| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ead, Sandy | 19 | Female | Laceration | Head |
In the evening of March 24, 1979, Sandy Ead (19), Greg Combs (23) and Rod Evans entered Buckner's Cave near Bloomington, Indiana. They were not experienced cavers but planned to stay overnight in the cave and were presumably burdened with sleeping gear and food. They were not wearing hard hats. The cavers proceeded past the T Room to the Big Room. In that area, Ead lost her footing and fell about ten feet, striking her head on the wall. It WS 9:30 p.m. She was unconscious for about one minute and began bleeding from the side of her head just above the left ear. The wound was closed with a pressure dressing made from a shirt, but the bleeding continued.
They started out of the cave. In the crawlway Combs struck his forehead on the ceiling and suffered a scalp cut which began to bleed. They kept going. Near the entrance they met a group of cavers checking leads. One of these, an Emergency Medical Technician, examined the victims, treated Combs, and the combined group left the cave. The injuries were later diagnosed as laceration, shock and concussion for Ead and laceration and contusion for Combs.
Analysis: What caver exposed to the organized caving scene would enter a cave without a hard hat? The money spent for one visit to the doctor for a scalp laceration would buy the finest helmet made. The root cause of this accident is probably some degree of alcoholic intoxication. The victims reportedly had been drinking.