On the afternoon of 28^th of August 2023, the Bakonyi Cave Rescue Service started a cave rescue mission.

Caves are not only natural values that must be protected due to their non-renewable formations or fragile ecological balance, but they can also hide valuable archaeological sites, which can open a window to the world of the bygone past for knowledgeable specialists. A few months ago, the researchers of the Csodabogyós cave at Balatonederic discovered some unexpected interesting findings. They found unusual remains of bones and teeth in the debris near the entrance of the cave. The cave explorers invited paleontologists, geologists and archaeologists to the cave, who began the methodical and scientific exploration of the site, hoping to learn more about the small vertebrates that lived in the Miocene age.

Yesterday, during the field work in the cave, a member of the MTA-MTM Paleontological Research Group fell ill. Late in the afternoon, during the work underground, a lady researcher suddenly fell ill and - although the she was near the entrance - it seemed clear that she would not be able to leave the cave without assistance.

On July 8, 2023, Dr. B.I., 73, was hiking in the Pilis with his wife and friends near Dobogókő on the Thirring trail. Shortly after 16.00 h, he stepped into a pit on the hiking trail and twisted his ankle, hurt himself and could not stand.

His family members alerted the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service (BMSz) on the basis of an alert sticker seen on Dobogókő. One group of our cave rescuers went from the warehouse with rescue equipment to the scene, another group went straight to Dobogókő.

AFrom the car park, it is possible to reach the site, which is located at the foot of the Thirring cliffs, under vertical walls, by walking a kilometre through the forest, descending 100 metres in the meantime.

The first team with the BMSz doctor arrived at the site shortly after 18h00 and started treating the injured.

The injured limb was secured and the man was placed in a special cave rescue stretcher - a suitable way to transport the patient in difficult terrain. While the injured man was being treated, the rest of the rescue team started to set up the ropeways for the transport.

At 19:09, the transport of the casualty began, with the decision of the team leader to use rope techniques to transport the casualty over the steep, forest terrain between large rocks. After overcoming a 100-metre difference in elevation, the stretcher was transported on the tourist road on the upper, almost horizontal section to the car park.

On April 3, 2022, Márton Mede has not returned from the end of his cave exploration work at the endpoint at Siphon three of the Kossuth Cave in Jósvafő, Hungary at a depth of -48 meters. His disappearance marked the beginning of Hungary's longest-ever week-long complex diving and cave rescue operation, which unfortunately only managed to bring the diver's body to the surface. As far as we know, at the moment, the tragedy was caused by an underwater collapse, during which the diver died immediately or very quickly. During the week of the rescue, a total of 20 organisations and more than 250 people were involved in the operation. The underwater part of the rescue was carried out by the Amphora diving club, the dry part of the cave was managed by the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, the Association of Cave Rescuers of Northern Hungary, the Bakony Cave Rescue Service and the cave rescuers of Speleo Roznava, the surface management and logistics were carried out by the Pest County Search and Rescue Service, the Counter-Terrorism Centre, the Civil Protection, the Aggtelek National Park Directorate (ANPI) and the Municipality of Jósvafő. Several other organisations also provided assistance on the spot, which are reported in the article.

The author of this article is András Hegedűs (Juju), Head of training and development, Rescue Operation Leader at the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service. The detailed summary is published one year after the rescue.

Day one - we have a problem...

Sunday, early afternoon. I'm at work. Ricsi (Richárd Horváth, head of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service - BMSz) calls me on the phone: the lead diver in Kossuth cave hasn’t come up at the given time, then the backup diver went searching after him... Who is it, do we know?...

The Erosion-team caving group conducted a weekend cave exploration near the "Vörös-út"just above Klastrompuszta. A young man turned to them for help, stating that his grandfather had fallen ill on the upper section of the " Vörös-út", he could not continue the hike, because he had become so weak that he had to lie down on the snow covered road.

Members of the cave exploration group, who are also the members of the Hungarian Cave Rescue Service, immediately set out to help the man. At the site, the elderly man was examined, given first aid and protection from the cold with insulation blankets. The emergency services were also notified.

The location was not accessible by normal civilian car, and the ambulance could not reach the site either, so the rescuers carried the elderly man and his son down to Klastrompuszta in an four-wheel–drive car, where they were handed him over to the ambulance. The whole operation from the start to the handing over to the ambulance took only 40 minutes.
Four cave team members and two cave explorers took part in the rescue.

We wish the elderly man a quick recovery!

Az idős úrnak mielőbbi felépülést kívánunk!

Fotó: Turi Zoltán