| Name | Age | Sex | Injuries | Injured areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swicegood, Roberta | Not recorded | Female | Fracture | Ulna |
February 15, 1981 On Saturday afternoon February 15. four cavers, Dave Black, Bru Randall, Cady Soukup and Roberta Swicegood, got ready to enter Roppel Cave near Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. The latter three had arrived early that morning and slept until 3 p.m. They originally intended to do some surveying in the north end of the cave but had decided to make it a combination photo/survey trip when they added Black to their party at the field house. All four were experienced cavers but only Soukup had been in the cave before. They were to follow good verbal directions. They entered the cave, rappelled down the entrance and Coalition Chasm drops and split up when Black stopped to take a photo of Randall on the rope. A wrong turn later by the two that went on allowed the other two to pass them, unknowingly. They eventually got together in the Black River Canyon and continued toward their objective. They proceeded through the Brucker Connection and began to traverse the P-Survey Stream Canyon. Because of the photography and route-finding a normal 4-5 hour trip had stretched to 11 hours. The P-Survey Passage is "a deep, narrow, stream canyon with wide upper level ledges." It is necessary to cross at times to follow the best ledges. At about 3:30 a.m., Swicegood, while leading, came to where the ledge on one wall narrowed. Seeing muddy boot prints on a 4 inch thick chert ledge she stepped across. The ledge disintegrated and Swicegood fell 8 feet into the stream, striking a breakdown block in the streambed. The victim was able to rise immediately but could not grip with her left hand and felt "considerable pain.' The arm was examined by Randall and Soukup who decided it was fractured just above the wrist. Swicegood was given aspirin and the arm was tightly wrapped with a bandana. The victim experienced a brief spell of faintness and the group started out. Things went easily at first. The pressure of the swelling arm against the bandana served to immobilize it. An elbow pad on the injured arm allowed it to be used on holds. At Arlie Way they stopped at a cached first-aid kit and gave the victim Empirin and put a make-shift splint on the arm. With the pain lessened they proceeded into the difficult traverse of the S-Survey. The very tight canyons were negotiated with little difficulty to S-64. At that point one would usually "traverse along the passage about halfway up the wall, to a point where a straddle with a left-hand hold is required to get into position to climb into a window at the top of the passage. A fixed rope hangs from the window SO they tied the victim to the end of the rope and set up a belay in the window. Swicegood then climbed directly up, using tension from the belay as a substitute from left-hand holds. Just below the window Soukup straddled the passage to provide an essential leg foothold. The rest of the S-Survey was uneventful. At the drops the splint had become too tight and was removed, the bandana being snugly retied. Then Swicegood ascended, her Gibbs rig being put on and taken off the rope by the others. They exited the cave at about 1:30 p.m. (Sunday) - the trip out had taken about 10 hours. The injury was diagnosed at a hospital as a compression fracture of the ulna two inches above the wrist.
Analysis: The previously used chert ledge broke in an ordinary usage situation and most cavers would have done exactly what Swicegood did - use the ledge for a foothold without checking it. Indeed, to get things like surveying done in large caves, one must move expeditiously along to the job site or there will be little time for work and one cannot pause to check every hold. Still, let us remember that holds can be checked for soundness - by kicking, pounding, pulling or stomping - and one should not be caught unawares by a collapsing hold. The group had been in the cave 11 hours and it was 3:30 a.m. but they reported feeling fresh and stated that fatigue was not a factor. The use of the bandana in immediately wrapping the break allowed the subsequent swelling to immobilize it. Despite the trip out of the cave the fracture was in place and required no reduction before a cast was applied. A physician pointed out that it is vital to check circulation in the fingers at regular intervals if this technique is used. Swicegood commented on the attitude of the group aiding her, stating that their cheerful and positive attitude was a great psychological help. This should be emphasized - the power of suggestion is extremely strong. Anyone aiding an accident victim should always and without exception make positive references to and about the victim, and the chances for survival, if this is at issue. Also, one should always consider the victim to be in shock or capable of going into shock momentarily for obscure reasons. Thus if the victim can proceed, as in this case, protect the victim from falls as much as possible, either by belaying or by placing some below on short climbs to break their fall, should the victim unexpectedly collapse. Shock can make a wimp out of anyone.
Swicegood was using a chest-pulley equipped Gibbs rope-walker setup which allowed her to ascend with no inefficiency caused by the broken arm. The ascenders had to be put on the rope and taken off by someone else, however. As with most groups after experiencing an accident, this one decided they should have had more first-aid equipment. they propose that "groups should carry a few more items. including pain medication, and anti-diarrhetic, an Ace bandage, and a triangular bandage, in addition to the tape, gauze antiseptic, etc., one normally carries. The treatment of the injury was greatly aided by the complete first-aid kit stashed in the cave. Swicegood also reported the expected symptom of shock, an increased susceptibility to cold. The danger of hypothermia is increased when an accident occurs. All-in-all, this group executed a perfect self-rescue. Rescue groups would have less work to do if more caving parties were ready to rescue themselves.