Emergency numbers in Cave Country

I would like to compile a quick reference emergency phone # listing for myself. I have some numbers but I am not even sure if some of them are up-to-date. I am particularly unsure at what point (county lines) some of the info will change.

I am not asking somebody else to do the job for me (although I kind of am ;)) but it’s a bit hard to collect and check some of it on the net from distance. I think some of you might have already done this, and know what #:s are defunct and what places are preferred when there is a choice.

I am looking at who/where to call if anything was to happen at Ginnie, Little River, Peacock/OG, Madison, Manatee and JB. I am assuming 911 works everywhere in Fl but what other numbers would be good to clock into the cell phone? Sherifs, chambers, hospitals...

During our cave course we only did the local High Springs numbers, and I am not even sure if that is the best for Luraville. Also, with all the talks about the chamber/s closing, what are the best enquiry numbers for any of those from different spots? Different numbers for different sites at different times? Better to call DAN? Maybe there already is a thread/source I could find all this? Thanks for any help.

911 and DAN.

Good directions, written down, to the place you're diving would be good, so that you or whoever has need of 911 services can accurately direct them to you (similar to the new sign at Cow). I'm guilty of knowing "how" to get places, but not really how to tell someone else how. I would imagine under stress, this would be worse. Imagine being at a remote site, needing to render aid to your buddy and handing your phone off to a bystander to call 911...and then having to try to relay directions between rescue breaths. Good thread, thanks for starting it.

Depending where you are, you may have to tell 911 which county you are in. Cell phones are bad about crossing county lines :-)

That will get you to the correct dispatcher. Then give major roads/intersections. After that, give directions from that location. Most EMS people are familiar with Peackcock State park, and Ginnie springs, but there are a lot of places they may have never heard of, like Cow. That is why the NSS-CDS put up the sign with directions.

I actually activated my on-star for just this reason, it gps locates the truck to the operator, and the phone service is 100% all areas

Closest chamber open for dive emergencies to JB is in Tallahassee at Capital Regional. Second closest is in Pensacola. A good number to have while diving JB and other caves in that area is Edd's/cave Adventurers - 850-482-6016.

The recent issue of NACD Journal listed on page 9 the chamber locations in North/Central Florida:

Talahassee Area - Capital Regional Medical Center - 850.325.500

Jacksonville Area - Baptist medical Center - 904.202.2000

Gainesville Area - Shands hospital - 353.265.8000

Orlando Area - Florida Hospital - 407.303.1549

All are "Call before transport."

Hope that you never have to call any one of them.

That’s very good point both about the counties and driving directions. I don’t have my Fl counties in order just yet. Also, I tend to drive by towns and visual images. Once I’ve been to place once, I just know where to turn. I am useless with road numbers. I guess it won’t help the ambulance driver much if coming from different direction, and I tell them to take a left “after the big green shack and rusted tractor on the field, you’ll know it in your gut right when you hit it”. It sure would suck to relay this information if nobody else on site knew better – directions or first aid!!!

Thanks for the chamber numbers too. I did not have all of those. I was wondering too – would it be worth having certain hospital numbers? You know, for cases when it is not 911. Like “the taking a nosedive on parking lot” –type of incident when one really does not need to call DAN but might later decide that maybe that home made fix job was not quite enough after all.

I have not been to JB yet but you’d call a scuba shop if you had an incident? Is that because they have some expertise to help nearby or why?

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Originally Posted by alias

I have not been to JB yet but you’d call a scuba shop if you had an incident? Is that because they have some expertise to help nearby or why?

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Once you meet Edd you'll understand the comment. He knows everything/everyone in the area and is the go to guy for anything you need. He can probably put you back together with Duck Tape too until emergency services can get to you.

Cheers,
Jeff

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Originally Posted by icestac

Once you meet Edd you'll understand the comment. He knows everything/everyone in the area and is the go to guy for anything you need. He can probably put you back together with Duck Tape too until emergency services can get to you.

Cheers,
Jeff

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Not to mention that the 911 people are going to call Edd anyway. He is a lot closer to the cave than they are.

Took this last week of Edd:

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Originally Posted by w ripley

Took this last week of Edd:

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Man, that guy's getting old!

(Of course, I hope I look that good when I get to be his age.)

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

Man, that guy's getting old!

(Of course, I hope I look that good when I get to be his age.)

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You talking about Edd, or Cabo?

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Originally Posted by alias

I have not been to JB yet but you’d call a scuba shop if you had an incident? Is that because they have some expertise to help nearby or why?

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Edd is the recovery diver in Jackson County. He lives about 2 minutes from JB and can get there faster than EMS. For an in water incident, he's the one that will go in the cave. Local law enforcement doesn't have any overhead trained divers. You'll still need to call 911 for medical emergencies, but it's likely Stacy or Patrick would be doing that while Edd is heading over to JB. Edd also has the boats to get to the other sites on the Mill Pond.


And Cabo's not a guy... ;)

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Originally Posted by RN

And Cabo's not a guy...

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Maybe they need to paint her toenails so people will know she's a girl!

That's what I do with Ginnie.

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

Maybe they need to paint her toenails so people will know she's a girl!

That's what I do with Ginnie.

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:roll:

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

Maybe they need to paint her toenails so people will know she's a girl!

That's what I do with Ginnie.

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Okay, that's just disturbing...