Lesson 01 — The history of the IUCRR

Prior to 1999, the two primary cave diving agencies — the NSS-CDS and the NACD — had their own rescue/recovery teams.  However, for many years there had been internecine conflicts between the two groups, confusion in understanding who was responsible for responding to a call-out, and two different methods for reporting the details of the rescue/recovery.

In January 1999, the Board of Directors for the NSS-CDS and the NACD elected to remove the Rescue and Recovery Team from any one particular cave diving organization.  They agreed that it should be established as a bipartisan program to be under the joint auspices of the NSS-CDS, the NACD, and other cave diving agencies.  It was then that the IUCRR was created.

The intent of this move was to:

1. eliminate duplication
2. create harmony between the cave diving agencies
3. provide for a single-point-of-contact for Public Safety Agencies
4. have a single-point for consolidation of accident reports
5. provide accident analysis services for the benefit of all underwater-overhead divers.

The IUCRR adopted the same five corners of the structure, added a Law Enforcement Oversight Board, and agreed to never become an in-water training agency.  Any and all needed in-water training would be handled by cave diving training agencies (e.g., the NSS-CDS, NACD, etc.)

A website was created which provides information to the public on the mission of the IUCRR and contact information in case of emergencies.  Call-outs, originally done via phone, over time were updated to include pagers, then email and text messages.