November 18, 2009
Three Months as Doctor in the Himalayas
Roger Moseley
Minutes of the Tenth Meeting of the 68th Year
President George Hanson called the 10th meeting of the 68th year to order at 10:15 AM. George Hanson led the invocation. Bill Haynes read minutes of the previous meeting. Guest and introducers were: Cindy Clark [Charles Clark], Jim Lawler [Bruno Walmsley}, Rosemary Walmsley {Bruno Walmsley], Dr. Dorothy Horst [Stan Tarr], Lonnie King [Henry King], Hella McVay [Scott McVay], and Jim Hastings [Bruce LaBar]. George Hanson promoted Ted Meth to Emeritus status.The president noted a change in the schedule for December 16th. A musical program consisting of a recorder and harpsichord will be presented. Appreciation was given to Jim Livingston and to the Minute takers. The next meeting will be December 2nd and the speaker will be Harold Shapiro whose topic will be “America’s Energy Future”. Attendance was 102.
Henry King introduced the speaker, Roger Moseley. The topic is Three Months as a Doctor in the Himalayas. Roger Moseley is a graduate of Princeton University [Class of 55], did his medical training at Harvard and served time in Vietnam where he worked in the Army Research Unit. He eventually practiced at Princeton Medical Center from 1969 to 1996.
Roger and his wife, Caroline, did the trek around Annapurna in Nepal 20 years ago which takes 21 days and goes over a pass 17,800 feet high where the oxygen content is only 50% compared to sea level. Ten years ago my wife, Cindy, and I convinced the Moseley’s to go to Nepal for three months to volunteer as a physician in the town of Manang located 11,500 feet above sea level. After a long flight to Katmandu two weeks were spent in Katmandu learning some of the Nepali language and getting medications and equipment ready for the five-day hike to Manang. Katmandu is a large city with many interesting old buildings, busy streets with polluted air and many temples that often have prominent Buddha’s eyes.
After a long bus ride, the group hiked with about 20 porters who carried the supplies, medications and gas containers used for cooking. At first the scenery was green with many rice fields, but after several days the area was dry and white-capped mountains were seen in the background. Many parts of the trail were steep and near the edge of a steep cliff. Eventually we arrived in a beautiful valley with several peaks of the Annapurna Mountains in the background.
Manang is a village of approximately 700 people and trekkers usually stayed there two nights to acclimatize to the altitude. We volunteered for the Himalayan Rescue Association [HRA], which was started about 20 years ago to educate trekkers about acute mountain sickness. The death rate has decreased over the years, as trekkers with the help of the lectures understand the dangers of altitude and the symptoms of acute mountain sickness. We had a full time cook as well as an interpreter as most of the Nepali patients did not speak English. There was a Health Post in the village but it was deserted as the person who was to be there was probably back in Katmandu. There was no physician or medical care within fours days walk from our clinic.
Each day either Roger or I would give a lecture about altitude in a cabbage patch next to the clinic as well as see patients. Our wives worked in the store to sell some medications, tee shirts with HRA logo and HRA patches. Our wives would often screen patients to determine if they needed to be seen by a physician. Many patients had anxiety on being so far away from civilization and great concern about being able to hike over the 17,800 foot Throng La pass.
We saw many various medical conditions, as slightly over half of the patients were Nepali who lived in the area. The other patients were trekkers from all over the world. Some of the medical problems seen consisted of arthritis, hypertension, acute mountain sickness, scabies, chest colds and skin infections. Burns in children were occasionally seen because the houses often consisted of one room with the cooking fire in the center. We also treated some very sick patients that required the use of a helicopter to fly the patient to Katmandu. Some of the sick patients had severe high altitude pulmonary edema or high altitude cerebral edema. These patients initially were put in an enclosed bag that had a pump to increase the oxygen level so the patient had much higher blood oxygen saturation. The bag definitely saved several lives. The arrival of the helicopter was a big event for the village and everyone would stand around to see the patient fly to Katmandu.
