Cave Rescue Hero Squad

'Coming up...'

On Hero Squad...

'Six wannabe heroes...'

Facing the worst nature can throw at them.

'There's a new emergency crew in town.'

I'm Rav Wilding and this is Hero Squad.

'Six ordinary school kids.

-Mayday.

-'Their mission? To learn how to save lives.

'But do they have what it takes to become real life heroes?'

'The cadets are here in Buxton

'to join up with the Derbyshire Cave Rescue Organisation.

'Their two mentors are Ralph and Bill,

'who between them have over 90 years of caving experience.

'They have just two days

'to transform the cadets into a rescue team

'capable of saving two casualties

'from deep inside an underground cave.

'But only Bill seems to be here.'

OK, hi, everyone. What we're going to do today

is show you what needs to be done to rescue people

who get in to trouble underground, but, before we do anything...

I'm going to just get Ralph out

because he's been in there for a long time.

Oh, there's someone in there!

THEY LAUGH

-What's the matter, Lewis?

-CHILDREN: He's here! He's here.

He's been there all night. We thought you were coming last night.

Yes, Ralph's been there for ages.

-There we go.

-Say morning.

-Hi, guys.

'Now we've found both our mentors,

'they're keen to give Derbyshire cave rescue's

'youngest ever members an A to Z of caving.'

'Ralph and Bill's team is responsible

'for over 1,000 miles of caves throughout central England.'

Very important kit.

You've got all sorts of things. Lots of ropes, stretchers, ladders.

-OK, guys.

-'And they've rescued over 400 people since they were formed.

'Training starts with one of the most important skills when caving,

'working with ropes and ladders.'

As you can imagine, lots of caves have got vertical bits in.

What we're going to do now

is learn how to get up and down, a fairly short drop, this is.

So if we do get a shout, we know what to do, don't we?

'Mentor Ralph is looking for the cadet

'with a fearless attitude and good technique

'who could step up to be squad leader in a daring cave rescue.'

So, we're going to go up the ladder, on to the platform

then we're going to abseil down again.

-Are we up for that?

-ALL: Yes.

'But the cadets aren't climbing just any old ladder.'

You've got to keep yourself into the ladder,

you grip it from behind like that. Yes?

And that's it, really. Up you go.

-Kiera, you're going to be first.

-Yes.

Step up to the ladder, you'll be clipped on and off you go.

Good luck.

Whoa!

ALL: Come on, Kiera. Come on, Kiera.

Take in!

Climbing.

Oh my God...

Off she goes.

Try not to miss rungs out, you'll find it easier.

That's it, perfect.

LAUGHTER

Go on, Kiera!

'13-year-old Kiera's first up the five-metre climb with no problems.'

ALL: Well done!

'Leading from the front is definitely not a problem

'for this Essex triathlete.

'It's learning to follow

'that Kiera thinks she may find tough on Hero Squad.'

The thing I need to work on is probably hold back a bit

when somebody else is team leader. Let them say what they have to say.

'Tomorrow's rescue will be all about teamwork.

'So we'll have to wait and see

'if Kiera can put that enthusiasm to good use.'

Go on, Kiera!

'Back at training, Kiera's conquered the climb.

'So now it's time to head back down.'

Shut up, you're putting me off!

ALL: Kiera, Kiera Kiera!

I've got such a bad wedgie!

'Perfect touchdown. Nice work, Kiera.

'Next up is Alex.'

'And he's like a rat up a drainpipe. Awesome.'

'Nimble Katy makes short work of the challenge.

'Whereas Lewis's style involves getting in a bit of a twist.'

# I'm spinning around Move out of my way...

# I know you're feeling me Cos you like it like this. #

She's doing well. Well done, Luci.

'Nice action from Luci on the way up.'

Go, Luci!

Well done, Luci.

'But not quite so cool on the way down.

'Last but not least, it's sure-footed Andy.'

-Go on, Andy!

-Go, Andy, woo!

-Hug it towards you, remember.

-Go on, Andy.

'He gets in a bit of a pickle at the top.'

-You can do it, Andy!

