Events & Training

The seminar will be held July 11–19, 2025 at Mountain Gateway Community College in Clifton Forge, Virginia. Registration opens on Feb. 2, 2025, at 12 p.m., eastern.

The seminar consists of extensive classroom instruction and fieldwork in all phases of cave rescue including the underground environment, search problems, extrication techniques, patient evaluation and care, patient packaging, horizontal and vertical patient movement, rigging, hauling and lowering systems, communication systems, and the organization and management of cave rescue operations.

Students typically include cavers, emergency services personnel, and emergency managers. The training will total nearly 100 hours of classroom and fieldwork.

Courses offered include:
    — Level 1 – Task Force Member
    — Level 2 – Task Force Leader
    — Level 3 – Vertical Specialist
    — IQ – Instructor Qualification (invitation only)

Please not that additional classes may be added (details TBD).

For more information, including prerequisites, click here.