Posted on 08/26/2010 6:20:13 AM PDT by raybbr
COPIAPO, Chile (AP) — Put on a show. Play cards. Sing. Get exercise. And whatever you do, don't get too fat to squeeze through the escape tunnel.
Chilean officials are offering lots of advice to help 33 miners trapped underground keep their health and sanity as they wait to be rescued. One thing they're not sharing with the men is their estimate that it could take four months to drill them out of an emergency shelter nearly half a mile below the surface.
"I hope that nobody commits the imprudence of telling them something like this. We have asked the families to be careful in the letters they write," Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said Wednesday. "It's going to be very hard. We're going to have to give them a great deal of attention, care and psychological support."
The miners were trapped by an Aug. 5 collapse, and rescuers established contact with them Sunday by drilling a 6-inch-wide hole to the shelter. That hole and two others are now lifelines, delivering supplies, communications and fresh air to the miners while they wait for the escape tunnel to be drilled.
The miners have a general idea that their rescue will take time but haven't been given the details, Hinzpeter said.
Some mining experts believe it will take far less than four months to dig the tunnel.
SNIP
Most Americans couldn't meet the 35-inch limit. The average U.S. waistline is 39.7 inches for men and 37 inches for women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(Excerpt) Read more at nhregister.com ...
The relevant statistic isn’t “most Americans”, it would be “most American miners...”
Not giving them an honest estimate of their time below ground is criminal.
I’m fascinated by this story. I’m really pulling for these miners. So far those organizing the rescue effort seem to have done very well and are covering all the bases.
amazing. kinda reminds me of that old kirk douglas (IIRC) move “Ace in the hole”
OTOH, it would be heart-sinking to see a bunch of sudoko books and 2000-pc puzzles come through the umbilical.
‘Y’all tryin to day somethin?’
I hear you, I break out into a sweat when I think of those guys, may the Lord be with them.
Me too. There’s a research paper in there for some psychologist or NASA guy studying long term space travel. Can’t imagine what the day-to-day is like for those fellows.
“and 37 inches for women.”
Ugh!
I’d like to see it broken down by race though...
With a 6” hole, you’d think they could pass down magazines, books, maybe preloaded apps on small PDA’s etc.
I’m far from slim and trim and have a 36” waist, but my shoulders are what usually makes it difficult for me to fit through a narrow space. I could pack on a lot of weight before I was wider in the waist than the shoulders.
OH, the irony. Trapped in Chile and told they can’t eat.
Cable TV...
Yeah, but most men with broad shoulders can angle through a narrow hole.
The psychology is actually pretty solid... the Stockdale Paradox... to not lose hope, without setting a deadline is key... if the expectation were set for four months, and then the days lingered toward six... you would have miners dying of a broken heart.
They're miners.
They know how long it takes to drill.
Exactly. I am praying for their well being until they can be rescued from that hole.
Is there any information on what type of shelter they are in or how large it is? I would also be interested in what the environment is like where they are. I hope that Chile is accepting any and all help from outside countries to aid in the rescue unlike our own pathetic administration that declined help with the oil leak.
After 4 months underground, in 90+ degree heat......YES they could.
But isn’t it usually cooler underground?
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