As part of the effort to rescue the 12 boys and their soccer coach from Tham Luang cave last year in Thailand, rescue divers gave the boys "unspecified doses of ketamine," according to CNN.

Via CNN:

According to details of the rescue released in a medical journal Thursday, the boys were given unspecified doses of ketamine, also known as party drug Special K, by the rescue divers as they were taken out of Tham Luang cave.

Reports at the time had suggested that the children, who had been trapped for two weeks, were sedated during the operation, but officials gave few details.

"We had to use the means that could keep the children not to be panicky while we were carrying them out," Thai Navy SEAL commander Rear Adm. Arpakorn Yookongkaew told CNN shortly after the rescue. "Most importantly, they are alive and safe." ...

The medics said ketamine was a good choice to give to the boys, given the risk of hypothermia, as ketamine impairs shivering and is associated with smaller drops in core body temperature.

Image: by Capt. Jessica Tait/Kadena Air Base Read the rest

On Sunday in Bensheim, Germany, two children spotted a rat stuck in the vent of a manhole cover. Animal welfare organization Berufstierrettung Rhein-Neckar sent out two rescue workers who were unable to free the rodent. From Smithsonian:

That’s when things get surreal. The 8-member Auerbach volunteer fire brigade soon arrived on the scene wearing their firefighting gear and began a 25-minute rescue operation posted on YouTube. First they subdued the rat around the neck using a pole with a restraining loop at the end. Then, using large, black professional-looking wedges they popped up the heavy manhole cover and animal rescuer Michael Sehr was able to wiggle and work the portly little nibbler loose before releasing him back into the sewer...

The children who first found the rat also thanked the firefighters with a handmade, rat-themed thank you card.

Here's video of the operation:

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A woman in Manhattan got stuck in an elevator Friday evening – and wasn't rescued until Monday morning.

According to HuffPost, the unidentified woman was cleaning a five-story townhouse in the Upper East Side of Manhattan when she became trapped in the elevator between the 2nd and 3rd floor. The homeowners were out of town for the entire weekend, the elevator didn't have a phone, and apparently she didn't have a cell phone on her.

Finally, on Monday morning, one of the homeowners came home, realized what had happened and called 911. Firefighters broke into the elevator around 10am, rescued the woman, and sent her to the hospital. Miraculously, she's in good condition.

Moral of the story for claustrophobic people like me: take the stairs.

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The BBC reports that the last of the boys trapped deep in a flooded Thai cave is out, along with their coach.

• All 12 members of a Thai youth football team and their coach have been brought safely out of the cave in northern Thailand

• Eight boys rescued on Sunday and Monday are in hospital but have not been named and are being kept in quarantine

• Each person was pulled through the cave by expert divers

• A rescue doctor and three Navy Seals who stayed with the group are still to emerge

• The 12 boys and their coach were trapped by floods more than two weeks ago

Bravo to the skilled rescuer who freed this dog who was stuck in a frozen river. Read the rest

Wait for it. Read the rest

(I've started the above video at 7 seconds so you don't have to watch a woman get hit and run over by a van.)

From CCTV News in China, a video about the rescue of a woman who was trapped under a van after it ran her over. Passersby ran to her aid, tilting the van so she could be removed. According to the CCTV, the woman escaped with minor injuries, which is remarkable because the first 7 seconds of this video are brutal. Read the rest

"Damn, I was gonna get an apartment over there, too. It'll be cheaper now!" [Video Link] Read the rest