Diving doc had the Rx for rescue

An Australian doctor who is also a top cave diver is being credited with persuading rescuers at the Tham Luang cave to reverse their initial plan of removing the strongest of the trapped boys first.

Anesthesiologist Richard Harris, 53, of Adelaide, has been in Chiang Rai province aiding the rescue — and even made the treacherous trip himself to examine the boys and their coach early Sunday, the Times of London reported.

The doctor, who works for the South Australian Ambulance Service’s air evacuation service MedSTAR, was asked for help by British officials, the newspaper said.

Rescuers went with their current plan — extracting the weakest first — on Harris’ recommendation Sunday, the paper said.

Colleagues called him uniquely qualified with 30 years’ experience.

“I know for a fact he has dived in China on several occasions . . . and it’s the same sort of geology across Southeast Asia. It will be sort of limestone cave networks,” Dr. Michael Eaton, a friend and colleague, told the news site ABC.

Bill Griggs, Harris’ former boss at MedSTAR, told ABC Radio Adelaide, “He is known to a very small group of people who have that very high level of expertise.”

MedSTAR clinical director Andrew Pearce said: “He’s not someone you just stumble upon overnight. It takes years, and he’s got over 30 years of diving experience.”

Among his exploits, Harris recovered the body of a friend and fellow top diver, Agnes Milowka, 29, in 2011 after she ran out of air in a cave in South Australia.