{"id":412702,"date":"2025-11-29T11:06:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T11:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/412702\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T11:06:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T11:06:19","slug":"empress-spring-multi-agency-vertical-rescue-saves-woman-who-fell-eight-metres-into-cave-stuck-for-12hrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/412702\/","title":{"rendered":"Empress Spring: Multi-agency vertical rescue saves woman who fell eight metres into cave, stuck for 12hrs"},"content":{"rendered":"

A complex operation lasting more than 12 hours rescued a woman who fell down a deep cave while exploring WA\u2019s harsh outback with her partner.<\/p>\n

WA Police heralded the rescue as a \u201coutstanding multi-agency effort\u201d after the woman, 60, was removed from the Lake Wells cave, in an area called Empress Spring \u2014 a tourist attraction which features a step ladder descending 10m.<\/p>\n

St John WA paramedics and police were alerted to a woman being injured after a fall in the remote area, about 1287km north east of Perth, about 5pm on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe woman and her partner were located and provided immediate assistance, however specialised vertical rescue equipment was required,\u201d a police spokeswoman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil that arrived, the pair had been well prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe woman\u2019s partner lowered equipment, including first aid supplies, water and camp chairs, into the cave system, providing assistance overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 5.35am on Saturday that the woman emerged from the hole. She was taken to Laverton Hospital with injuries, not believed to be life threatening.<\/p>\n

\"ACamera IconA complex rescue operation lasting more than 12 hours has unfolded in remote WA after a woman fell into a cave system on Friday afternoon. Credit: WA Police\/supplied<\/p>\n

Senior Sergeant Brendan Grogan, officer-in-charge of Laverton police, said \u201cevery agency played a vital role in bringing this woman to safety\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conditions were challenging, with the rescue being in such a remote location, but the determination and professionalism of all crews ensured a positive outcome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was teamwork at its best.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ACamera IconA complex rescue operation lasting more than 12 hours has unfolded in remote WA after a woman fell into a cave system on Friday afternoon. Credit: WA Police\/supplied<\/p>\n

DFES acting Superintendent of Goldfields-Midlands, Murray McBride, said the woman had fallen down eight metres.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was then a tricky rescue which required a lot of skill in a specialised vertical rescue context with a potentially seriously injured patient who had fallen as many as eight metres and been isolated overnight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crew was very relieved when they were able to successfully get the patient out and put her in the hands of St John medical personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ACamera IconA complex rescue operation lasting more than 12 hours has unfolded in remote WA after a woman fell into a cave system on Friday afternoon. Credit: WA Police\/supplied<\/p>\n

WA Country Health Goldfields director Alicia Michalanney said the woman was in a stable condition on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur regional health teams, supported by the emergency telehealth service, provided immediate assessment and treatment upon the patient\u2019s arrival at Laverton Hospital, following close coordination with emergency responders throughout the rescue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe patient is in a stable condition and this incident highlights how effectively agencies work together to deliver care in even the most remote parts of Western Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A complex operation lasting more than 12 hours rescued a woman who fell down a deep cave while…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":412703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,4219,14736,50,7207,8632],"class_list":{"0":"post-412702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-disaster-and-emergency","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-police","13":"tag-wa-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115632668311274481","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}