A 60-year-old woman has survived a 12-hour ordeal after falling into a cave in remote Western Australia, prompting a multi-agency rescue in the Goldfields on Friday night.
Police and paramedics were called to David Carnegie Road in Lake Wells, about 1,400 kilometres north east of Perth, at around 5pm after reports a woman had fallen eight metres into a cave system in an area called Empress Spring.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services crews, Laverton Police, St John WA, the WA Country Health Service and the WA Department of Health assisted at the scene.
As the teams waited for specialist vertical rescue equipment to arrive, the woman’s partner acted quickly by lowering equipment such as first aid supplies, water and camp chairs into the cave which provided assistance overnight.
The woman was finally freed early Saturday morning. (Supplied: WA Police)
The woman was freed safely at 5:35am on Saturday and taken to Laverton Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Conditions ‘challenging’
Laverton Police Officer in Charge Senior Sergeant Brendan Grogan said the remote location made the rescue challenging, but the couple’s preparedness made a big difference.
“It reinforces the importance of being well prepared, as the woman and her partner were, and serves as a reminder of how quickly a perfect day outdoors can shift into a potentially life-threatening emergency,” he said.
The woman’s partner was able to lower supplies to her. (Supplied: WA Police)
Goldfields-Midlands DFES Acting Superintendent Murray McBride said an inter-agency response was necessary.
“The logistics of reaching the site with the necessary specialised crew and equipment were challenging,” he said.
“It was then a tricky rescue which required a lot of skill in a specialised vertical context with a potentially seriously injured patient who had fallen as many as eight metres and been isolated overnight.”
The incident occurred about 1,400 kilometres from Perth. (Supplied: WA Police)
WA Country Health Goldfields Executive Director Alicia Michalanney said regional health teams provided immediate assessment and treatment upon the patient’s arrival at hospital and she was in a stable condition.
“This was an outstanding example of collaboration across multi agencies and St John WA is proud to work alongside our colleagues in emergency services,” a St John WA spokesperson said.
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