I would like to thank everyone who helped
make Project PAC Nepal 2009 a success! This Project develop out of my trekking experience in 2008 when our group encountered and cared for a young Indian man dying of HAPE. Our group carried a Gamov bag, and the use of it was crucial to the survival of this person. Because of generous donations from so many people, I was able to buy 5 portable hyperbaric chambers to give to villages in the Khumbu and Gokyo Valleys in Nepal. We delivered 3 of these bags in April and May, 2009, to these villages. These bags are available to all trekkers, Sherpas, and porters who are in need of emergent treatment for high altitude illness when trekking to Everest Base Camp.
Placing the patient in a portable hypobaric altitude chamber before descent can
be arranged prevents worsening of high altitude illnesses and can improve symptoms. Three villages in the Khumbu Valley were identified as critical areas for the placement of these bags. In conjunction with the
Himalayan Rescue Association USA and
Sherpa Shangrila Treks, the areas were chosen due to their remote location from other medical facilities. In each village, a tea house, owned and operated by a local family, was chosen as the place where the PAC (portable altitude chamber) bag would live.
During this time I spent in Nepal, I was guiding and teaching on 2 wilderness medicine adventure trips to Everest Base Camp. The organization
sponsoring these events is
Wilderness Medicine and Travel, a continuing medical education organization geared towards wilderness medicine. The participants on each trip assisted in teaching the locals how to use the bag. The reception was amazing as the local people gathered to learn how they can aid in taking care of their own people and trekkers who become afflicted with life-threatening
high altitude illnesses.
After the teaching was completed, we shared in a brief ceremony as we presented the PAC bag to the tea house owner.
The following morning before our group left to continue our journey, the family at the tea house, in the Tibetan tradition, presented each member of our group with a kata. A kata
is an offering scarf presented as a greeting or symbol of devotion.
When given as a farewell, the Kata symbolizes the wish for a safe journey and return. We all wore our scarves the whole day as we trekked towards our next destination.
The PAC bags we delivered in the Khumbu are located in these villages:
Debouche
Ama Dablam Garden Lodge Restaurant
Elevation: 12252 ft, 3734 meters
Dingboche
Peak 38 Lodge
Elevation: 14469 ft, 4410 meters
Gorak Shep
Buddha Lodge
Elevation: 16962 ft, 5170 meters
Shangrila-treks will be delivering the remaining two bags during the fall climbing season. They will be located in the Sunshine Lodge in Thame and in Gokyo. If anyone is interested in joining a trek to teach the locals about how to use a portable altitude chamber, please contact Jiban Ghimire at www.shangrilatrek.com.
To read the full story of the rescue of Mohan in 2008, which was the inspiration for this Project, click here.
