What a terrible situation. I cannot imagine how their parents must feel at this moment.
Ugh, so scary. I can see where it would be hard for untrained divers to make it. I’m certified, but I tend to get nervous when I first jump out of the dive boat if the sea is rough. Then I hyperventilate and use too much air. I could see that happening if a kid started panicking in the water. 
I have been following this story. I was elated when they were found alive but did not imagine the extraction would be so difficult. None of the boys even know how to swim. Diving in the ocean is one thing but cave diving sounds incredibly challenging, even for the experienced.
I’m NOT a diver, but I’m willing to strongly opine that trying to teach a bunch of boys who cannot even swim to CAVE DIVE would be a very, very bad idea.
I know this is easy from me to say, from the comfort and safety of my home, but I think having them all wait it out (as one report on tv said they could do), even if that takes weeks or heaven forbid months, would be the better option.
One good piece of news is that the current in the cave is running in the right direction. I would think they’d need two experiences divers for each boy, one in front and one in back, but they said there are areas where getting through in a dive suit is very difficult.
I’ve been following this since before they were found and was amazed that they were all alive. I worry that the waters might rise over the next few months.
The boys are being taught to swim and dive by rescuers. However, still no solid rescue plans.
This story is haunting me. They could be there for a long time and ultimately not make it out?? How do you handle that?
A side note - can the mods move this to the Parent Cafe? I almost started a thread on this topic because I didn’t see one there already.
I originally intended to post it in Parents Cafe, but this is the Off Topic forum and the posts in Parents Cafe made me unsure if this topic belonged there. I’d say this is an OT thread.
The risk is that another monsoon could raise the water level more and flood them out of their current location.
Seems like they are going in three (not mutually exclusive) directions:
a. Bring in supplies so that they can wait out the rainy season and then escape without needing to dive/swim.
b. Teach them how to dive/swim to attempt an escape in case the risk of being flooded out of the current location is too high.
c. Pump out the water to try to make an escape possible with less or no diving/swimming needed.
Would be terrific if c. becomes a safe and viable option.
This is a very tricky dive. From what I understand the route includes one or more no-mount passages. What that means is that the opening the kids will have to get through is too narrow to carry a tank on their back. Scuba gear is very heavy. The tank alone is on the order of 30 lbs… It needs to be that heavy to contain the pressurized air.
Under the best of conditions and done by experienced divers cave diving is extremely dangerous. The water is often very murky, which means that lights are essentially useless. You won’t see anything but silt in front of you. Lose the guideline and you’ll have no idea where you are.
Just reaching these boys was a challenge for experienced cave rescue divers. Getting tanks and gear in will be difficult.
If they use standard scuba gear these kids would likely have to do the dive with not much more than rope tugs and light flashes for communication. They could use full face masks, which allow the divers to communicate, but they’re bulkier than a standard scuba setup and they make it much more complex to do buddy breathing if the kids get in trouble.
Because there’s so little room and no sunlight standard emergency measures will be more difficult. For instance if a kid’s mask gets knocked around and fills with water he may be unable to use the standard method for clearing the water if he doesn’t have room in a narrow passage to bend his elbow. This could lead an inexperienced diver to inhale water and choke.
It can be cold. These are skinny 13 year old boys without fat reserves so there’s a risk of hypothermia.
There’s a current in the cave system. Even if it’s flowing in the right direction it will make it harder for the divers to control their movements.
Experienced divers learn over a period of time to manage their air consumption. New or panicked divers suck up air, meaning there could be a risk of running out of oxygen, and unlike on a standard recreaonal dive there’s no option to simply come to the surface if your air runs low.
Imagine one of these boys, in pitch black waters, without the ability to communicate, trying to hold 30 lbs. at arm’s length, knowing that if they aren’t able to handle it their air could be cut off. The rescue divers would certainly try to assist them but there may be areas where they can’t without putting everyone in greater danger.
This is a scary situation.
It’s so frightening. It is taking the experienced expert divers six hours to reach these kids! I don’t know how on earth they can expect these kids who cannot swim to learn how to dive and be able to navigate a very difficult and lengthy trip out of the caves.
It’s amazing to think that they explored that far into the cave, I think I read it was a jaunt after a sports practice, so somewhat impromptu?
I read something today that blew my mind – it is an 11 hour round trip in and out of the cave. Thats what it takes the divers to get supplies in and then do a return trip. I really just can’t see how these young boys who can’t even swim could survive that journey. I still wonder if that was a misprint or bad information. That seems like a very long time.
Here’s the article on the 11 hour trip:
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/38576855/thai-cave-rescue-round-trip-to-see-boys-takes-11-hours
I’m very comfy in the water, happy to swim in just about any condition, certified diver, love night diving, use little air… but the description of the route the boys would have to dive through to escape sounds absolutely terrifying. Honestly I’m not sure I could do it without panicking, it sounds next to impossible to ask of a nonswimmer/weak swimmer, newer diver, malnourished person. If it were my kid I’d be frantic with the idea they’re stuck down there but possibly even more frantic at the idea that they’d try to dive out.
It makes me somewhat nauseous if I think about this too much as it is such an overwhelming situation. I have to keep telling myself that people who are smarter than I am are in charge and all I can do is be thankful they were found alive and pray for wisdom and courage for the rescuers.
Eleven hours is probably correct. The cave is 3 or so kilometers long.
Wondering if they could use one of those miniature Russian submarines that seat one person for part of the journey. They could take one child at a time and have an experienced diver lead the sub out of the cave. Probably wouldn’t be able to negotiate that one very narrow passage but it could get them through part of the way. I think there are sections of the cave along the path that are not under water.
@HarvestMoon1, there are places where the divers have to get out of the water and go across land. Plus there’s a spot near the opening too narrow get through with a scuba tank. Definitely no room for a mini-sub.