Chattanooga Hamilton County Rescue Service

This weekend, CHCRS, in partnership with Williamson County Fire/Rescue, held its annual Swiftwater Rescue Technician class on the Hiwassee River.

Students focused on navigating moving water, wading techniques, knots and rope systems, raft handling and various other techniques to operate safely and efficiently in swiftwater conditions.

Chattanooga - Hamilton County Rescue Service Serving the Tri-State area through technical rescue expertise, search & rescue (SAR), and emergency incident rehabilitation services.

The Cave/Cliff/Technical Unit was requested by Jackson County EMA (Emergency Management) yesterday for assistance with a cave rescue near Stevenson, Alabama. Several individuals were reported trapped by rising floodwaters inside the cave. Access to the cave location was also made difficult by flooded roadways.

While attempting to make access to the cave, it was reported and confirmed that all parties were able to exit the cave with assistance from members of the Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit, Inc.

We are thankful for the positive outcome of this incident. This was 1 of 2 cave rescues happening in Jackson County which had many resources split in the area.

Jackson County EMA (Emergency Management)
Jackson County Sheriff
Scottsboro Jackson County Rescue Squad
Hollywood Fire & Rescue
Guntersville Fire/Rescue
Huntsville Cave Rescue Unit, Inc.

CHCRS is proud to recognize the graduation of 7 recruits from the 2026 Recruit School Class 3. These individuals have put in countless hours of training and hard work to get to this point.

The Recruits finalized their training today with a mock high-angle rescue scenario involving an injured patient, testing the skills and knowledge developed over the past several months.

They have earned their blue shirts and will now begin integrating into the team as operational members. We commend their dedication, effort, and commitment throughout the process.

An additional 6 recruits will complete their training this fall following T-SAR and will begin serving in support roles until their training is finalized.

Welcome to the team!

Last week we had sixteen members attend the National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC) seminar in Mentone, Alabama.

These members participated both as students and instructors and trained on a variety of techniques specific to cave rescue throughout the week.

CHCRS is proud of the strong relationship it has with the NCRC and is proud of our members that continue to learn and teach at these events.

CHCRS held our regular monthly training yesterday, focusing on fundamental counterbalance techniques that are applicable to certain cave rescue scenarios.

Members practiced basic “ups and downs” to build familiarity with operating the system and then progressed to cross-haul scenarios using the counterweight techniques.

These simple, effective methods can be critical in the right conditions and are the building block for more complex operations.

Several CHCRS members and recruits spent the week attending T-SAR at Fall Creek Falls State Park, serving as both instructors and students in a Rope Rescue Operations course. We also had several members attend the T-SAR tracking class.

This training is a requirement for all incoming CHCRS recruits, who dedicated the week to developing fundamental rope rescue skills while working alongside agencies from across the state.

With our 2026 Recruit Class now just one month from graduation, we are proud of the hard work they have shown and look forward to integrating them into the team as provisional members.

Last night the Cave/Cliff/Technical Unit trained on Artificial High Directionals (AHDs) during our regular monthly training session.

We continued to build on last week’s AHD class and extend what was learned to other members of the team.

Thank you to the local landowner for access to a cliff site that made this training possible.

CHCRS members spent last week sharpening their skills during an intensive 5-day Artificial High Directional (AHD) training led by Origin Rigging.

We were honored to train and collaborate alongside personnel from the Chattanooga Fire Department and the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security strengthening interagency coordination and technical capability.

We would like to thank Origin Rigging for their instruction and also thanks to Tennessee American Water, AT&T field and the Jasper Highlands Fire Department for providing us with great venues to train at for the week.

The CHCRS recruits wrapped up their Orientation Cave Rescue Weekend with a mock cave rescue. Everyone did a great job.

Thanks to the instructors and mock patients for giving their time.

Our recruits are getting their first taste of cave rescue this week in an Orientation to Cave Rescue class with instructors from the National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC).

Today’s focus: patient packaging, litter movement through tight passages, and underground communications.