-I know.

Go on, Andy!

'But makes amends with the day's fastest descent.'

When I was going up the ladder,

it was a bit spinny,

so I was dizzy when I got up there. But apart from that, it was amazing.

-Well done, Andy.

-CHEERING

'Great work, Hero Squad. But there's no time for a rest.

'Working with ropes and ladders is a major part of tomorrow's challenge.

'Can the cadets take their new skills

'into the wet and dark of a cave rescue?'

'Bill's next training session

'takes the cadets into a cave-like basement

'to show them just how much tougher being a hero becomes

'when you turn out the lights.'

It's dark, it's dingy and it's very, very eerie

and our cadets are going to have to work their way

through an assault course carrying that stretcher

with a Hero Squad casualty on board.

Wow. Wish them luck.

'First to come face to face with Hero Squad casualty Lisa

'are Alex, Katy, and Lewis.'

'Their challenge is to work with the cave rescue team

'to manoeuvre her through a tricky series of turns,

'whilst Bill and I keep tabs on them from upstairs.'

All we're going to do is be a bit of muscle to help you lift,

but we'll do whatever you tell us to do from now on, OK, guys?

You're in charge.

The first place that we've got to move Lisa

is through under here, OK, guys?

Do you think they're going to find this tough now?

Yes, cos they've now got to lift Lisa's deadweight,

they can slide her. This bit's fairly easy,

there are other bits where they've got to lift her off

over things and into things and make sure she's safe.

'In a real-life cave rescue,

'it's common for the casualty to be unable to walk out,

'so the cadets need to show strength and communication

'to prove they can do this for real in tomorrow's underground challenge.

-Everybody through?

-Yes.

-All right.

'They're safely through the first obstacle.

'But around a tight corner lies a real head-scratcher.

'They have to get Hero Squad casualty Lisa

'through this pipe, but it's a very tight fit.

'This isn't very easy here.'

There's not a lot of room between the end of the tunnel and the wall.

'Lewis and Alex must protect Lisa's head

'whilst Katy guides her feet into the tunnel.'

Clip on to there.

Just about got her feet in.

Careful, guys. Her head's close to the ceiling here.

-Are we in?

-We're in.

-Slowly go down, OK?

-It's all right.

-Going down.

-'Good strength from Katy

'to get that stretcher through the two-metre pipe.'

You're halfway through now, come on.

Right, her feet are out.

Go on, Katy.

Head's out.

Head out.

'Brilliant work from the cadets.

-They've safely completed the course.'

-'Excellent.'

-Job done, back to the start.

-Yes.

'Next to take the strain is Kiera, Luci and Andy.

'One cadet who has no fears about heading underground

'is 12-year-old Luci from County Armagh.'

I think I'd be OK with going down into the caves,

because I've been down one before, potholing.

'Luci thinks she's knows what it takes

'to help any casualties she finds underground.'

I think a hero need to be someone who's brave

and they can rescue someone without getting into a panic

and they would be quite caring as well.

I'm in position.

'At the dreaded tunnel, Luci's got the chance

'to put those skills into practice.'

-All right?

-Yeah, I'm balancing the stretcher on my head at the moment.

We're nearly there, we're in the pipe.

OK, gently.

Gently.

You got her, Luci?

-Are you OK, Kiera?

-Yes.

'Another great job from the cadets.'

-You OK, Andy?

-Yes.

'All six have past one of their toughest training tests yet.'

'We're used to being in the open and lots of space'

and it being light and we had to make really quick decisions as well,

because we needed to get her out.

'It's the end of their training.

'It's been tough, but the cadets now know

they' can work safely at heights

'and manoeuvre a casualty in cramped, dark conditions.

'Vital skills for what lies ahead tomorrow.

'But which cadet has impressed the most and will become squad leader?

-SHE LAUGHS

-Ah, nice.

Hi, guys. >

Look at the state of you,

you messy lot. You enjoy today?

-ALL: Yes.

-Good.

I think they all did extremely well.

I'm very impressed. They overcame the fear. Very, very good.

