Scott's Antarctic First Aid

Phew!  Managed to pass first aid course today.  It made me think how Scott and his men would have had to deal with all of their injuries.  You see those images of their hands completely swollen and blistered by frost bite. I can’t imagine how painful that must have been.  On the return journey from the South Pole, Captain Oates suffered terrible frost bite in his feet.  He must have been in agony every single step.  I believe they had to cut open his sleeping back to help get his feet inside at night.

Snow blindness would also have been an issue and there wasn’t much they could do about it.  They didn’t have the protective sunglasses that we have today.  I think they were more like thick square frames that tried to block out light from the side.  Other things, that we don’t even consider today, such as scurvy, would have also affected the men.  Captain Scott took great care to test food rations.  He tried to devise the best combination of food for his men and account for the extra number of calories that they would need man-hauling in the cold.  Of course, at the time they didn’t realise that they would need even more calories to also account for walking at altitude across the Polar plateau.  It would seem that luck was not on their side.

Today we benefit from so much more scientific knowledge and the benefits of many years of trial and error.  However, much of this knowledge has been won as a direct result of early expeditions, such as Scott's.  This period of exploration was termed 'heroic' in recognition of the suffering that these early polar explorers endured in order to improve our understanding of polar food, equipment, travel and of course ploar science.

First Aid

This week I’ve been attending a First Aid at Work course.  I used to do a lot of first aid when I was a teenager and it’s been fun getting back into it.  Some of it has been quite familiar, some of it new.  Working in polar science, I’m lucky enough to do quite a lot of field work and that throws up countless opportunities for ‘things to go wrong’, requiring a lengthy risk assessment. 

This week I’ve been approaching the first aid course with thoughts of a trip to Antarctica - I hope!  Out on the ice with a small team an ambulance won’t arrive within minutes to rescue an injured party.  The team will have to make the best of any situation.  However, what’s amazed me about the course is how much you can do with just common sense, a clear head and the kit you have around you.  I hope I don’t have to put what I’ve learnt to the test, but I think at least I’ll have some skills that could definitely make a difference on an expedition if first aid was required.

The only time I’ve ever had any first aid ‘issues’ (fingers crossed) was when I was with a group trekking in Chile.  Our mountain leader, scouting ahead, looking for the best route forward, was swept some distance downstream by a river.  It took him ages to cross back to us and we had to treat him for hypothermia and a strained finger.  We all pulled together as a team though, setting up a fire, sleeping bag and bivi bag for him.  I remember we were all quite tense, but thankfully within 24 hours he was back to his normal self.  Luckily in Antarctica we shouldn’t be faced by any giant rivers, well…just giant rivers of ice! 

International Scott Centenary Expedition

In December 2010 I entered a competition to win a place on the International Scott Centenary Expedition (ISCE).  The ISCE is a registered charity working to commemorate the Centenary of Captain Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition (1910-13) to reach the South Pole.  I am currently working with the ISCE to support their vision of a centenary, marked as Scott and the Polar Party would have wanted: with polar science; with exploration; and with education for the public good. 

The ISCE has established a national education programme and international media outreach campaign to engage and educate the community at large about polar studies and the role Captain Scott’s expedition played in advancing polar science.  A key part of this programme will include an expedition to Antarctica in 2011-12, to visit the final resting place of Scott and his Polar Party, and hold a memorial service with relatives from the five families of the Terra Nova Expedition. 

I am now one of the final four candidates to be shortlisted for a place on this expedition.  I want to be part of a small team that will walk, man-hauling all our equipment and supplies, just as Scott did, to his last camp.  To be selected would be an amazing achievement and the best way in which I can pay tribute to the man and expedition that inspired me to where I am today.

 The charity needs your support to commemorate the legacy of Captain Scott’s contribution to polar exploration and science, the heroic endeavours of the Polar Party and the inspiration that provides.  Please, make a donation today!

Inspired by Scott

I first found out about Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition (1910-13) to Antarctica on a school trip to visit the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge.  I can only have been about seven years old, but I still remember peering into glass cabinets full of artefacts from the expedition and the final letters of Captain Robert Falcon Scott.  I was amazed by everything I saw, the feats of endurance that the men had to overcome and the vast icy continent that was Antarctica. 

This experience has stayed with me and as an adult, my curiosity for Scott and all things polar has continued to grow.  I feel I can empathise with the draw that Scott must have felt towards the Polar Regions. So, it is perhaps no small coincidence that this has led me to a career in polar science.

I want to use this blog to talk about all things related to Scott, Polar Exploration (both historic and modern) and Polar Science.  I also tweet @KatPolar.  I'd love to hear your coments!