Well hello there!
Sorry its taken so long to blog again, Its been a very busy week. We've just finished AS101, the Arctic Safety course. Its meant being up at 6.15 every morning and hence correspondingly early nights, so I'm sure you'll appreciate why blogging was low on my list of priorities. To make up for it, heres a nice picture of the Aurora!
Anyway, the safety course. Monday was perhaps the least exciting day, with an introductory talk from the Director of UNIS, a talk about dressing appropriately for the arctic from Fred, a talk from someone from the Governer of Svalbard's office and a first aid theory lesson (it changes every time!!)
It was on tuesday that the safety course really started. In the morning my group (me, a German girl and 7 Norwegians!) had Avalanche rescue training, which taught us how to spot weather conditions which lead to an increased risk of avalanches and terrain which is more avalanche prone. After some theory it was off to the area between UNIS and the Radisson Polar Hotel to learn how to use Avalanche rescue beacons (wave them manically in the air until you get a signal!), avalanche search poles and how to properly dig out a buried victims. After lunch it was a Navigation, GPS and communications lesson with Stephan Stephan. we planned a route from and back to UNIS on a computer program, followed it using global positioning system handsets, and made radio calls and satellite phone calls back to Stephan.
Wednesday was also a good day. In the morning my group went to the rifle range with Fred. We learnt the appropriate use of the rifles, rifle safety and how to use a rifle if you have to scare away or shoot a Polat Bear. We shot in the prone position, knealling and standing. I found it really difficult because rifles are designed to sit in the right shoulder, but I struggle to close my left eye and keep the right open, so I improvised a blindfold for my left eye using my trappers hat, which drastically improved the accuracy of my shooting.
And so it was on to First Aid practical training. we spent some time improvising leg splints and neck supports with whatever we had available, like Ski Poles, rucksacks, roll mats and the upright part of a shovel. we also spent time discussing the symptoms and treatment of cold related injuries like Hypothermia and Frost bites. But by far the biggest part was learning CPR (30:2 now). we were given the obligatory dummies and spent 3 minutes each doing CPR, followed by doing CPR when there is more than one first aider, the person doing the chest compression changing every couple of minutes for 10 minutes. I think CPR for a prolonged time would be a good way to get fit!
Kristin and Eirin CPRing
Eivind and Sindre CPRing (sorry if the names are spelt wrong guys!)
Thursday morning, from my point of view, was perhaps a waste of time. first we were read the health and safety information which is available on the UNIS website anyway, then we had a tour around UNIS with Ruben, one of the student advisors. this took about 2 hours of the 4 hour slot, so we had a 2.5 hour lunch break. The afternoon was much better though. It was Sea Ice rescue. We were taught how to travel on sea ice and and what to do in the event that we ended up in the water. We also had the chance to jump in a hole the staff had cut in the ice and pull ourselves out using a pair of specially designed ice spikes we have hanging around our necks everytime we go on UNIS excursions iver sea ice. We also had a bit of help from the guy holding a safety rope around our wastes!
Kristin and Ingvild perparing for a dip
On Friday we learnt how to set up the two different typespf tent UNIS has, as well as setting up a Polar Bear trip wire around them and using primus stoves. This is only really for use in an emergency such as the weather closing in, or a member of the party needing first aid. The last lesson was Glacier safety, which again started with how to move safely on a glacier and finished with what to do if something goes wrong. We practiced setting up simple rope and pulley systems to lower people into Crevasses to rescue a person that has fallen into one.
And so we get to the culmination of the safety week, the day on Longyearbreen Glacier. last year the temperature was minus 30 something. this year it was about 1 degree! we all met outside Nybyen at 8 o'clock and walked up Longyearbreen, where the instructors had set up 3 different areas. In area one we faced two different Avalanche scenarios, and had good practice at using emergency beacons and Avalanche probes and excellent practice at digging!
In area 2 we had a hypothetical accident involving 4 people on 2 snow mobiles. 4 people played victims with various injuries, some set up emergency tents, trip wires and stoves, and some, myself included, were first aiders. My patient was concious and breathing normally, but was cold and had a broken upper arm. We got her off the snow onto a sleeping bag and immobilised the arm using bandages and the wooden pole of a shovel. we then walked her to one of the tents, and She and I got in. Then, one of the other groups of first aiders brought me a patient with back injuries. So I had my favourite type of patients; conscious ones! at the debrief afterwards they seem quite happy with the treatment they had been given!
Area 3 was the crevasse rescue we had practiced the day before. We twice set up the rope and pulley system (apparently my group had more glacier and mountain climbing experience than all the other groups put together) and lower down and dragged up Eivind, then myself. The third time we lowered down Ingvild with a sling to rescue a patient (I think it was Eivind) so we had a go at pulling up a first aider and a patient together.
With all the practical training complete, it was back to UNIS for the written exam at the end of the safety course, which was followed by soft drinks and pizza supplied by the logistics department. then, at about 5 o'clock it was time to let our hair down after a hard week with a few beers! (maybe a few too many beers!) We had a gethering in the UNIS cantina, which Brendan from last year (who is up here doing some PhD work) and Margrete from last year (working up here) came along to aswell. It was a great night spent trying a encourage a drunken Norwegian friend to do the moose dansce he had told us all about! I got to bed around 1 o'clock and slept in late, a well deserved rest!
see you next time!
Ash
