiting McClure's Cave in Pennsylvania in the summer of 1977. After a tiring exploration the group made to exit. All were anxious to leave and proceeded into the New Extension Crawl, a very low, tight passage, all together. When a novice became stuck there was a delay. All soon began to experience symptoms of "hypoxia and carbon dioxide poisoning," rapid panting, extreme headaches and rapidly advancing exhaustion. Before anyone succumbed, they were able to proceed.

Incident analysis

Analysis: An interesting situation. Some caves are low on oxygen or high in carbon dioxide but not to the extent one would normally notice.

Summary

Group of cavers spent extended time in low crawl and began to experience symptoms of bad air.

References

  1. Reference: Editorial "Cave Pearls" The Dripstone Spring 1979 9:2
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.