Antarctic Medical Rescue Mission Poised for Break in Weather
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — An Australian medical team is poised to dash into Antarctica to help rescue an expeditioner from the United States’ McMurdo Research Station who is suffering a medical emergency.
The rescue team is looking for a break in the harsh Antarctic weather.
The Australian Antarctic Division was asked to assist in the rescue and is providing its A319 Airbus and a medical team to help, the Australian government division said in a statement.
The U.S.’s National Science Foundation (NSF) is coordinating the operation, but remaining mum on most of the details.
NSF spokeswoman Debbie Wing told ABC News that privacy issues prevent the foundation from revealing the patient’s name, gender, age or illness. Wing could only say that the patient is in “stable condition” and receiving treatment at the base.
Wing could not confirm that the patient is American, bus she is assuming that he or she is American.
The Australian team is positioned in Christchurch, New Zealand, and is waiting for weather and light conditions to allow them to make the dangerous trip to the bottom of the world.
Antarctica is in the midst of its six months of winter when it is dark 24 hours a day, making the flight very risky. Wing predicted that the rescue flight will not happen until the end of this week, weather conditions permitting.
A live webcam positioned at McMurdo showed that it was 30 degrees below zero with the wind chill today. McMurdo is about 2,415 miles south of Christchurch and about 850 miles north of the South Pole.
“All nations work together very cooperatively in these sorts of emergency situations in Antarctica to provide support when and as required,” Australian Antarctic Division Director Dr. Tony Fleming said in a statement.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio