By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--July 8, 2018
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They really have no choice. As extreme as the idea seemed to leave them in there for months until the water recedes, you had to consider it when you took into account just how dangerous this dive is going to be. It’s dangerous enough that it took the life of an experienced Navy SEAL just yesterday.
But now they’re expecting more heavy rain, and it no longer sounds feasible to wait out the receding of the water. As dangerous as the dive is, it sounds like it will be the only way to save the boys – none of whom can swim, by the way. Oh, and might not even be able to wait until tomorrow because that’s when the next round of rain is expected.If approved, the first phase of the plan — which involves the ongoing process of staging equipment and clearing obstacles in the cave — could be completed by 6 p.m. local time Saturday. The second phase — which calls for dangerous and risky “buddy diving” of the soccer team, in which they would each be accompanied by an experienced diver out of the cave network — could start as early as Sunday morning local time. U.S. dive and medical personnel will support the proposed operation by staging equipment and setting up triage stations, but will not go beyond the third chamber inside the cave, according to the document. Narongsak Osatanakorn, the Thai official in immediate charge of the rescue operation, told reporters at a news conference late Friday that the plan was to bring the boys and their coach out of the cave the same way they initially entered two weeks ago. The group is currently learning how to breathe underwater using dive equipment, he said. During a news conference Saturday morning, Osatanakorn said they would pull back some of the rescuers inside the cave in an effort to preserve oxygen levels. “We have experienced a lot of people fainting inside,” he told reporters. “We want to keep the headcount minimal, but we’ll always have four people with the kids and we’ll work hard to bring as many oxygen tanks into that area as we can.” The recent death of a former member of the Royal Thai navy inside the cave who was working as a volunteer rescuer has hindered some progress that was already underway. Saman Gunan lost consciousness underwater during an overnight operation delivering extra air tanks inside the cave, along the treacherous route divers take to get to the trapped soccer team. He could not be revived and was confirmed dead early Friday morning.
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