Revised by
Board of Governors Action March 15, 2003
A. The National Cave Rescue Commission (Commission)
is located in the Administrative Vice-President's Department and is charged with
the following responsibilities:
1. To
act as spokesman for the Society regarding cave rescue. (It shall be understood
that it is the policy of the Society to maintain a low profile during rescue
operations to the extent possible and to avoid bringing awareness of ongoing
rescue activities to public notice.)
2. To
serve as a technical resource for the Society on matters of cave rescue.
3. To
develop and maintain a professional level liaison with federal, state, and local
authorities whose resources or mission may affect cave rescue. In addition, to
develop and maintain an active liaison with organizations interested in cave
rescue.
4. To
develop a national standard curriculum in cave rescue operations and systems for
the Society members.
5. To
develop certification standards for NCRC Instructors to provide qualified
persons to teach Commission approved training.
6. To
assist Internal Organizations and cave rescue organizations in general with the
education and training of their members in cave rescue operations and systems.
7. To
coordinate with the Cave Rescue Section to present current cave rescue
information to Society members.
8. To
establish and maintain a database of individuals with training in cave rescue.
9. To
establish and maintain an inventory of specialized rescue equipment, owned by
the Society or otherwise available, which may be used by the Commission for
training or used for rescue and to report the status of Society owned equipment
to the Society upon request of the Administrative Vice President.
10a. To
hold at least one meeting of the Commission each year at the NSS Annual
Convention. This meeting will be open to the public and provide a forum for the
Commission to present recent accomplishments and future plans to the Society
membership and solicit membership feedback.
10b. To
hold at least one business meeting per year. The agenda of any business meeting
shall be distributed to all members of the Board of Regional Coordinators at
least 30 days prior to the meeting. A copy of the agenda shall be available to
any NSS member upon request and posted on the NCRC web site.
10c.
Minutes of all meetings will be taken and these minutes shall be submitted to
the Administrative Vice President and to all members of the Board of Regional
Coordinators within 30 days of the meeting’s conclusion. A copy the minutes
shall be available to any NSS member upon request and posted on the NCRC web
site.
11. To
conduct periodic National Cave Rescue Seminars (Seminars), separate from the
Society convention, and to encourage regional and local cave rescue seminars.
12. To
perform other duties relating to cave rescue as assigned by the Administrative
Vice-President or the Board of Governors.
B. The Commission shall be governed by a Board of
Regional Coordinators, which shall consist of a National Coordinator, Training
Coordinator, Medical Coordinator, Cave Diving Coordinator, and several Regional
Coordinators. Regional Coordinator positions shall be established or modified by
the Administrative Vice President upon recommendation of the Board of Regional
Coordinators, subject to the approval of the NSS Board of Governors.
C. The terms of Regional Coordinators shall end on
a staggered basis such that approximately the same number of positions become
vacant each year at the start of the opening session of the Board of Governors
meeting held at the national convention.
D. Members of the Board of Regional Coordinators
shall serve for terms of three years. The NCRC Board of Regional Coordinators
shall recommend a candidate for each open position to the Administrative Vice
President. The Administrative Vice President shall appoint or reappoint members
of the NCRC Board of Regional Coordinators subject to Board of Governors
approval. There is no limit on the number of consecutive terms a member of the
Board of Regional Coordinators may serve.
E. The National Coordinator will act as executive
officer and director of the Commission and will preside at all meetings of the
Commission. He will also be responsible for appointing a Financial Officer,
committees and/or staff to accomplish the various tasks and goals established by
the Commission, and shall regularly report the status of Commission activities
to the Administrative Vice-President.
F. The Training Coordinator will oversee the
Commission’s cave rescue training activities and implement training policies
and procedures as developed by the Board of Regional Coordinators.
G. The Medical Coordinator will advise the Board of
Regional Coordinators on matters of patient care and medical protocols, and
oversee medical aspects of the Commission’s cave rescue training curriculum
and activities consistent with the policies of the Commission.
H. The Cave Diving Coordinator will advise the
Board of Regional Coordinators on matters of cave rescue/recovery diving and
serve as primary liaison to organizations involved in cave rescue/recovery
diving.
I. The National Coordinator, Training Coordinator,
Medial Coordinator, Cave Diving Coordinator, and all Regional Coordinators shall
be members of the National Speleological Society on the date of their
appointment and shall remain Society members for their entire term.
J. The National Coordinator, Training Coordinator,
Medical Coordinator, Cave Diving Coordinator, or any of the Regional
Coordinators may be removed by the Administrative Vice President (subject to
Board of Governors approval) or by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the
Board of Regional Coordinators.
K. The financial operations of the Commission shall
be governed by a budget developed by the Board of Regional Coordinators, subject
to amendment by the NSS Executive Committee and approval by the Board of
Governors. The National Coordinator, or the National Coordinator's designee,
shall approve all expenses. All financial accounting and disbursements for the
Commission shall be handled in accordance with the Acts of the Board of
Governors and financial processes and reporting requirements established by the
Secretary-Treasurer of the Society.
L. The Commission is authorized to solicit
contributions and grants to the Society to support programs and activities of
the Commission. Such contributions and grants shall be used in accordance with
any stipulations attached to them and shall be managed in such a way as to
provide a detailed accounting of their use. All such contributions become the
property of, and will be under the control of, the Society. They will be
accounted for in the Society financial statements and can be disbursed only
under the rules for financial management established by the Board of Governors
for the Society.
M. The Society and the Commission will sponsor a
periodic National Cave Rescue Seminar. The Board of Regional Coordinators will
appoint a chairman of the seminar whose duties will be to coordinate the
organization of and to conduct the seminar. The chairman of the seminar will
appoint a treasurer of the seminar, subject to the approval of the National
Coordinator and the NSS Secretary-Treasurer, whose duties will be to handle all
seminar funds, keep adequate records, and provide financial reports to the NCRC
Financial Officer and National Coordinator and to the NSS Administrative
Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer.
N. The budget of the seminar must be submitted to
and approved in advance by the NCRC National Coordinator, NSS Administrative
Vice-President, and the NSS Secretary-Treasurer. All funds received or disbursed
for the seminar will be accounted for separately from other Society or
Commission funds. No funds designated for the seminar shall be used for other
Commission activities or functions. Any excess of revenue over expenses
generated in the operation of a National Seminar shall accrue to the national
NCRC account and shall be subject to the rules governing that account. Any
deficit resulting from the operation of the seminar shall be absorbed by the
NCRC national account provided the budget was approved in advance as described
above. In the event the Society directs the Commission to operate a seminar
determined by the Commission to be likely to result in a deficit, any resulting
deficit shall reimbursed to the Commission by the Society.
O. The Commission may receive an advance from the
Society to aid in the organization of a seminar. Such advance shall be repaid to
the Society following the seminar.
P. Neither the National Cave Rescue Commission nor
any of its committees or staff members shall be a rescue team. A rescue team
trained or supported by the Commission is not an NCRC rescue team and may not
use “NCRC” in its name. No individual is authorized to represent himself as
an “NCRC rescuer” or as a member of an “NCRC rescue team” or to
otherwise imply that they are performing a rescue under the auspices of the
Commission.
Return to NCRC Home Page