This spring I left the hustle and bustle of NYC to man the
Everest ER clinic in Nepal. I was one of
the three doctors working in this oversized tent on a glacier at 17,000 ft providing care to close to 1,000
foreign climbers and their local support staff.
Now being back at home, it is hard to fathom my life at Everest base
camp just 2 months ago. Follows is a photo essay to give you a feel for my
experience there.
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| View of EBC from the EBC trek |
Everest Base Camp (EBC)
EBC is a glacial city of tents at 17,000ft that takes about
40 minutes to traverse. It is located at the base of the infamous Khumbu icefall. Everest climbers (this year there were 289
permits in Nepal) and their mostly Sherpa support staff start out their journey
to the summit here.
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| Entrance to EBC |
Weather at EBC
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| Clouds move in fast! |
2016 season was
unusually warm. On a sunny day, we wore T-shirts and flip-flops and watched the
glacial run-off gain volume and power throughout the season and even daily. Clouds could move in quickly however, causing
drops in temperature that required us to wear heavy-duty puffies, hats and even
dawn booties. Night-time temperatures were low
enough for me to sleep comfortably in a -40C sleeping bag.
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| Our camp, my tent at the forefront, Khumbu icefall in the back |
Helicopters
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| HAPE patient getting evacuated to Kathmandu. |
Helicopter traffic has been on the rise at EBC and Mnt.
Everest. They are used for medical evacuations, produce and equipment delivery
and in recent years as air taxis. 2016 was the first year that a helicopter was used to deliver ropes to Camp 1 saving
Sherpas over 20 trips through the hazardous icefall.
Everest ER
Everest ER is a medical tent at EBC that was founded by
Luanne Freer
in 2003 and has been
providing medical care to climbers and locals for the last 14 years. It is
staffed by one Nepali and two western physicians and operates during the main
climbing season in the spring. This year it was Tash from Scotland, Yogesh from Nepal and myself. It was key in
last year’s disaster during the earthquake that triggered an avalanche
at EBC taking 25 lives and injuring over 50 people. It is now run by Himalayan
Rescue Association (HRA).
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| Lakpa (heli rescue guru and basecamp manager) and the docs. |
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| Inside Everest ER. Yogesh inside Gamow bag. |
Supplies
Medical supplies at Everest ER are limited, but rather
comprehensive. We had oxygen, suction unit, IV fluids, hyperbaric bags, intubation and splinting
materials and an array of medications ranging from anti-acids and decongestants
to sedation medications and IV
antibiotics.
Diagnostics included urine dip and pregnancy tests, ECG and
portable ultrasound landed to us by Sonosite. We also had a glucometer
which stopped working due to cold temperatures. No X-rays or blood tests
were available.
Our patients
This season we had 300 patient visits (excludes follow-ups) ranging
from simple respiratory complaints
to high altitude pulmonary and cerebral
edema, snow blindness and severe
frostbite. 65% of visits were by Nepalis. We recommended descent to close to 50
patients. Our most interesting cases
included a myocardial infarction in a 29 year-old Nepali man, obstructed
kidney stone requiring stenting, deep frost bite treated with thrombolysis,
retinal hemorrhage with persistent vision defects and incidental early pregnancy.
Life outside Everest ER
We found some
diversion outside of clinic. This
included trekking, climbing local peaks, visiting surrounding expedition teams,
reading, playing cards, watching movies, sunbathing and even training for
Everest marathon.
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| Taking a break. |
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| Stargazing from my tent. |
Please support Everest ER with your donations or come
volunteer in one of the clinics run by HRA!
Everest ER is a medical tent at EBC that was founded by
Luanne Freer in 2003 and has been
providing medical care to climbers and locals for the last 14 years. It is
staffed by one Nepali and two western physicians and operates during the main
climbing season in the spring. This year it was Tash from Scotland, Yogesh from Nepal and myself. It was key in
last year’s disaster during the earthquake that triggered an avalanche
at EBC taking 25 lives and injuring over 50 people. It is now run by Himalayan
Rescue Association (HRA). 