Based on the good work that you've all shown today,

the one person we think's just excelled that little bit more

and deserves to be squad leader tomorrow is you Kiera.

Well done. There you go. Good effort today, Kiera.

APPLAUSE

'Determination and great leadership has landed Kiera the top job.

'Before they head off,

'Ralph finally lets the cadets have a go in his artificial cave.'

Andy, how tall are you?

The largest person in the world!

THEY LAUGH

'I'm really excited about tomorrow.

'Sometimes they say that I'm quite bossy'

and a bit over, like, over-leading everyone,

so I hope I won't be like that tomorrow.

'Early morning in the beautiful Derbyshire dales.

'The cadets think they are on their way to a local show cave.'

I'm not sure if the guys smell a rat that today's no normal day,

but one thing's for sure, where they're going is no show cave.

Let's get this rescue under way.

'A few miles up the road is Bagshawe Cavern,

'a popular cave which was discovered by lead miners over 200 years ago.

'Today, Hero Squad cavers Roy and Ron,

'are heading underground to look for new hidden passageways.'

'Deep inside, the cavers come to a dangerous deep hole

'known as the Dungeon.

'Always one to take a risk, Roy decides to take a closer look.'

-Yes.

-Yes, there's rocks in here, so...

-Whoa!

-Roy! Roy! You all right?!

Get help, quick!

I won't be long!

'Hero Squad caver Roy's fallen four metres

'into the dungeon and injured his leg.

'Ron dashes to the surface and calls the Hero Squad for help.'

My friend, he's fallen in Bagshawe Cavern and he's injured his leg.

HE GRIMACES

'Right on cue, here come the cadets.'

Cadets, good morning. Katy, stay there.

I've just had a call from Bill.

There's a rescue situation happening just up the road in another cave

and he needs your help.

-Kiera, you're in charge.

-Yes.

-Let's go.

'After his emergency call,

'Hero Squad caver Ron has gone back underground,

'but he's got lost in a very narrow section of the cave.

Help!

'The cadets don't know it yet,

'but they now have a DOUBLE rescue on their hands.'

Mentor Bill and the team are already on site

'ready with the rescue vehicle

'that's going to be squad leader Keira's office.'

Come on, then, guys, quickly gather round.

Come on, then, in you come.

Right, there's a situation in the cave just down there.

Keira, you're in charge, remember,

and you're going to have to dish out roles to the rest of your team.

'As squad leader, Keira will stay on the surface

'to co-ordinate the rescue. Big responsibility.'

Keira, we're going to need to send a reconnaissance party down,

a couple of your people, a couple of ours. Who are you going to pick?

I'm going to pick Luci and Lewis to go down there.

I've set the roles because Luci is very good at first aid

so I sent her down to the casualty,

and Lewis is quite small,

so he'll be able to get through the gaps quite easily.

Safety gear and waterproof suits on,

advance party Luci and Lewis head into the cave.

The passage is getting a lot bigger now.

Whoa.

We're going to head off in this direction...

With mentor Ralph by their side,

their job is to find the casualty,

assess him and set up communications to the surface,

where squad leader Keira is organising the remaining cadets.

So they've just gone down...

One person who's definitely not unhappy with his job is Andy.

Keira's asked him to man the radio link

to the team underground,

and that's going to mean a fair bit of waiting around.

NERVOUS LAUGHTER

Underground, Luci and Lewis are 20 minutes into their mission

through the dark and wet cave.

Oh, it's freezing!

So cold.

Keep going.

These caves regularly flood,

so they're lucky it's only up to their knees.

We're getting shallower now, keep going.

Like real rescuers in an emergency,

the cadets soon forget their wet feet

as they head deeper underground.

They are now 300 metres from the entrance.

Soon the fearsome dungeon looms into view.

This is where Hero Squad caver Ron has fallen.

He's fallen down there.

Looks like some light down there as well.

-Is that the dungeon down there?

-Yeah.

-Hello! Are you down there?

-Yeah.

They've found the Hero Squad casualty.

Are you hurt?

I've hurt my ankle.

