
A rescue diver on what it was like to save the Thai boys in the cave - curtis
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/12/17564360/thai-cave-rescue-boys-mission-diver-ben-reymenants
======
wallflower
> So we decided to put them on a stretcher, with a full face mask, with pure
> oxygen on a positive pressure.

Positive pressure means that any water getting into the mask would be flushed
out. This first-person account seems to clarify that the kids were almost
always on a stretcher while on land. But what about the underwater portions? I
can't even imagine as a kid (or even adult) diving into the equivalent of no-
visibility iced coffee. This Nytimes detailed recap seems to indicate the
stretchers were also used during the "sumps" (underwater portions)

[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/world/asia/thailand-
cave-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/world/asia/thailand-cave-rescue-
seals.html)

The Thai Navy Seals released their video of the unprecedented rescue operation
this past week. It has no sound, and it is a perspective into how many
individuals contributed to the success of the team effort. You can see the
sked described in the article (a stretcher used for search and recovery) and
the zip line/winch/pulley systems that were used throughout.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM2u2phHr2k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM2u2phHr2k)

~~~
PeterisP
The article mentions that they were strapped down. So it wasn't them "diving",
it was them being pushed/pulled underwater while tied down to a stretcher -
which also prevents them from e.g. removing the face mask in panic. Makes
sense that sedation would be necessary, these are perfect conditions for
freaking out.

------
pencotts
BBC interview with John Volanthen is here
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p8XFvRJD7Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p8XFvRJD7Q)

~~~
harryf
Meanwhile Vern Unsworth, one of the other divers, comments on Elon Musks
submarine...
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TmjpIkVDrU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TmjpIkVDrU)

~~~
blhack
Hearing all the negativity around this makes me a profound sort of sad.

Here's a guy with some pretty unimaginable resources. He tries to use some of
the resources for good, and a bunch of people go out of their way to get upset
at him for it, and then laugh when what he tried to help with didn't work.

People slinging all this mud are the reason others are hesitant to help.

~~~
jcranmer
Sometimes, particularly in disaster situations, the most help you can give is
to stay away and let the people who _can_ do the most good work without
distraction.

The original intent of the rescue, judging from the Washington Post version of
this article, was to have the two rescue drivers carry the kid between them as
much as possible. It was realized when they were transporting the first kid
that said transit mechanism was impossible, as the space was too cramped to do
that; the operation then had one diver carrying the kid, swapping divers
frequently because that's a very physically taxing job.

Between the weight and the length of the sub, it's clear from descriptions of
the rescue operation that it was completely unusable. Any attempt to use it
would have had a very high risk of it getting wedged somewhere in the cave
that would have made the cave impassable. And guess what? Pretty much everyone
who had some sort of experience with caving commented that the sub idea was
unworkable when it was first announced.

Just because you want to help doesn't mean you can help, and you shouldn't
give someone a pass on their actions just because they're trying to help. As
the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

~~~
DareRight
Of course you should stay out of the way. But on the other hand, if everyone
stayed out of the way, nobody would actually help. Do you see all those miles
of hoses? Where do you suppose those came from? Did you see the discarded pile
that were 8cm instead of 10cm? Who is mocking the fire department that donated
those? What about that silly convenience store that shipped in all the Spam to
feed people who would prefer to eat roast beef? Should we mock them for all
the Spam that got thrown away?

When you and I sat in front of our monitors to see what others were doing,
some people took inventory of their resources and offered whatever they could
in the chance that it might be useful. They were willing for it to be thrown
away if it wasn't useful.

I'm not here to apologise for Musk. I'm here to praise everyone who donated
food, tanks, hoses, pumps, skeds, submarines, money, housing, or their life.
Thank you.

~~~
maxxxxx
Now that the crisis is over Musk's opportunity has arrived. Work with some
experts in quiet to see if better solutions can be developed. And put some
money behind it.

I hope he takes that opportunity.

------
sakopov
"The smallest space was actually 2 feet wide, so yes, it was quite high, 60
centimeters high." I can't imagine crawling in that space without having a
panic attack, let alone trying to swim through it in murky water while
dragging a child behind me. What an incredible feat.

~~~
maxxxxx
You certainly need a very special psychology to be a cave diver.

------
curtis
This longer BBC article on the rescue is the most complete report I've seen so
far: [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-
asia-44791998](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44791998).

------
Waterluvian
Feels like some sort of cosmic luck that these were mostly skinny kids and not
some missing team of professional wrestlers. Almost by nature of who they
were, they possibly stood a far better chance of being rescuable?

------
jeksus
The article describing Musk's rescue plan:

>The Engineering Behind Elon Musk's Bid to Save Thailand's Cave Boys

[https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-thailand-cave-boys-
res...](https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-thailand-cave-boys-rescue-
engineering/)

