Sunday 5 February 2006
Major Incident Scenario
Close encounters
After our recent encounter with an ice shelf carving event I've been looking at the MODIS website which shows near real-time satellite photos covering most of the globe. This image shows a huge iceberg passing close to the Brunt Ice Shelf on 16th January. From the image I estimate that it is at least 15km long by 5km wide and must weigh in excess of 20 billion tonnes. Our visit to Windy Bay was just a few days after this picture was taken so it may well have been damage from this iceberg that we saw that day.
A large iceberg skims past the edge of the Brunt Ice Shelf.
Mast work
After the successful raising of the SHARE Antennas, the hard working summer mast erectors have moved on to raise the twin 45 metre masts that form the AIS antenna. We've been told that they are the tallest man-made structure in the Antarctic, although I'm not sure if that still holds true today. Anyway they are rather tall so it was quite a task to add another 10 foot section to the top of each mast. This picture shows Bryn and Craig hoisting the new section into position. I was helping out as ground crew this time around, although I had a chance to climb one of these masts a couple of years ago. It's hard work but you get quite a view of the base from way up there!
Adding another section to the AIS masts. The temporary pole holds a pulley that is used to haul the section into position.
Group Photo
This month it was exactly 50 years since the landing party arrived to build the first Halley base on the Brunt Ice Shelf. To commemorate the occasion we all got together for a summer group photo which will be displayed at the 50th anniversary reunion in October this year. By happy coincidence the Adelie penguin that has been molting at the steps of the Piggott platform came over to see what all the commotion was about. Just as everyone was lined up he waddled over and stood in line for the shot - what a show off!
The 2005/6 summer team in front of the Laws Platform. Inset: The Adelie penguin getting in on the act.
Major Incident Scenario
Yesterday most of the base was involved in a major incident scenario, designed to test our response to a serious accident involving multiple casualties. Down here you can't just call 999 if things go wrong so everyone must be trained and know what to do. John and Vicky have been very busy over the last few weeks improving the procedures and planning the details of the event. The scenario took the form of a plane crash at the skiway, leading to serious injuries to the pilot and three passengers. Here are some pictures from the event (mostly taken by Bryn).
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| Left: The fire alarm was sounded and a call went out over the radio to get everyone to muster at the Laws platform. Right: John using the tag board to account for everyone. | |
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| Left: The scene of the incident. The unfortunate victims were crushed by fuel drums. Right: Martin seemed remarkably happy considering he had a bit of bone sticking out his arm. | |
Vicky the doctor treating one of the victims.
Lowering the pilot out of the cockpit of the plane.
A makeshift hospital was set up in the summer accommodation building, manned by the advanced first aiders who did their best to keep the patients alive until the doctor arrived.
Hugh was diagnosed with internal bleeding, so had to be moved to the surgery on the Laws platform. Yes there is a person in there somewhere!
Preparing Hugh for surgery. Lucky for him the scenario ended before he went under the knife.
Overall the whole scenario worked rather well, with all the victims either recovering or in surgery within two hours of the initial radio call. That might sound like quite a long time, but given the difficulties of Antarctic logistics we thought we did quite well. Although there are inevitably a few lessons to be learnt it's nice to know that there are procedures in place in case the worst did happen down here.
Posted by simon at 5:40 PM | Feedback (6)