7 May SummitClimb Dispatch: Medical Evac from EBC

(Note from Amy: This post mentions an evacuation for one of the expedition's members. It was not Peter or Eric.)

Visiting Base Camp Hospital - Our member felt a shin pain so me and 2 Sherpas hobbled them 20 min over to BC hospital (bch) for an exam. Its not easy to find bch, stumbling through 4 different Everest team's camps, tripping over their tent guys on an ill-defined trail. Finally we arrived at a plastic quonset hut, looking like 1/2 of a soup can lying on its side, with carpeting on the floor, equipment inside, and 3 of the nicest doctors (1 woman and 2 men) you ever met. They expertly examined our patient and determined them to have a blood clot in their leg. Upon which we called the insurance company and after several hours of phone arguing with multiple insco staff, callbacks, time spent on hold, they recommended a helicopter evac to Kathmandu for further analysis. Next step: find helipad. Located in a mountainous section of bc, we scrambled over some huge rocks until we found the pad.

We found the helipad but not good weather. It was foggy and snowing, the afternoon weather pattern. So we went inside a nearby cook tent to drink tea. We hoped the weather might clear. Suddenly someone announces an important meeting is going on and I should attend. I was led to a large boardroom tent, and inside were seated the government ministers in charge of Everest! Embarassed, I sat down. They were staring, so I awkwardly thanked them for looking after us. They continued to stare. I said it must be challenging with the stories circulating in the press. They stared more. Then I told how a BBC reporter had called me to say our member who was helivacked surely had covid, and when I replied they had a negative pcr test, the reporter basically hung up on me. Stony silence was thankfully interrupted by a shout: "Helis Coming!". I ran to the helipad to wish our member a safe flight.