12 boys lost in flooded Thai cave

[SailorJoe]

The last week of June was pretty wet week with >2” of rainfall. The 1st week of July was good for the rescuers with ~ 1/2” rainfall. Hopefully the weather continues in their favor.

View attachment 467819

Based on the lowering oxygen levels...time does not appear to be on their side after all. They may not have a choice but to go for it. I've got a feeling this story is only going to get worse.

 

[telemonster]

Max depth is something like 19ft right? So in that case all the divers should use 100% o2 or other o2 rich mix so that way it adds to the available o2 molecules in the atmosphere? Unless there is a fire risk.

 

[SailorJoe]

Just posted: It appears they're going to go for the rescue this weekend with the drop in rain forecast.

(Scroll to bottom of July 6th post)

"According to Thai Visa, Belgian media reports that the evacuation will begin this weekend before the heavy rains hit the province. The report cites rescue diver Ben Reymenants, who is on stand by for the mission, who claims that the boys will be evacuated in pairs. He claims the boys will be given oxygen masks and led through the cave passageways by Thai Navy SEALS.

Elon Musk has reportedly been in contact with the Thai Government discussing options in helping with the rescue.

FIFA has issued a letter to the 13 inviting them all to the 2018 World Cup Final in Russia if they are out of the cave and healthy enough to attend."

Chiang Mai CityNews - Rescue Updates: Teenager Football Team Found Alive in Cave

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Max depth is something like 19ft right? So in that case all the divers should use 100% o2 or other o2 rich mix so that way it adds to the available o2 molecules in the atmosphere? Unless there is a fire risk.

One section is 90 feet or so. 30 meters.

 

[Dan]

One section is 90 feet or so. 30 meters.

@telemonster does have a good point about the need to have high oxygen content gas due to limited air ventilation relative to the number of people inside the cave & the heavy activities in there to support the rescue. I read there are up to a hundred people inside and up to a thousand of people total inside & outside. Every time we breathe, our exhaust breath contain about 4-5% of CO2, another words, the 21% O2 in the intake gas drops to about 14-16% O2, Breathing - Wikipedia So, may be they won’t be able to use pure oxygen due to depth, but may be Nitrox upto EAN32 would be good enough to provide breathable exhaust gas for those supporting people inside the cave. The exhaust gas would still have 25-27% oxygen.

They do have quite a few of pure oxygen bottles at the outside of the cave that they can use to blend the air with the oxygen to make the Nitrox mix gas. Then they’ll use the gas for breathing twice so-to-speak.

 

[chillyinCanada]

They won't be taking the boys out on "oxygen " tanks.

What a logistical nightmare. Not just the extraction but the whole kit and caboodle. Who's analyzing and marking tanks? Who's ensuring no contamination?
Who's trusting them to do it? Who decides which diver does what?

How and where is everyone getting fed? Where are they sleeping?
What about toilets and sanitary conditions for folks? Who's providing and who's cleaning and how over seem, etc etc etc?

 

[M DeM]

I just heard they got an "air line" down there.

And yes, for a 2 or three seconds I did think they got Delta down there. I'm sorry. I haven't had coffee.

 

[SailorJoe]

They won't be taking the boys out on "oxygen " tanks.

What a logistical nightmare. Not just the extraction but the whole kit and caboodle. Who's analyzing and marking tanks? Who's ensuring no contamination?
Who's trusting them to do it? Who decides which diver does what?

How and where is everyone getting fed? Where are they sleeping?
What about toilets and sanitary conditions for folks? Who's providing and who's cleaning and how over seem, etc etc etc?

There does appear to be an organized effort from other pics I have seen. The Thai Navy Seal who died apparently volunteered for a 2nd dive. In hind sight, he should have not. There are ~110 Thai Navy Seals in the main rescue chamber and they are "taking the bull by the horns" and getting support from other teams.

No matter how you slice it this will be a harrowing rescue attempt. One of the chambers is 90ft deep. Unless the boys can miraculously clear their ears the whole way, we will likely be reading about ear injuries, vertigo, etc. to be sure.

 

[Dan]

Chiang Mai CityNews - Rescue Updates: Teenager Football Team Found Alive in Cave

“Saturday 7th July 2018
BREAKING NEWS: Rescue Teams are opening air tanks inside the chamber the 13 boys are located to prevent them from suffocating in the cave, according to the former Chiang Mai Governor Narongsak Osottanakorn in an emergency press release at 1am Saturday morning. The former governor has now returned to Chiang Mai to manage the rescue operation until it is concluded. He has said that the condition has stabilised for now but that exiting by swimming and scuba diving out is still the most viable option despite the dangers involved.”

I guess the 25 years old coach is the 13th boy

And they use the right word of “air” instead of “oxygen”

 

[Dan]

I think moving anything in and out of that cave is hard. Surely they've done that though, because where else would the number 15% come from?

I was thinking of one of those handheld oxygen analyzers like we use to check %O2 in Nitrox tank before we use it, something like this, below: