Before a trip to Antarctica, polar explorers lose one part of their body
Polar explorers, before going to the Antarctic station, where they will spend a long extreme winter, undergo thorough training. Indeed, in the event of an unforeseen situation, help will not arrive soon, moreover, evacuation during the onset of cold weather is very difficult. And people in Antarctica, in fact, have to rely only on themselves.
A particularly great responsibility falls on the doctor, who is usually alone at the station. Therefore, unlike all the other members of the expedition, before going to the station, he has to lose one organ, which you may have already guessed.
Appendectomy, that is, the removal of the appendix, must have all doctors who go to Antarctica for the winter. This measure helps prevent inflammation of the appendix of the caecum, better known as appendicitis. The probability of occurrence of pathology persists throughout life and an attack can occur at any time, and even at a station in Antarctica. And in this case, it is necessary to provide urgent medical care and perform an operation to save the person.
If appendicitis occurs in one of the team members, medical assistance is provided by a doctor. But, if the doctor himself has a problem, then he will have to perform the operation on himself, as it was said above, evacuation from Antarctica takes a lot of time, and sometimes it is impossible at all. In this regard, the Antarctic stations are even more dangerous than the ISS space station, from where a person can be delivered to Earth within a few hours.
Such a “rule” with doctors before being sent to winter in Antarctica was introduced in almost all countries, after two cases in 1950 and 1961. The second story, which happened at the Novolazarevskaya Antarctic station with the doctor Leonid Rogozov, turned out to be very revealing. He had an attack of appendicitis, and at that time a strong snowstorm broke out on the street. There was no plane at the nearby stations, so there was nowhere to wait for help. The appendix burst and an infection spread, which developed into peritonitis. Rogozov had to undergo an operation, which lasted a long time, but fortunately for him it ended successfully.
After this incident, polar explorers began to undergo appendectomy before going to the Arctic station.
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