Online<\/a><\/p>\nThe talk is part of the Town Hall\u2019s Twilight Talks series on March 24 at 7 p.m. at the Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall on the Clovis North High School campus. GV Wire is a sponsor.<\/p>\n
Volanthen started caving in the Boy Scouts in his native Bristol, England.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe skills I developed were really for cave exploration \u2014 finding, charting and mapping new pieces of cave, new passages for myself. My particular interest, my particular skill set, is in cave diving. When the cave becomes flooded or the passage goes underwater, that\u2019s really where my interest starts,\u201d Volanthen said.<\/p>\n
Volanthen said breathing is not a problem underground, but you must be vigilant about your air supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as you\u2019re underwater, there is more of a ticking clock because you always have a limitation based on your air supply. For me, I try to stay calm. I try not to worry about anything beyond my immediate environment. I actually like being in caves. I enjoy that underground environment, how it looks and the challenges it presents,\u201d Volanthen said.<\/p>\n
The Thai Cave Rescue<\/p>\n
The rescue involved up to 10,000 people, reports said. Volanthen said this rescue was different because of how far the boys were trapped and how much water separated them from the entrance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a moment when Rick and I were both very concerned about our own safety. Then we suddenly found the boys, and our priorities had to change very rapidly to being concerned for their safety, their well-being, and reassuring them that everything was hopefully going to be OK.\u201d \u2014 Cave rescue expert John Volanthen <\/p>\n
\u201cUsually, cave diving rescues or sometimes body recoveries involve adults. It\u2019s quite unusual, if not unprecedented, to have a cave diving rescue that involves children,\u201d Volanthen said.<\/p>\n
With the boys trapped for 10 days a mile underground, Volanthen and his dive partner Rick Stanton couldn\u2019t believe they found them alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was almost an adjustment in reality. There was a moment when Rick and I were both very concerned about our own safety. Then we suddenly found the boys, and our priorities had to change very rapidly to being concerned for their safety, their well-being, and reassuring them that everything was hopefully going to be OK,\u201d Volanthen said.<\/p>\n
Volanthen left but returned for the actual extraction. He knew he could not take novice divers with him. The water was so muddy, Volanthen said, that he was unable to see his hand in front of his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe took the unprecedented step of deciding that we would only bring the boys out if we could sedate them to ensure that they were at the very least compliant. Part of that was to play to our strengths as cave explorers, used to moving around odd pieces of equipment. We felt that if we could treat the boys as packages, albeit very valuable packages, then we had a chance to bring them out safely,\u201d Volanthen said.<\/p>\n
Not All Survive<\/p>\n
Some of Volanthen\u2019s missions are not rescues but recoveries of bodies.<\/p>\n
\u201cCave diving rescues are fairly binary. Either we find people and they\u2019re alive and we can bring them out, or, unfortunately, if they\u2019re stuck underwater, there\u2019s often a clock: your air supply. Sometimes the outcome of the incidents we\u2019ve attended hasn\u2019t been particularly positive, but there was nothing we could do to change that,\u201d Volanthen said.<\/p>\n
Volanthen said sometimes the outcome is decided before his team is called in.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I can comfortably say that I did all that I could, that I didn\u2019t make any mistakes, and that I made as much progress as I could, then I can be comfortable with myself even if we can\u2019t provide a positive outcome,\u201d Volanthen said.<\/p>\n
The Thai rescue put Volanthen on the international map. It has led to books and pending movies. While he said he appreciates the opportunity to speak in places like Fresno, he has stayed focused.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a cave diver, if you have an ego, you don\u2019t last very long. It\u2019s important to me that I\u2019m very grounded. I\u2019m very realistic about every cave dive that I undertake to make sure that it\u2019s as safe as possible,\u201d Volanthen said.<\/p>\n
About Town Hall<\/p>\n
San Joaquin Valley Town Hall is a nonprofit organization that aims to bring thought-provoking speakers to the Central Valley.<\/p>\n
The all-volunteer board of directors has hosted hundreds of speakers, from scientists to cultural icons, since 1937.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Claustrophobia is not an option for John Volanthen. Being in tight spaces is a job requirement to engage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":232866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-232865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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