The successful rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach in Thailand shows how important a highly skilled team and specialized equipment can be.

B.C. has a cave rescue team, but it currently doesn't receive any funding from the province. Its leaders are hopeful what happened overseas will serve as a wake-up call.

Volunteers with the Alberta/B.C. Cave Rescue Service are trained to act in emergencies that happen in our own backyard.

"When we run exercises it can take upwards of three dozen rescuers 12 hours to move a single person 200 metres through a cave," rescuer Doug Munroe said.

Vancouver Island is a popular caving destination, and the site of several rescues each year.

"It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, you need a lot of people who know what they're doing," Munroe said.

It takes a lot of expertise and specialized equipment to save people who are injured or trapped underground.

"We, like all search and rescue groups, receive a refund for operational expenses that we incur when the province calls and asks us for help, but those refunds don't cover our costs of equipment and training," Munroe said.

"Most SAR groups – they actually apply for gaming grants, lottery money. We are ineligible for that."

He hopes the situation in Thailand encourages the province to invest more in the team. The team has written a letter to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, but so far, they've received no response.

CTV News also reached out to the ministry but the calls have not yet been returned.

"It's all volunteers who pick up the mess, who come to the aid of people who get stuck. We hope the province will recognize if they need us in emergencies, they need to support us between emergencies," Munroe said.

"This is something that the provincial government, successive provincial governments now, have been dragging their feet over for several years."

The group hopes the efforts of the rescuers in Thailand – including a diver from Langley, B.C. – help make their case back at home.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson