MONTHS after their involvement in the dive rescue of 12 trapped boys and a football coach in Thailand, Dr Richard Harris and Craig Challen have passed on their knowledge to other divers in Mount Gambier this week.
In the South East region for the Cave Diving Association of Australia’s (CDAA) annual general meeting on the weekend, the pair coordinated a “sump rescue orientation course” for some of the members on Monday.
Several divers from across Australia joined Mr Harris and Mr Challen at the Pines Cave, where they were involved in a practical exercise that aimed to encapsulate all the elements of a cave dive rescue.
Dr Harris – search and rescue officer for the CDAA – said the course was more about preventative measures rather than learning to carry out rescue operations.
“We just take them through the steps of what is involved in rescuing someone who is injured in a cave,” Dr Harris said.
“By showing them the complexity and difficulty of that process, we hope to frighten them out of getting themselves into that position in the first place.”
The retrieval of the group from the cave in Thailand was one of three rescues from the wrong side of a sump in a cave in history.
While the chances of a similar event occurring to one of the students of the course was unlikely, Dr Harris said it was important not to be “caught out”.
“It is a really rare experience, however there are caves in Australia which could lend themselves to this kind of emergency,” he said.
“Just by running these divers through the exercise, they all go away thinking ‘this is actually not something I want to be apart of, so I must be more careful about what I do’.”
Both men have attracted a lot of media attention in recent months, but that did not deter them from continuing to share their experience.
Mr Challen said the knowledge they gained should be passed on.
“We try and pass on as much we can – there’s no secrets about what we have been involved in,” Mr Challen said.
“It is such a rare event to have a rescue, so you try to capture any bit of knowledge you can that might be useful in the future and we are really keen to share that knowledge with other people.”
While Monday’s course seemed like a serious exercise, Dr Harris said conducting it in a South East cave was a great bonus.
“This is our passion, this is what we love doing, so while we are happy doing the teaching – it is just enjoyable to be here relaxing, socialising and enjoying the diving,” Dr Harris said.
