Our clinic has been in operation for just about 2 weeks now and our experience so far is keeping pace with past years. Our doctors are getting acclimatized to the altitude as well as clinic ops, the wealth of AMAZING food being served by our chefs, the hubbub of social activity that is base camp, etc.
So far weβve seen 41 patients, 32 of whom are Nepali. This reflects the fact that Nepali climbers and staff support arrive well before foreign climbers β they do the really hard work of chopping out tent platforms from rock and ice, erecting tents, creating a cozy base camp home, setting ladders in the icefall and carrying loads to do all of the same up higher on the mountain. Weβve seen 5 cases of altitude related illness, but as usual the bulk of visits are due to respiratory infections and high altitude cough. We are meeting a steady stream of foreign climbers as they arrive to set up their base camp homes as well. Itβs truly an international community as evidenced by all the flags flying amongst the prayer flags. Tashi delek!
