12 boys lost in flooded Thai cave

[Greenjuice]

The UK cave divers returned on a flight back to London this morning, and were interviewed for BBC Breakfast TV. Much of what was said was consistent with reports on this thread. However, there was one snippet of new information. On questioning, Rick Stanton said that when he first surfaced to find the boys, they still had some light. So somehow, they had managed to conserve the little light they had between them to last those 9 days.

Reuters also reported this, this morning:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-accident-cave/thai-soccer-team-planned-to-be-inside-the-cave-for-only-an-hour-idUSKBN1K30PU

The BBC Radio interview posted by Miyaru above expresses much more vividly how much of a team effort this was, with contributions from many individuals without which the whole operation would not have succeeded.

He also described one time when the visibility for him was, 'less than an inch'. Please can I ask the cave/tech divers on this forum what your methods are for monitoring and managing your gases when it is not possible to see your gauges?

(I would like to think you have a method apart from setting an audible alarm on an air integrated dive computer...)

 

[Schwob]

Thailand cave rescue: Children found ‘by smell’ - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-44819101

 

[Kimela]

@Greenjuice - good question about how they monitor their gas in an inch or two of visibility. THIS is why I think someone needs to bring back the DATAMASK! Yes, I understand air integrated is another possible point of failure, but if it's a redundancy, who cares?

 

[Mrs. B]

I wonder if just plain exhaustion played a factor in his death?

I thought it sounded a little like a PE

 

[Greenjuice]

Some other additional snippets of information about the detailed planning involved as individuals start to debrief on return home.

This one from one of the US team:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12087824

"Anderson said divers practised their rescue techniques in a swimming pool with local children about the same height and weight as the members of the Wild Boars football team trapped in the cave."


And this one from the Australian cave dive medic:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/13/immense-pressure-of-thai-cave-rescue-described-by-doctor

Harris captured international attention after he entered the cave and then elected to stay with the trapped members of the Wild Board football team for three days.

He paid tribute to the former Thai navy Seal Saman Kunan, who died during the rescue efforts delivering air tanks into the cave system.
.....
“By the time we arrived on site, local divers ... had already been doing the most extraordinary dives through the cave and laying the very robust rope which made all subsequent dives to the soccer team not only possible, but safe,” he wrote.
“The efforts and skill of these guys in blazing this trail cannot be underestimated. Following someone else’s line is very much easier than finding your own way."
.....
Harris also described the scale of the effort that he encountered when he first arrived.
“On the ground, the Thais and international community sent in swarms of men and women to provide everything from catering, communications, media and of course the huge teams of workers filling the cave with tonnes and tonnes of equipment to try and lower the water and sustain the diving operations."
“I have never seen anything like it with man battling to control the natural forces of the monsoon waters. Local climbing and rope access workers rigged the dry cave section for that part of the rescue and scoured the bush for more entrances to the cave."
“Drilling teams attempted to get through nearly a kilometre of rock to the boys’ location. And all this time four brave navy Seals sat with the Wild Boars knowing they were in as much danger as the kids.”

 

[Dan]

My apologies if I missed this being already posted (it's more details about the difficulty of the rescue) - https://goo.gl/gt8D6C
Truly amazing!

Thank you for the link. This is a good article. A few things that I learnt from the article that I haven't read on the others are:
1. Where the retired Thai Navy Saman Gunan died.
2. There are 3 more Thai Navy divers that were hospitalized due to similar situation.
3. How the boys were transported (on stretcher all the way, not diving / swimming on their own, as previously reported).

1. Where the retired Thai Navy Saman Gunan died

2. "Three Thai SEAL divers went missing during the operation for 23 hours, and when they finally reappeared, they were so weak from a lack of oxygen that they were rushed to the hospital."

3. How the boys transported (on stretchers all the way)

 

[Wingy]

@PeterNBiddle - Indeed Sir One may gain knowledge from any source lol

 

[dflaher]

3. How the boys transported (on stretchers all the way)
View attachment 468889

Wow...I had envisioned that the boys were swimming while tethered, and walking on their own when on "land". Complete news to me.

 

[KevinNM]

He also described one time when the visibility for him was, 'less than an inch'. Please can I ask the cave/tech divers on this forum what your methods are for monitoring and managing your gases when it is not possible to see your gauges?

(I would like to think you have a method apart from setting an audible alarm on an air integrated dive computer...)

Not a lot of tech divers dive in that condition AFAIK. It's more typical of public safety divers. PSDs do stuff like groping through he muck on the bottom of a pond full of nasty water for evidence or "other things". I don't know how pressure is managed. I know that SCBAs have an audible alarm that goes off at a preset pressure, but I have no idea if that type of alarm is viable under water.

 

[Bob DBF]

Not a lot of tech divers dive in that condition AFAIK. It's more typical of public safety divers. PSDs do stuff like groping through he muck on the bottom of a pond full of nasty water for evidence or "other things". I don't know how pressure is managed. I know that SCBAs have an audible alarm that goes off at a preset pressure, but I have no idea if that type of alarm is viable under water.

J-valves are still made and used.


Bob