Icebreaker sails to Antarctica to rescue sick Australian expedition member
An urgent evacuation operation has been launched to assist an Australian with a “developing medical condition” at the remote Casey research station in Antarctica.
Australia’s icebreaking vessel RSV Nuyina left Hobart last week and is sailing thousands of kilometres to collect the expedition member, whose medical condition has not been specified but requires specialist treatment and care.
Medical facilities are limited at Australia’s Antarctic stations, which often only have one or two trained doctors. Around 15-20 people live at Casey over winter, when minimal scientific work is conducted due to harsh conditions and darkness.
In a statement, the Australian Antarctic Division said the wellbeing of its people was its highest priority. Few details about the medical evacuation were provided given the ongoing evacuation operation.
“The expeditioner requires specialist medical assessment and care in Australia for a developing medical condition,” a spokesperson said.
“The ship was prepared over the previous few weeks, including loading helicopters for use in the evacuation.
“The expeditioner’s family is being kept fully informed of the situation. All other personnel on stations are accounted for and safe.”
Flights to the Wilkins Aerodrome near Casey station, which has an ice runway, are often not possible during the harsh winter months.
In this case, significant work was required to prepare the runway for any possible landing and authorities determined it would be 3-4 weeks faster to sail to Casey.
All Australians sent to Antarctica must undergo lengthy medical examinations before they can be deployed.
Medical evacuations from Antarctica can be very complicated and often rely on international assistance. It is not known whether any assistance from other countries has been requested or provided in the current emergency.
In December 2020, Australia relied on assistance from the United States and China to evacuate an expeditioner.
A helicopter from Chinese icebreaker MV Xue Long 2 was launched to collect a team of expeditioners from Australia’s Davis station, who were then flown 40km inland to build a skiway to help transfer the patient.
A United States ski-equipped Basler aircraft then flew 2,200km from the US station McMurdo to Wilkins Aerodrome where it picked up an Australian doctor.
That plane then flew a 2,800 kilometre round trip to Davis to collect and treat the patient before an Australian Airbus A319 flew from Hobart to Casey.
Earlier in 2020, Australia’s Airbus A319 was sent to McMurdo to evacuate an unwell American expeditioner.
According to the AAD, that evacuation was undertaken by the division’s medical team, supported by aeromedical and retrieval specialists from the Royal Hobart Hospital and Ambulance Tasmania through a partnership with the Centre for Antarctic, Remote and Maritime Medicine.
RSV Nuyina has been out of action for many months due to ongoing repairs in Singapore, with previous expeditions to Antarctica relying on chartered vessels during summer months. Some scientific research was cancelled as a result.
The ship was forced to refuel at Burnie on Tasmania’s north-west coast before travelling to Antarctica, as Hobart’s port authority had denied it permission to pass underneath the Tasman Bridge to access a refuelling depot on the other side.