Thai rescue: How to help the boys survive months in a cave
3 July 2018
The boys and their coach are in a dry space within the cave
ROYAL THAI ARMY HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
By Jordan Hindson
Twelve boys and their football coach have been found alive in a cave in Thailand, after being missing for nine days. But the group may need to stay in the cave up until October, when the flood waters that stranded them there are expected to subside. The boys and their coach are likely to face extreme physical and psychological challenges while they wait.
Are they all okay?
According to Narongsak Ostanakorn, governor of the local Chiang Rai region, none of them are in critical condition, but some may have injuries. They have now been given a supply of painkillers, plus antibiotics as a preventative measure.
What are their most urgent needs?
Survival in extreme conditions depends on access to a few key resources: oxygen, stable and habitable temperatures, water, and food – in that order, according to Mike Tipton, a physiologist at the University of Portsmouth, UK. “If you can tick the first boxes, you’re looking at weeks of survival. In any survival situation, you just go through that hierarchy,” says Tipton.
To have got this far, the cave likely has a decent supply of oxygen and an adequate temperature. According to some reports, the group survived by drinking water that dripped from limestone in the cave, but now that divers have made contact with them, they can be provided with supplies of drinking water and food.
More:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2173368-thai-rescue-how-to-help-the-boys-survive-months-in-a-cave/?cmpid=ILC|NSNS|2018_webpush&utm_medium=ILC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=webpush-Roost-Thai-rescue
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Danica Kirka, Associated Press
Updated 5:33 pm CDT, Tuesday, July 3, 2018
LONDON (AP) — When authorities in Thailand were assembling a group of rescuers to search for a soccer team lost in a flooded cave, one of their first calls went to a retired firefighter and an IT consultant in England.
Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were the first to reach the 12 boys and their coach inside the Luang Nang Non Cave in Chiang Rai province on Monday.
It is their voices that can be heard talking to the boys and giving them calm reassurance in a dramatic video released by the Thai navy. They are working with Thai navy SEALs, who are leading the rescue operation.
Stanton, the retired firefighter from Coventry, and Volanthen, who does IT consulting work in Bristol, have years of experience in cave rescues and have helped map the Luang Nang Non Cave.
More:
https://www.chron.com/news/world/article/British-divers-bring-experience-to-Thai-cave-drama-13046962.php
