"Standing By to Stand By"

Greetings from the South Pole everyone!  First, the above dictates my life, everyday now.  It's the satellite overpass schedule that takes up the top 1/3 of the NSF South Pole (SPO) intranet.  In years past, only the blue SPTR satellite was linked up to the station.  As you can see, it was available limited hours.  This year, they've added the DSCS satellite and life is much better!  The satellite passover is our only connection with the outside world - or the world that sits all north of us.  I'm hoping with a bit of understanding of communication limitations, you'll accept my apology for not sending out a blog since I left New Zealand.  so here's the story:

As you know from my previous blog, I arrived in Christchurch NZ (CHC) on 13 Nov.  I then 4 days in CHC, living out of a hotel room, that at least had connection to decent public transportation.  On 17 Nov, loaded down with my ECW (Extreme Cold Weather Gear) I boarded an Italian Air Force C-130, and started the journey further south to McMurdo Station.  The Italians only fly to McMurdo twice a year.  Well, we got off the ground - which honestly surprised all of us passengers.  The plane was ancient!  Our enthusiasm and anticipation were however, brief.  For only 45 mins into flight, we "boomeranged" back to CHC.  

"Boomerang" is the term that is used when your flight is either rerouted or cancelled inflight to your destination.  You never really know why, or how come - but usually it's weather on the destination end.  In this case, the Italians, in their broken English, told us, "Una parte e rotta" - and we would on the ground in CHC, for only 2 hours.  Hum....2 hours to replace a broken part, AND RUN A SAFETY CHECK??  We all thought for sure, we'd by back at the hotel for at least a night.....again.  But alas!  Two hours later we were back on the tarmac re-loading.  

The flight from CHC to McMurdo (MCM) is a long one - just short of 8 hours.  And I do mean LONG!  The inside of the C-130 is not made for passengers.  It's made for cargo.  So, the creature comforts are longing.  You cram in, sit on netting, and hope to God you don't find your butt adjusting to one of the metal support rods that can become very uncomfortable after 1 hour - let alone 8!  We were provided a prepackaged sack lunch (probably packaged 3-4 weeks prior to our flight) that consisted of an apple, deli-meat and cheese sandwich (I'm still not sure what the meat was!), and a handful of cookies, crackers and one bottle of water.  Don't spare any expenses NSF!

To get to MCM, you have to cross over the sea ice, and head towards Ross Island.  The MCM Station is located on the south side of the island - with the Ross Ice Shelf directly west.  The sea ice, this time of year, is starting to break up.  This break up, eventually allows penguins and seals access to land, so they can deliver their chicks / pups.  Hopefully without getting caught in the hungry mouth of a Lepard Seal or Orca.  Sighting of the sea ice happens about 2 hours out of MCM - the word spread quickly among the group, "we're almost there!" 

Hum....McMurdo Station.  What can I say.  It's old.  It rests on volcanic rock.  It's industrial. And the barracks (yes, barracks left over from its early US Navy days) are falling apart.  I truly thought to myself, "If I had to live and work here for 4-5 months, I'd kill myself first!"  Luckily, they house all of us "Pole'ies" together for quarantine purposes, and my roommate Dan, did't snore, was somewhat organized, and didn't come back to our room drunk off his butt!  

Now the medical clinic at MCM, (aka:  "McMurdo General Hospital") is equally, ancient.  Since I arrived in MCM on 17 Nov, and for the USAP Program, we operate on a 6 day workweek, Saturday, 18 Nov, I checked into the Medical Unit.  Immediately, I was put to work!  For that same day, the station was having its mandatory, seasonal MCI Drill.  MCI stands for Multiple Casualty Incident. Essentially, it's a situation where the total number of victims is more than the unit can handle.  Victims are initially sorted and triaged in the field, and then brought to the medical unit based on their triage category.  In most US cities, casualties are divided up between multiple hospitals.  Well, here in Antarctica, there's only one medical unit at each station - you're it!  Catagories are Red, Yellow, Green and Black.  Red is the most critical, and Black is expectant, or dead.  I was assigned to be the Red Doctor.  Day number 1 on continent for Dr. Disney, was spent saving lives.  Welcome!  The scenario was the following:  a scientist was out walking and fell, injuring himself.  Since everyone carries some sort of radio when out and about, he called in and requested help - he was injured and couldn't walk.  McMurdo has its own fire department - along with 2-3 paramedics. So the troops rallied and off they went.  Well, they soon became victims themselves, when their vehicle rolled over an embankment.  In total, 12 victims now!  

Triage took place in the field, and soon the radios were informing us that we were to expect 3 Reds, a handful of Yellows, and a few Green patients.  The problem: the resuscitation area in the clinic can only hold 2 patients at one time.  Now remember, this is Day 1 on continent for Jeff.  Not wanting to step on toes (Hey, New Kid - stop telling us what to do!), Jeff plowed carefully.  However, it soon became apparent to me, that as the ER Doc, I knew more than most everyone else.  Jeff assumed a leadership position and started dictating care.  Trauma was the name of the game, until a 42 year old woman walked into the Red Area grabbing her chest.  I thought, hum....triage hadn't notified us of another Red patient.  Who's this??  She proceeds to tell me that she's having crushing chest pain, is sweaty, nauseated, and feels like she's going to pass out.  Holy Jesus.  

I asked her, "Where were you in the vehicle?"  She answered, "What vehicle?"  "The vehicle that rolled over."  "I have no idea what you're talking about Doc.  I wasn't in a vehicle."  So long story short, this victim had been a "stealth" entry, a pretend patient that showed up on her own, and now had to be cared for as well!  She ended up having an active heart attack on her pretend EKG, and I proceeded to start treating her.  Now here in Antarctica, you just can't admit them to cardiology and let the heart specialists care for her.  Our nearest cardiologist is 2380 miles away in New Zealand!  I got her stabilized, watched for various abnormal heart rhythms, and kept working on our other patients.  Overall, it was a great team building experience - it's only us down here.  A "community" as we call ourselves.  We look out for each other.  And with over 75% of the population less than 45 years old, I feel old.  

Thanks to the American Air Force, my trip to the actual South Pole Station was on time, uneventful, and smooth.  Utilizing a specially designed and designated LC-130, our 3 hour journey to the "skiway" of the elevated station was actually enjoyable!  To get to the South Pole by air, you need to finish crossing the Ross Ice Shelf, and then fly over the 14,000-16,000 foot Trans-Antarctica Mountain Range.  Once on the other side of the mountains, you're now on the high plain of the continent.  The elevation ranges anywhere from 6000 ft to 10,000.  The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is at an actual elevation of 9,400 feet.  But when you factor in the barometric pressure, the physiologic altitude, the altitude your body interprets, can be anywhere from 9000 to 10,900!  And mark my words, when it's up around !0,900, sleeping is nearly impossible.  

The pictures you see above are the trans-antarctic range.  You're only seeing the tops of mountains that are 12000-16000 feet tall.  That's because ice and snow cover up the rest of the range.  The ice is nearly 2 miles thick!  And the last two pictures are taken from my bedroom window - the first is looking out towards the Geographic South Pole - across the ice plain.  The last picture is a closeup of the actual geographic South Pole itself.  How many can say they wake up every morning and are forced to look out at the actual South Pole??!!

Next time:  What did you do for Thanksgiving Jeff?