As 12 boys and their soccer coach continue to wait to leave a cramped, pitch-black cave in Thailand, rescuers are weighing the option of having the boys swim out on their own using scuba diving equipment.

A Northwest Washington certified scuba instructor says training the boys will be a challenge but it could save their lives. The youth soccer team ventured into the caves during the monsoon season more than a week ago. A rescue dive team found the boys 10 days later, huddled in a cramped section of the underground cavern.

“It’s a scary situation,” said Jonas Furberg, co-owner of Blue Planet Scuba.

Furberg is a certified scuba instructor who helps train hundreds of District residents every year. He said if the boys are to scuba out of the underwater labyrinth of tunnels, the tired and hungry children will need mental strength as well.

“It can be extremely demanding psychologically,” he said.

The potential dive would happen in dark, enclosed spaces. Thai authorities thought the group was two miles into the cave but now say they were found about a thousand feet past that point.

“And it may be more of them crawling through as opposed to swimming though some of these areas,” said Furberg.

The 11 to 16-year-olds and their 25-year-old coach would need a crash course in scuba to teach them how to use a full mask and oxygen tank. In normal circumstances, scuba beginners take days to learn the intricacies of the sport including classroom work. This is much different than a typical lesson or even an open-water dive.

“They are cave diving. And cave diving puts you in something in an overhead environment. An overhead environment means there’s no direct access to the surface,” explained Furberg.

No direct access to the surface means if something goes wrong with the tank or mask, the diver wouldn’t be able to access open air just by swimming to the top. The enclosed spaces are also dark. If a flashlight goes out, it turns into diving by feel.

The commander of the Royal Thai Navy said the boys will be supplied with four months’ worth of food.

He did not say a rescue will take that long but that amount of food could last until the end of the monsoon season. After the season, the flood waters would recede. If that rain continues, it could make the water levels rise forcing rescuers to act sooner rather than later.

Some of the stranded boys cannot swim. Furberg said that is the least of the worries when it comes to a rescue.

“Essentially, everybody can swim underwater. It’s a bit easier. Staying on the surface and not sinking is usually the biggest problem for people who don’t know how to swim,” he said.

Using masks and oxygen tanks, the boys can breathe underwater; they just have to learn how. The rescue scuba divers will have to teach them what to do.

“They’re going to have to place their trust in these other divers and these divers are placing themselves in great risk as well,” said Furberg.

Along with using high tech equipment and safety gear, a simple tool like rope can be a life saver.

“For these cave divers, there’s going to be one of these tied off at the entrance, and then they’re going to run this in. As they’re running it, they’re going to loop it around areas, basically creating breadcrumbs,” Furberg explained.

The “breadcrumb” rope would lead the soccer team home, when and if Thai authorities decide to use scuba gear as a viable rescue tool.