British Cave Rescue Council

The British Cave Rescue Council describes itself as the representative body for voluntary underground rescue in the British Isles, formed in 1967 to represent and support its members, share information between them and give them a common voice; it coordinates rather than governs, and each member organisation remains independent ^[1][2]. It is a registered charity (number 1137252) ^[2]. Its site states that responsibility for inland rescue rests generally with the police, who call on the volunteer organisations; it lists sixteen member organisations with over 1,000 volunteer rescuers, some of whom have diving ability ^[2]. In an emergency in the UK, the BCRC tells people to dial 999, ask for the police and then ask for cave rescue ^[1].

In its December 2018 press release on honours for the Tham Luang rescue, the BCRC said members of a BCRC cave diving rescue team went to northern Thailand in June 2018, that two of them found the missing boys and their coach about 2,300 metres from the entrance, and that the Council forms a special operational unit on the rare occasions a specialist team has to be sent abroad ^[3]. The same release notes that cave rescue is supported by national caving bodies including the Cave Diving Group ^[3]. The BCRC publishes annual incident reports from 2004 onwards ^[4].