Denver-Based Company Essential In Helping Soccer Team Cave Rescue
By Tori Mason & Karen Morfitt
DENVER (CBS4)- Denver-based Intermap Technologies is internationally known for their high-resolution mapping and elevation models.
The company has been an essential part in helping rescue the soccer team stranded in a Thailand cave.
Intermap Technologies CEO Patrick Blott says he got the call from Thailand three days after the team first went missing. Intermap was asked to create a model of the cave rescue divers were trying to navigate.
"They'd been missing and the situation was getting worse, not better. It did not look good. We threw everything we had at it and said let's give them as much as we can and hope for the best," he said.
Blott says within three hours of that request they were able to give them something to work with.
"They need to know what the terrain looks like they need to know what the elevations are if they need to drill they need to know what the best drill points are," Blott said
Intermap was able to give them that information from thousands of miles away, as well as create a blueprint using known cave patterns and routes.
Using information from a variety of sensors like Satellite imaging and sound communication, they are able to make a 3D model of their target
In this case, that model gave rescuers a perspective they did not have before.
Blott says he's sorry they lost a diver in the effort, but he's proud Intermap was able to stop a bad situation from getting worse.
"At that time, there had been no news for three days... And sure enough, things are moving in the right direction now and it's really great to see it," said Blott.
In addition to being so quick in providing that life-saving information, Intermap gave rescuers all of that data free of charge.
"The operation on the ground there is extraordinary and the fact that they were able to do this so quickly nobody expected it. It's really incredible," he said.
The official heading the Thai cave rescue operation says the four boys brought out of the flooded cave by divers on Monday are "safe and conscious" and now in a hospital. Monday's operation, which was the second day of a high-stakes rescue effort, took less time than Sunday's because of the experienced accumulated and more people involved. Eight of the 13 trapped people -- a total of 12 boys and their 25-year-old soccer coach -- have now been rescued.
Tori Mason is an award-winning reporter for CBS4 This Morning. Follow her on Twitter @ToriMasonTV.
Karen Morfitt joined the CBS4 team as a reporter in 2013. She covers a variety of stories in and around the Denver metro area. Connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @karenmorfitt or email her tips.