It's the medical care of the boys saved in a cave in Thailand

In July 2018, 12 boys from a football team with their coach were trapped in a cave in Thailand for two weeks. After his rescue, it was learned that the children had been sedated to get them out of there.

However, the story did not end with his release. The children were in a damp place for 15 days, with no food or drink. More than eight months after the fact, a report in the scientific journal The New England Medical Journal detailed how were the medical care from their appearance on the surface.

The authors of the article explained that the main thing – before being transferred by helicopter or ambulance to a hospital – was to observe their general condition and Determine if there are urgent risks that could complicate your health picture. Had the boys spent hours immersed in cold water and diving suits that did not suit them, with which it was possible that they were suffering from hypothermia?

The first step was provide oxygen masks and sunglbades, to protect his eyes – who had not seen the light of day for weeks. Then they took off their costume (which was not partly weight loss), taking care not to hurt them and not to stop them from breathing. They also provided blankets to heat them and monitor their temperature.

Once at the clinic, they applied the Thailand cave rescue protocol, a procedure created especially for this case. In particular, attempts have been made to focus on the critical aspects of the situation. These were essentially two: the risk of hypothermia and breathing problems. To put it into practice, the multidisciplinary work of specialists in respiratory issues, pediatric cardiologists and anesthesiologists was necessary (remember that boys were sedated with ketamine).

Between the measures to prevent hypothermia (or to reverse it, in the case of boys who had developed) they found the use of warming blankets and aluminum wraps for the entire body. In addition, they received a saline infusion heated preventively.

The boys spent eight days in boarding and 50 to 60 physicians participated in their care with 100 health professionals. As all have survived, the authors felt that the operation was a success and that "the fact provides important lessons for the management of patients with hypothermia".