Right, OK. You're going to have to hang on for a little while,

because we need to get some more people down here.

Is that OK?

Hurry up, please. Be quick.

Control, control, this is caver Lewis, over.

Lewis can now send the first message to Andy at the surface.

This is caver Andy.

Please proceed with the information, over.

You can't get a mobile phone signal underground,

so they're using a HeyPhone,

which can transmit directly through the 35 metres of rock

to the surface.

OK, the first part is there is a man

who's fallen down a hole

and he's hurt his ankle.

Everything received, over.

LEWIS: OK, part two.

Two more people to come down,

a stretcher, a first aid kit, over.

All received, out.

Caver Keira, this is caver Andy.

Andy now relays the message to squad leader, Keira.

She knows Lewis and Luci

urgently need help

to get the Hero Squad casualty out of the dungeon.

-Alex, you're going to be communicator.

-Yep.

Katy, you're going to go down and give them the stretcher

and the first aid kit.

'And she's relishing getting the rest of her team -

'and me - moving.'

Come on, you two. Time's ticking!

-Are you nearly finished?

-Yeah.

-Come on, Rav, time's ticking!

-Come on, heroes, come on!

Luci, can you see the person at the bottom?

Yeah, it's really deep down there.

Back at the rescue site,

12-year-old Luci is ready to go over the edge

of a very slippy rock face above a four-metre fall.

Brilliant. Excellent, that was.

-Are you ready to go?

-Yep.

In training, she struggled with the abseil.

So now, more than ever,

she needs to hold her nerve.

Luci touches down next to mentor Ralph and Hero Squad casualty Roy.

Great work.

Amid all the drama, the cadets underground have forgotten

about the second missing caver.

But not squad leader Keira.

Caver Andy, caver Andy,

this is caver Keira.

Can you please remind the cadets

that they're also looking for the man

who called the 999 call, over.

Roger.

I'm quite worried about that second man now,

because he could possibly on his own injured,

and we don't know anything about it,

and we can't find him.

We need to actually have a second search down below

when we was only expecting one search to happen.

20 minutes after leaving squad leader Keira,

'the 12-year-olds Alex and Katy arrive at the rescue site

'35 metres underground.'

Right, Lewis, what's happening?

-Well, our casualty is down this big hole here...

-Yep.

And Luci's down there with him.

-OK.

-But the first informant has probably gone to look for help

and gone missing,

so Katy's going to help with some other cavers to go and look for him.

And if you get any news, who's going to let the surface know?

-Alex, he's underground communication.

-Gotcha.

Ron, can you hear me? Ron?

Can you hear me at all? Are you in here, Ron?

With plan in place,

Katy's now got her moment to prove she can cut it as a real caver.

With three miles of passageway ahead of her,

finding Hero Squad caver Ron

is going to need huge courage.

Can you hear me?

Anything yet, Katy? You hearing anything?

No, can't hear him.

Nothing yet? OK.

Ron, are you in here? Can you hear me at all, Ron?

In the dungeon,

Lewis is alongside Luci treating Hero Squad casualty Roy...

Caver Andy, this is caver Alex...

Whilst, on comms, Alex updates the surface.

Caver Keira, this is caver Andy.

They haven't located the man who called 999 yet.

But the second rescue party have arrived.

Message all received. Out.

This is so nerve-wracking now.

It's just like you don't know what's happening down there,

and it's only, like, this that you're listening to everything.

Ron? Can you hear me?!

Back underground, Katy is 200 metres away from the main rescue

in her hunt for missing Hero Squad caver Ron.

BLOWS WHISTLE

I can hear him. Ron!

'Suddenly, Katy hears Ron's whistle.'

'But getting to him involves a scary, narrow crawl.'

You're going to have to shimmy through there,

use your training - don't panic. Get him out.

Good luck.

I'm coming, Ron! Keep talking to me!

She's off.

'The space Katy's fitting through is just half a metre wide

'and two metres long.'

I'm here, I'm coming!

I'm here and I'm coming!

-Help, I can see you!

-I'm here.

'She's never been caving before, but does it. Brave work.'

