Quote Originally Posted by cerich View Post
I disagree. I also teach PSD teams, they are not safe to do a cave recovery, even large teams with resources are not trained or prepared for recovery efforts in caves. Most cave accidents are going to occur in places with small rural teams that may be rescue trained at best. the IUCRR is a great thing and fills a need.
I disagree with this statement. I run a PSD team and I am an instructor for a couple of PSD agencies. On my team of 16 divers, 9 are full cave trained (they have other relevant training that goes with this too). If teams are properly trained and are proficient with their skills, then they can do cave recoveries. Constant training is the key. We are a full time PSD FEMA level 1/4 team. I know that you are basing this opinion on Florida Team, but not all PSD teams are alike. Some are quite large with many resources.
Now with that said, some of what Mr. Hill has stated is a fact when setting up a dive to do a recovery in Eagles Nest (time of day, stand by divers, support staff, etc.). I would not allow certain members of my team to make that dive, but there are others who are qualified to do it as a diver, support diver, or shore support. I do not know that much about IUCRR, but I did e-mail their training director in the past because I wanted my cave divers to get more training (They never responded). Based on the many statements of what Mr. Hill has written, I would agree they can be a useful resource.

Matt