Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment
Rothera research station is a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) base on the Antarctic Peninsula that is operational year round. During the 8-month winter the 20 people living there are physically isolated from any other humans. I was the resident doctor during the 2005 season. I did not leave Antarctic...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:10758 2023-05-15T13:45:10+02:00 Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment Coldron, Joanna Mary 2009 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/10758/ http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(09)70422-3/fulltext unknown Elsevier Coldron, Joanna Mary. 2009 Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment. Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 20 (4). 383-387. https://doi.org/10.1580/1080-6032-020.004.0383 <https://doi.org/10.1580/1080-6032-020.004.0383> Medicine Health Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2009 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1580/1080-6032-020.004.0383 2023-02-04T19:26:54Z Rothera research station is a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) base on the Antarctic Peninsula that is operational year round. During the 8-month winter the 20 people living there are physically isolated from any other humans. I was the resident doctor during the 2005 season. I did not leave Antarctica for 17 months of my employment with the British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit (BASMU), and during the winter period I was the sole medical practitioner on station. My medical work load was light in comparison to any other job I have done. All personnel deployed to a UK Antarctic base were fit and well, and the wintering team in particular had been screened for any significant physical and mental illness. On average during the winter period I would perform 40 consultations per month. Because I was only serving a population of 20, the relatively large number of consultations reflected the harsh environment in which we lived and worked. The perceived major health risks of BAS Antarctic employment were the operational tasks of year round SCUBA diving and summer light aircraft movements and environmental cold injuries. Predeparture training and on-site equipment (eg, a recompression chamber) equipped me to deal with these issues. However, most of my work load was composed of minor injuries sustained during work or leisure pursuits in the difficult environment, psychological issues, dental work, gynecology, and genitourinary medicine. During the summer months there were 2 doctors, one who had just arrived and one who had finished a winter season and would return home at the end of summer. One doctor was always on base, as diving and aircraft operations continue throughout the 24-hour daylight. In winter the solo doctor took part, as all base members did, in 2 winter training trips, each a week long, which made them inaccessible to base other than through a nightly prearranged radio call. During this time remote assistance and advice was provided to the station by BASMU based in Plymouth, UK. This group of specialist ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica British Antarctic Survey Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Rothera ENVELOPE(-68.130,-68.130,-67.568,-67.568) Rothera Research Station ENVELOPE(-68.129,-68.129,-67.566,-67.566) The Antarctic Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 20 4 383 387 |
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Open Polar |
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Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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unknown |
topic |
Medicine Health |
spellingShingle |
Medicine Health Coldron, Joanna Mary Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment |
topic_facet |
Medicine Health |
description |
Rothera research station is a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) base on the Antarctic Peninsula that is operational year round. During the 8-month winter the 20 people living there are physically isolated from any other humans. I was the resident doctor during the 2005 season. I did not leave Antarctica for 17 months of my employment with the British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit (BASMU), and during the winter period I was the sole medical practitioner on station. My medical work load was light in comparison to any other job I have done. All personnel deployed to a UK Antarctic base were fit and well, and the wintering team in particular had been screened for any significant physical and mental illness. On average during the winter period I would perform 40 consultations per month. Because I was only serving a population of 20, the relatively large number of consultations reflected the harsh environment in which we lived and worked. The perceived major health risks of BAS Antarctic employment were the operational tasks of year round SCUBA diving and summer light aircraft movements and environmental cold injuries. Predeparture training and on-site equipment (eg, a recompression chamber) equipped me to deal with these issues. However, most of my work load was composed of minor injuries sustained during work or leisure pursuits in the difficult environment, psychological issues, dental work, gynecology, and genitourinary medicine. During the summer months there were 2 doctors, one who had just arrived and one who had finished a winter season and would return home at the end of summer. One doctor was always on base, as diving and aircraft operations continue throughout the 24-hour daylight. In winter the solo doctor took part, as all base members did, in 2 winter training trips, each a week long, which made them inaccessible to base other than through a nightly prearranged radio call. During this time remote assistance and advice was provided to the station by BASMU based in Plymouth, UK. This group of specialist ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Coldron, Joanna Mary |
author_facet |
Coldron, Joanna Mary |
author_sort |
Coldron, Joanna Mary |
title |
Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment |
title_short |
Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment |
title_full |
Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment |
title_fullStr |
Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment |
title_sort |
antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/10758/ http://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(09)70422-3/fulltext |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.130,-68.130,-67.568,-67.568) ENVELOPE(-68.129,-68.129,-67.566,-67.566) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Rothera Rothera Research Station The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Rothera Rothera Research Station The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica British Antarctic Survey |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica British Antarctic Survey |
op_relation |
Coldron, Joanna Mary. 2009 Antarctic medicine - the challenges of being a doctor in an isolated and confined environment. Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 20 (4). 383-387. https://doi.org/10.1580/1080-6032-020.004.0383 <https://doi.org/10.1580/1080-6032-020.004.0383> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1580/1080-6032-020.004.0383 |
container_title |
Wilderness & Environmental Medicine |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
383 |
op_container_end_page |
387 |
_version_ |
1766214272366411776 |