Are you OK?

I'm just a bit cold.

Katy's found the first informant Ron. He's safe, he's well,

he's just a bit cold, and now she's getting him out. Great work.

Come on, Katy.

Well done.

We're going to bring you out. Keep talking to me.

You're doing really well.

'One Hero Squad casualty rescued.

'Still one to go.'

It may feel tighter but we need to do this so you're secure, OK?

'Two hours into the rescue,

'and casualty Roy is now in his stretcher,

'ready to be pulled up out of the dungeon.'

'Katy has led the other casualty, Ron, to safety.'

He's got no injuries, but he's just really cold.

But she and Alex can't put their feet up,

because Luci and Lewis need some more muscle

for their treacherous stretcher lift.

-OK, Luci. We're ready up here!

-OK!

-Stop!

-Stop pulling!

'Luci's strong commands protect the Hero Squad casualty

'as he's slowly lifted up the four-metre rock.'

Steady as she goes.

OK, guys. Nice and slow haul, please.

Pull again!

Keep going!

Pull! There he is.

'They've done it.

'Caver Roy is safely out of the dungeon.'

-Well done!

-Well done, everyone!

'Luci follows up the scary wire ladder.

'Major pressure as it starts to twist

'but she remembers her training and holds her nerve.

'Lewis follows right behind her.'

You OK? Steady?

That's good. Now...

'Luci can now work with Katy to see if caver Roy

'is able to put weight on his injured foot.'

Is that OK?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-Feeling OK?

Can you follow me?

That's it, Katy. Keep telling him what's going on.

We're going to get you to sit down now, OK?

'Great work, cadets.

'Both Hero Squad cavers are able to get out of the cave on foot.

'Alex updates the cadets on the surface.'

Caver Andy, caver Andy. This is caver Alex,

and we have lifted out the injured casualty,

and we've taken him out of the stretcher

and he's able to walk up to the surface.

All received. Out.

'At the exit, there's nothing squad leader Keira can do but wait.

'The exhausted cadets have to get through

'one final perilous journey to the surface.

'20 minutes later, they arrive through the gloom.'

Come on. Well done.

Well done, Roy!

'After four hours underground, the Squad can celebrate.'

I'm so proud of you lot. Group hug!

-Group hug.

-Group hug!

'This rescue has had it all -

'The cadets have completed a double underground rescue,

'relying on their comms...'

Caver Andy, caver Andy. This is caver Keira.

'..Teamwork...

'..and sheer determination.'

All you have is that one little spotlight on the top of your hat.

Imagine if you're a casualty and your light's gone out.

You can't even see your hand in front of your face.

Keira did really well as team leader

because she gave the right jobs to the right people.

I think everybody did a really good job altogether.

They were just so mature, so committed to the task.

You couldn't fault them at all.

They've got loads of enthusiasm.

They're really keen on everything they do.

'The Hero Squad transformation from cadets to cavers is complete.

'But which ones have shone brightest as Hero of the Day?'

Well done for today.

You rescued the casualty, found the first informant,

got him out as well.

Enjoy it?

ALL: Yeah.

-Hard one, wasn't it?

-Yes.

Overall impressed with everybody, both yesterday and today.

You've done brilliantly.

So the time has come to award Hero of the Day.

The treat will be a visit to an ice-cream factory,

so, the Hero of the Day,

we have decided on this occasion should be...

..Luci...

and...

Katy.

Well done.

APPLAUSE

'Katy's brave solo rescue and Luci's brilliant work in the dungeon

'have earned them the top prize.

'Both have shown bravery and determination

'to get the casualties out.'

It was amazing. I really enjoyed that.

We were down there for a long time but it didn't seem like it.

It was really fun.

I found that, it was really cool.

Like going down there, it was really, really dark as well.

The best bit was probably when we got to abseil down the hole

to get the casualty.

'Coming up on Hero Squad -

'The cadets will be tested to the limit on a car accident rescue.

'Will they be able to cut a Hero Squad casualty from a car?

'Find out next time.'

Subtitling by Red Bee Media Ltd