5/04/06

Doug's rescue of fellow climber

During the morning of May 1, I was descending from Camp II to base camp. The weather was beautiful and my spirits were high as I enjoyed the beauty all around me. My fellow climbers were Will Cross and Lhakpa Sherpa. About 9:30 AM, I came across a climber from an Italian team, leaning against a block of ice. One of the stricken climber’s teammates was with him. We were in the Khumbu Icefall in the area known as the “popcorn field”. This was still a significant distance from base camp.

I asked the stricken climber’s teammate if something was wrong - and if I could be of assistance. His English was far better than my Italian. He said that he had not witnessed the accident, but his teammate was saying he had been hit in the head. At that point, the stricken climber was semi conscious/ coherent.  He was unable to count his fingers, wretched and vomited. The climber did not know his name, and showed other symptoms of serious head trauma. The Italian team did not have a radio to contact base camp to obtain assistance or commence a rescue.

We sat the stricken climber down and I contacted our base camp manager and team physician, Larry Rigsby, who was also in base camp. Larry offered radio instruction and made contact with Base Camp doctors, Luanne Freer and Eric Johnson to make them aware of the situation.  During this time, the rescue Italian team began to arrive on sight as did Sherpas from other teams. The Sherpa rescue team included Team No Limits Sherpa, Lhakpa. Dr. Freer and Johnson coached us (the Italian team and me thru a triage evaluation). Following a medical assessment of the stricken climber, it became evident that the climber needed immediate medical attention for what appeared to be a serious head injury. The climber could not walk so we improvised by making a stretcher from a ladder and a foam sleeping pad. The ladder happened to be in the area and was being used to bridge a crevasse.

We secured the climber to the litter and lowered/ carried him thru the Icefall. In the meantime, Base Camp physicians dispatched a team of Sherpas with a “sked” and emergency an emergency bottle of oxygen. A sked is a lightweight and maneuverable form of stretcher made of flexible plastic. You wrap and bind the victim in the sked so that it virtually looks like a burrito. Dr. Freer and the Sherpas climbed thru the Icefall to meet us in route. We engaged in the dicey and careful lowering of the victim, including a couple of crevasse crossings, where we had to slide the victim on his ladder - over ladders standing above deep crevasses.

We met the Sherpas with the sked and oxygen and transferred the victim to the proper litter and began the administration of oxygen. Dr. Freer arrived shortly later and concluded that the victim required immediate evacuation via helicopter. We all, (mainly the Sherpas), lowered and carried the victim thru the Icefall - and with the assistance from other teams, onto the helipad. Unfortunately, worsening weather prevented evacuation that evening so we all carried the victim back to the base medical tent, where he received treatment for the duration of the night.

Yesterday morning his condition had improved and he was able to walk to the helipad with assistance. All in all, an exciting day on Everest! One point of conformation is that proper communication is critical. While we climb, we maintain contact with our base camp, Roger, using hand held radios. Our radios are exceptionally powerful and have a range of 12 miles. Thus far, they have worked great and have been very useful in following and coordinating the team’s actions - and in this case, responding to emergencies.

We are now all in base camp resting. I would like to take a moment to recognize all Team No Limits affiliated climbers: Mr. Kim, John Lee, Juli Smith, and Matt Tredway. In addition, I would like to give my friend and fellow teammate, Larry Rigsby, my best wishes as he heads homeward. We will all miss his soft, southern charm, sound advice - and will hate to see him go.

Early on Thursday morning, we will commence another acclimatization climb. We will climb from base camp, straight to Camp II.  We will rest in Camp II for a day and then climb to Camp III on the Lhotse Face (23,500). We will stay at Camp III for a night. We will then descend to Camp II for a night - and then back to base camp for rest. At that point, our acclimatization should be complete. If all goes well, we will be ready for a summit push when weather and logistics allow. Logistics may be our biggest challenge.

Currently it appears that we will have clearing weather thru the middle of May. Due to our shortage of Sherpas, we will have difficult time moving all of our supplies into Camps III and IV in time for such an early summit push. It is a difficult issue to resolve, however, it is a fact that we must face.

Continue to send thoughts and prayers our way. We are in good health and spirits and look forward to tackling the upper slopes of Everest.