Every other day was free to take interesting day hikes. One of the most awe-inspiring trips was to Tilicho Lake, the highest lake in the world at 16,000 feet. Yaks were fascinating animals and although the Nepali’s are not allowed to kill animals occasionally a yak would “accidentally” fall off a steep ledge and provide meat for the local people
During our stay there was some snow, and as December was approaching we were looking forward to getting to warmer weather. Fortunately the plane arrived safely and we had a 30-minute flight to a lovely warm city, Pokhara, instead of a five-day hike back to a bus. We all felt the three months was a wonderful experience.
Respectfully submitted,
Charles G. Clark
Henry King introduced the speaker, Roger Moseley. The topic is Three Months as a Doctor in the Himalayas. Roger Moseley is a graduate of Princeton University [Class of 55], did his medical training at Harvard and served time in Vietnam where he worked in the Army Research Unit. He eventually practiced at Princeton Medical Center from 1969 to 1996.
Roger and his wife, Caroline, did the trek around Annapurna in Nepal 20 years ago which takes 21 days and goes over a pass 17,800 feet high where the oxygen content is only 50% compared to sea level. Ten years ago my wife, Cindy, and I convinced the Moseley’s to go to Nepal for three months to volunteer as a physician in the town of Manang located 11,500 feet above sea level. After a long flight to Katmandu two weeks were spent in Katmandu learning some of the Nepali language and getting medications and equipment ready for the five-day hike to Manang. Katmandu is a large city with many interesting old buildings, busy streets with polluted air and many temples that often have prominent Buddha’s eyes.
After a long bus ride, the group hiked with about 20 porters who carried the supplies, medications and gas containers used for cooking. At first the scenery was green with many rice fields, but after several days the area was dry and white-capped mountains were seen in the background. Many parts of the trail were steep and near the edge of a steep cliff. Eventually we arrived in a beautiful valley with several peaks of the Annapurna Mountains in the background.
Manang is a village of approximately 700 people and trekkers usually stayed there two nights to acclimatize to the altitude. We volunteered for the Himalayan Rescue Association [HRA], which was started about 20 years ago to educate trekkers about acute mountain sickness. The death rate has decreased over the years, as trekkers with the help of the lectures understand the dangers of altitude and the symptoms of acute mountain sickness. We had a full time cook as well as an interpreter as most of the Nepali patients did not speak English. There was a Health Post in the village but it was deserted as the person who was to be there was probably back in Katmandu. There was no physician or medical care within fours days walk from our clinic.
Each day either Roger or I would give a lecture about altitude in a cabbage patch next to the clinic as well as see patients. Our wives worked in the store to sell some medications, tee shirts with HRA logo and HRA patches. Our wives would often screen patients to determine if they needed to be seen by a physician. Many patients had anxiety on being so far away from civilization and great concern about being able to hike over the 17,800 foot Throng La pass.
We saw many various medical conditions, as slightly over half of the patients were Nepali who lived in the area. The other patients were trekkers from all over the world. Some of the medical problems seen consisted of arthritis, hypertension, acute mountain sickness, scabies, chest colds and skin infections. Burns in children were occasionally seen because the houses often consisted of one room with the cooking fire in the center. We also treated some very sick patients that required the use of a helicopter to fly the patient to Katmandu. Some of the sick patients had severe high altitude pulmonary edema or high altitude cerebral edema. These patients initially were put in an enclosed bag that had a pump to increase the oxygen level so the patient had much higher blood oxygen saturation. The bag definitely saved several lives. The arrival of the helicopter was a big event for the village and everyone would stand around to see the patient fly to Katmandu.
Every other day was free to take interesting day hikes. One of the most awe-inspiring trips was to Tilicho Lake, the highest lake in the world at 16,000 feet. Yaks were fascinating animals and although the Nepali’s are not allowed to kill animals occasionally a yak would “accidentally” fall off a steep ledge and provide meat for the local people
During our stay there was some snow, and as December was approaching we were looking forward to getting to warmer weather. Fortunately the plane arrived safely and we had a 30-minute flight to a lovely warm city, Pokhara, instead of a five-day hike back to a bus. We all felt the three months was a wonderful experience.
Respectfully submitted,
Charles G. Clark