April 21st- A visit to the Himalayan Rescue Association health clinic at EBC

Furtemba and MB at HRA

After still fighting a significant chest cold, Furtemba insisted Mary Beth make a trip to HRA. Furtemba is the sweetest and most caring person who is also an accomplished guide and climber; he is the lead person for Imagine Nepal’s base camp. He watched over me at the clinic and continually checks up on my status.

Dr Sachin and MB inside the medical tent

HRA is a Quonset hut not far from our camp. It is staffed by 3 doctors, two from Nepal; Dr. Sachin looked after MB. There was also a doctor from Vail Colorado. The clinic handles all the normal things like GI issues, and respiratory infections along with serious conditions like HAPE and HACE which require immediate evacuation to lower elevations. 

After reviewing her history and symptoms, it was determined that she had a respiratory infection and needed rest, fluids, antihistamines, and an inhaler. MB spent most of the day sleeping, listening to a book on tape and talking with fellow climbers. The doctors suggested that she would be feeling better in 5 or less days. 

Jess spent the morning doing a hike to Pumori high camp. By afternoon, a snow storm came through leaving basecamp with about six inches of the fresh white stuff. We all snuggled in our tents as it snowed into the night. Overnight Jess’s tent ended up on quite a slant because some of the ice under the tent had melted and broke off. Camp is built on the edge of the glacier although it appears as just rocks. That problem was addressed in the morning and she is back to sleeping on solid ground or something like it. 

4 thoughts on “April 21st- A visit to the Himalayan Rescue Association health clinic at EBC

  1. Glad to hear the respiratory infection wasn’t something more sinister and excited to hear the prognosis is good for your recovery MB.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *