More details of the rescue.
Here is another detailed article of the rescue from the New York Times. It has the best pictures, diagrams, and descriptions of the mechanics of the rescue that I’ve seen to date. Truly harrowing tales including how three Thai divers went missing for 23 hours before surfacing and then being so oxygen deprived they had to be rushed to the hospital and how, during the rescue of child #11, the diver lost the guide rope and had to backtrack into the cave to find it. It does seem that Elon Musk was on the right track with his mini-sub. The boys were actually placed in flexible mini cocoons called skeds and handed off that way from team to team.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/world/asia/thailand-cave-rescue-seals.html
I really hope all the 10,000 who assisted in the massive rescue operation of the team and coach suffer no lasting harm for their participation. We already know of the one retired seal, Saman who died while assisting and are now reading of 3 Thai seal divers who were rushed to the hospital, as well as those who spent so many days in the cave with the boys being checked out in the hospital.
It was an amazing job well done but that sure was a LOT of manpower usd.
@HImom – I read an article that said that one of original British divers who first reached the boys was sent home for “medical treatment” afterwards. Never read any explanation. The initial rescue divers (Thai SEALS and British) should get rewarded for their bravery. That initial search, when the currents were strong and the water murky, was extremely dangerous.
Well, the two UK divers who were receiving awards at the airport were ONE of the divers who found the boys and one other diver but NOT the partner. It wouldn’t surprise me if many or all of those who were in the cave needed some medical treatment. There was very cold, polluted water, zero visibility, strenuous exertion, long hours, sharp rocks to name just a few of the things encountered.
The 3rd UK diver who was with John and Rick when the team was found had to return to the UK for his medical appt according to this article. He was 70 years old.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44791998 is a detailed story of the entire sequence of events.
I’ve read all the stories and reportage of the rescue and I still have questions. Were the boys strapped into the skeds for the first underwater section or were they guided with full face masks but without skeds by one diver or two divers? When they reached the staging area at the end of the first underwater dive were they then bundled into the skeds for the next part? Was there stockpile of skeds waiting for them there? Did they wait for one boy to get all the way through the underwater part before they started the next boy? Did the divers who guided one boy hand him off and go back to get the next?
I am fascinated by the particulars and can’t wait for the documentary that explains it all.
What I’ve read suggests that the boys/man were put into skeds for a portion of the underwater, taken out of them for the very narrow underwater passages and then put back into them when they were out of water to be transported out of the cave. There was an ingenious system of pulleys that suspended the skeds for portions and the rest of the time they were passed from person to person and carried.
I have read conflicting reports of whether there was one or two divers with each child. I believe the kids were harnessed to the front diver and the trailing diver (like everyone in the water) couldn’t really see much past his hand anyway.
The diving partner of Dr Richard Harris said that all of the group of 13 were declared by Harris to be fit for the rescue so the coach was the one who decided the order of rescue.
Two interesting pieces of info recently were the Facebook account of Dr. Richard Harris and the BBC interview of John Volanthen.
There is a transcript, in Thai, of the final press conference with Thai operation commander. He stated that there were many moving parts done behind the scene by volunteers from both Thai and international, private and government sectors, that contributed to make this rescue operation successful. The US supplied a lot of technical personnel and equipment needed for the operation.
In that press conference, it was confirmed that all 13 rescuees have Thai citizenships.
Another amazing this to me is this was all coordinated by folks who spoke many different languages. How did the Australian doctor get the desired medicines in Thailand in a different language etc etc. Plus the support outside the caves needed to help the rescuers - food, shelter, sanitary facilities etc.
Hmmm, many, many articles have pointed out that Coach Ek and 3 of the boys, including the 14 year old who speaks 4 languages including English are stateless, NOT Thai citizens and its a problem when the team travels they can’t since they don’t have passports.
@surfcity, I have traveled in Thailand on multiple occasions, including the general area where the rescue occurred. In my experience, English is widely spoken (and often very, very well spoken). Of course, my interactions are mostly with Thai citizens involved with tourists and foreign travelers where communication is key to success. But, I have been very impressed with the ability to communicate in English by those who have not had access to advanced education- for instance, guides (unlicensed) even in remote areas, drivers, restaurant workers and hotel cleaning staff. Even though I try to learn “hello”, “please” and “thank you” in the local language of the areas I visit, I feel quite ashamed that I can’t keep up with all those who learn English well enough for basic conversation.
Still very amazing, because communications involved highly technical details, and the whole operation required a great deal of effort coordination.
Yes, it is indeed amazing that this operation that involving 10,000 individuals ran as smoothly as it did with the international group on individuals involved.
The divers were able to make themselves understood and everyone worked together. This does indeed give us hope for humanity.
@HImom I did read that the government is going to help the stateless survivors (the boys and the coach) gain Thai citizenship.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/thai-cave-latest-rescued-boys-citizenship-coach-stateless-trapped-chiang-rai-a8445516.html
A lot of info that was out there was inaccurate. This included the widespread illustrations of how the rescuers and rescueesc” swim” out. The rescuees never swam. They were sedated and did not move.
In the BBC’s John Vokanthen’s interviewed, he did pointed out that lot of info about this rescue in the nedia was not accurate.
In Thailand, the official language is Thai. The most popular foreign language is English. There are nant Thai who speak English well. I believe all foreign volunteers soeak English. There were nany well educated liaisons (Thais) who helped with interpretation.
Many Thai college level professionals/specialists who worked on this operation speak English.
Aside from English, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin and Japanese are taught at 11th and 12th grades inhugh school there.
At the last press conference, the commander was asked by a foreign reporter if Thai governnent would consider granting citizenships to some of the rescuees who were not Thai.
His initial response was the government would do what the law allowed. Then, he was corrected (by another Thai official there) that all 13 of them are Thai citizens.
Sorry. I should check spelling before I posted. This site does not allow me to go back and edit the spelling. Typing on a tiny phone is difficult.