Written by Alexis McMurtry
Bill Moore, a volunteer rescuer, was surrounded by the faint glow of his and his teammates’ headlamps as they navigated through a cave’s twisting passages, squeezing through narrow crevices and scaling steep inclines.
On the surface, Cara Moore is developing and releasing information about the rescue to the public. Her mind is in two places: the state of the rescue and the well-being of her husband, Bill.
What seemed like an adrenaline-filled adventure was another day in the office for the Chattanooga Hamilton County Cave-Cliff-Technical Rescue Team.
“Our team is unique in that our service covers the entire state of Tennessee. We get pretty far down into Georgia and Alabama routinely. We go over to North Carolina, maybe once a year. We cover the entire United States, really.” said Bill.
As a volunteer for the rescue team, he is trained to save lives over the edges of cliffs and in the depths of caves. But it’s not as simple as just showing up as a hero. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes preparation that goes into being a volunteer for Bill.
From always having a 40-pound travel bag ready to go to having a hyper-flexible schedule, he stays prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. Volunteers are typically expected to be on call at all times which means their job is never quite done.
“We train at least once a month together, but we’re typically doing things on the side or talking to each other about, oh, what if we ran into this situation? How would you handle this? Or talking about, you know, geeky little things like new knots or new equipment that came out.” said Bill.
On the other side of the coin, Cara answers her call to service as the team’s Public Information Officer, managing the flow of information released to the public.
“My role in our relationship and for the team is very supportive. When the team is out on a call doing the very active things, I’m behind the scenes fulfilling my role with a press release or some sort of story response,” said Cara.
Bill is never left to wonder how he’ll make it through the day, as he always feels that Cara looks out for him. Even when in the middle of dinner or get-togethers with friends, she is always by his side helping in any way she can. If Bill is on call, she is on call for him.
“When a call comes out, Bill immediately jumps into action. I try to help by making sure that he has what he needs. I’m always trying to feed him before he goes. When a call comes out, you never know how long the team is going to be gone. Like if we haven’t eaten recently, I’m like, you need a snack, you need water, so I’m trying to follow him around with a granola bar. It’s how I can help in that moment.” said Cara.
Outside of the calls volunteers are expected to attend, there is training, basic upkeep of the equipment, day jobs, administrative duties, opportunities for the team, and more events that tend to pile up and fill one’s schedule. Cara accepts the chaotic nature of his busy schedule, taking it in stride through distractions and her daily routine.
“A lot of times I try to do what I normally do, and I definitely have in the back of my mind that Bill’s on a call and somebody’s hurt. I try to keep it in the back of mind so I can continue with my normal routine,” said Cara. “I also have these time limits in my head that if he’s in a cave, it’ll probably be like 8 to 12 hours, and it’s okay if I don’t hear anything because they’re working.”
Along with her routine, she takes up baking on her empty days as a way of not only providing herself a distraction but as a welcomed treat for Bill and sometimes other volunteers of the team.
“If it’s a Saturday and I was supposed to do something with Bill, but he’s called out so now I have this empty space in my day. I will, like, just figure out a baking project and go to the store and buy the ingredients and, like, focus on a cake or brownie.” said Cara, “Rice Krispie treats was one of my projects but that didn’t take enough time. It was too short.”
This sweet diversion not only helps Cara get through the long hours, but also provides a way for Bill and his teammates to joke with each other when out on call.
“I’ve told some of my teammates about this. If we’re ever deployed for a long time, especially on the weekend, they’ll say, ‘What is Cara going to bring us? Any baked goods?’ It hasn’t happened yet but it’s an inside joke between me and a couple other guys.” said Bill.
The Cliff-Cave-Technical Team has been a part of eight out of ten years of Bill and Cara’s marriage, and despite the rough and long nights and missed plans that they have faced throughout each week, neither of them has looked back and felt any regret.
“We’ve had those low points where it’s like, this is it’s too much time, it’s too much. You know, there’s been a time or two where Bill said, do you need me to quit? I don’t think that he should leave that behind. You know, I’m proud of the work that he does,” said Cara.
Every call Bill goes on is a reminder of why they do what they do as volunteers, and that no matter how tough it may get, it’s worth it.
“Everybody is somebody’s somebody, and so getting to bring that person to their people in the best way possible is well worth it to me. It’s absolutely awesome.” Bill said.
Through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, Cara and Bill are a team that will continue to work together to help each other and others.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-4LBPXEc64
Meet the Storyteller
Alexis McMurtry is a junior attending the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as a communication major with minors in psychology and women, gender, sexuality studies. Alexis has experience working with the Echo where she has developed skills in photo editing, leading, and photography. Her passions lie in photojournalism, where she captures the minor moments that make a memory whole. She desires to use her knowledge of photojournalism to share the hidden moments on the edges of society and give life to those that lost it. To see your moments from her lens, reach out at wzv284@mocs.utc.edu.
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