Yay, Saturday is pizza night!
Neil (British Antarctic Survey) enjoying a sled ride!
Criag (Montana) on hole #5 on the polar golf course (this was the hole I made!).
Chris the medic teeing off with Bonnie (GA Tech) waiting her turn behind him.
The crew at the beginning of the game!
After Jin (GA Tech) made us try some of her dried squid yesterday, we decided she should try some of our Gold Fish!
The scene of the accident with Craig (Montana) acting as a victim in a trauma drill for the Summit. It looked so real!
The team did a great job...there in under 4 minutes!
They put him in a sleeping bag, tarp, on a sled attached to an electric snow mobile and off to the warm green house.
Me trying to patch up Nemo at satellite camp! Let's hope I'm as handy as I like to think I am!
Well, we found "Nemo" our tethersonde balloon today on the floor. We've been having very high winds from the North the past couple of days so we haven't been able to fly him for a few days. I met Craig at the ballon shed this morning at 7:30am, and we found a half way deflated balloon! This was very discouraging because today there were light winds from the east-northeast. We attempted to patch it up with some balloon tape, but after our first flight a lot of Helium had already seeped out. Out in the field we deflated Nemo and brought him into the satellite camp building to get him warm. Next, we removed the tape and added more using a different strategy. The hole is around the opening where the Helium is pumped in so it is very difficult to patch. We also used silicon sealant around the separation between the balloon and the Helium gas nozzle. It takes 24 hours to dry, so we will attempt to fly Nemo tomorrow! I am forecasting weaker winds turning from the north to the east-northeast from tonight through tomorrow.
This morning Chris, the medic, had a trauma drill for the staff. Craig, a member of the U of H crew, was chosen. Chris used bloody make-up on Craig's face, and it looked very real! The scene of the accident: Craig was walking to get the ballon out of the balloon barn and a piece of ice fell of the roof and smacked him in the head. The funny thing is, I didn't tell Craig I was going to meet him at the balloon barn. So when I showed up he was working on the balloon with Chris and I was so freaked out about the ballon being torn that I didn't even notice his face! After a few minutes I realized he had what I thought was real blood all over his face and almost freaked out again! About ten minutes later, Chris walky-talkied the call to Kathy, the Summit director about Craig's "accident". The team was at the scene within four minutes.
I learned a lot of new things as I was watching. A lot of them are common sense, but are guidelines that you could easily forget in a trauma situation. For example, when you first arrive at the scene, check to make sure that you are not in any danger (in this drill, make sure no ice will fall on you). Next, go through the ABCs with the victim: airway, breathing, circulation. Also, check for a pulse in the following order: wrist (means a pulse of at least 80), groin (means a pulse of at least 70), and carotid artery (means a pulse of at least 60). So pretty much if the victim does't have a pulse in the carotid artery...NOT GOOD! Most important in polar situations...get victim to a warm area!
All of our instruments are running pretty well (knock on wood!). Well, except for our little Nemo balloon! Hopefully the silicon sealant will work (fingers crossed).
I slept very well last night. Each night seems to get better, which is great! The winds were A LOT calmer last night so I didn't feel like my tent was going to take off into the great and frozen unknown!
Today for lunch we had chicken sandwiches, all types of relish including pickles (yummy!), salad, potato leak soup, some peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. For dinner everyone was welcome to help the cook make the pizza of his or her choice. It was a lot of fun and of course I had to make one of my own! It was so good it was gone before the cook could even put it on the bar...well maybe not, but that's because it was one of the last ones baked! The greatest pizza ever included: carmelized onions, green bell pepper, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, and tons and tons of cheese! There were a lot of really tasty pizzas including an artichoke, mushroom, and pesto pizza and some crazy ones like the cashews, jalapenos, and some other vegetable I cannot remember.
After dinner six of us decided to play Polar Golf so we each made a hole outside of the Big House. Let's just say that you don't have to be the most skilled player to win! I will post some pics when I get a chance!
Tomorrow we are going to fly Nemo (the tethered balloon). We really really really really hope the patchwork will not tear!
Smell-oh-Meter: 4.5...not fresh by any means...third day wearing these long-johns...thinking I might shower tomorrow
Take Care!
4 comments:
I hope nemo fills better today. It sounds like the silicon sealant will work.
I am really jealous of all of the delicious food you are having out there everything sound really tasty. If you can try to bring back one of those cookies.
Love you,
Rob
i'm with rob on the food. maybe you can just tie some to a weather balloon and accidentally let it go when the winds are blowing towards raleigh.
and just a clarification about your pulses (just in case you're ever in a disaster situation). you can feel all of your pulses no matter what your heart rate is. for example, lance armstrong has a resting heart rate in the 40s or 50s, and i could certainly feel his pulse in his wrist, and in his groin if i dare put my hands down there. i think what you were talking about was the systolic blood pressure. (in a blood pressure of 120/80, the 120 is the systolic). what happens when our blood pressure drops is our body shunts blood to important places (like the brain). so as pressure drops, you'll lose it in the wrist, then probably to your lower extremities too. When the pressure drops below 50, you can't feel the carotid pulse and you're no longer perfusing your brain. THAT'S SUPER BAD. (not to be confused with the movie super bad, which is actually good).
anyway, didn't want you to freak out if you were hanging out in the big house, relaxing, and realized that your own carotid pulse is only 48 or something. you're not dying.
thanks for the clarification dave, i knew you would respond. haha
about the food, don't think i can get it there on the balloon, but i'll do what i can.
rob, i'll bring back some cookies, but unfortunately they probably wont' make it all the way to houston...you know how i love my cookies!
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