Weather conditions will play a key role in determining how 12 boys and their football coach will be transported from Tham Luang cave to a hospital in Chiang Rai.
Four helicopters are ready to airlift the 13, trapped deep inside a flooded cave since July 23, from the cavemouth in Mae Sai district to Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital in Muang district, according to rescue operation plans.
The choppers, belonging to the National Police Office and Royal Thai Army, are at two makeshift landing pads near the cave, to where 13 ambulances will deliver the patients once they have reached the surface. They will fly them to Wing 416 in Muang district, a journey of between seven and 10 minutes. From there, ambulances will transport them to the hospital, which is about one kilometre away.
If weather obstructs the airlift, the backup option is an overland journey, driving directly from the cave to the hospital, a distance of about 70 kilometres. The trip would take about one hour by road.
Roads from Wing 416 to Chiangrai Prachanukroh were partially closed for the final stage of the rescue operation on Sunday, when rescuers launched the treacherous evacuation operation from the bowels of Tham Luang cave.
Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital in Muang district, Chiang Rai, is earmarked to be the single treatment facility for the 13 once they are rescued from Tham Luang cave. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
Gen Pramote Imwattana of the Army Medical Department said once those trapped in the cave have been brought to the surface, they will be given an initial assessment by doctors and nurses awaiting them at the entrance of the cave. Thirteen fully staffed medical teams are now stationed outside the cave -- one for each of the boys and their coach.
Medical staff involved in the mission say their first assessment will focus on the boys' breathing and signs of hypothermia.
They will also check for an airborne lung infection known as cave disease, which is caused by bat and bird droppings and can be fatal if it is untreated and spreads to other parts of the body.
Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, an inspector general of the Public Health Ministry in charge of Chiang Rai, said the hospital stood ready for them. "We have been prepared and conducted rehearsals," he told Thai PBS on Sunday.
Dr Thongchai said there were no plans to send any of the rescued 13 to hospitals in Bangkok. "There are no differences in medical equipment between Bangkok and Chiang Rai," he said.
The boys and their coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, will receive medical treatment on the eighth floor of the hospital for at least 24 hours, during which time their family members will not be admitted. Results of the medical checks will come after 48 hours, and then family visits will be permitted.
Dr Thongchai said the teenagers and the coach could be discharged from the hospital to go home within five days if they are found healthy.
Since 3pm on Sunday, journalists and photographers have been barred from the area around Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital. The reporters were only allowed to station themeslves at a school about 1 kilometre away.
Layers of tarpaulin were also placed in front of the hospital to obstruct the media from seeing inside.
Rescue chief Narongsak Osotthanakorn holds a press briefing on Sunday to announce the decision to evacuate the 13 trapped people from Tham Luang cave. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
Thiravat Hemachudha, the director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Centre, said earlier that health authorities had concerns for not only the boys and their coach, but also rescuers working inside the camp.
“Aside from bats, there are also mosquitoes and various insects inside the cave. They may spread diseases,” he said, mentioning threats from bacteria, viruses and fungi.
“Our preparations do not indicate we think the stranded victims and rescuers have definitely caught diseases. We have just prepared measures that will deliver immediate help if they are infected,” Dr Thiravat said.
