Walker County Emergency Services (WCES) received the 2013 Mary Beth Bowns Excellence in Trauma Care Award for the Ellison’s Cave rescue last year.
“Many residents are unaware of the true heroic and professional work preformed by our EMS cave team,” said Walker County commissioner Bebe Heiskell. “However, its efforts have certainly not gone unnoticed by its peers and we are fortunate to have sucha dedicated team watching over those who may stray into harms way.”
This award was presented to WCES at the 2014 Georgia Emergency Medical Services
Awards Banquet in Forsyth, Ga., on May 22.
“We are honored with this recognition and proud to share it with the many other agencies and responders who worked together to save a life,” said EMS Captain Tracy Reece.
The award commemorated the 2013 rescue of a Pennsylvania man who suffered critical injuries after a fall inside Ellison's Cave.
“This rescue and the resulting award would not have been possible without all the assistance WCES received from Life Force (transported blood for critical on-sceneblood transfusions), Hamilton County Cave and Cliff (provided many rescuers to assist with patient extrication), and many other mutual aid responders,” Capt. Reese said.
Ellison's Cave is an infamous prize among cavers. It is the 12th-deepest cave in the world and among the top 10 caving destinations in the country. Fantastic Pit, inside the cave, is the deepest-known cave pit in the continental United States. That is one of the draws for cavers.