I wrote a blog 2 days ago that doesn´t seem to have been posted... <just said that only one person had stopped out at CP 18 of the long day and that I had to give up my goal of an "IV free" event and put an IV in for one athlete at that same CP... He had been vomitting and dry heaving at the previous CP, so there was no way he could continue.  Luckily, despite his dehydration, he still had decent veins and I got in on the first stick!  Unfortunately, I later found out that he needed another IV 2 CPs later, but he did finish the race!

The "rest day" afeter the long day was the best ever in the medical tent... I was shocked that we opened at noon and pretty much had everyone taken care of by 3:30 without ever having a huge line out of the tent door.  I think people had visited us enough early and learned a few tricks fo they were able to care for their own feet for the most part.  Of course there were a few infrcted toes that needed drainage and antibiotics, and a few people who had effectively blistered the entire ball of their feet- then needed to have the loose skin removed and the raw under-skin dressed for one final 10 march on the last day.  Eceryone that completed the long day went on to finish the race, despite the wounds they sustained along the way.

All in all it was a great race, yet again, and the new med team members (everyone but me) all rocked the med tent with their fantastic care- like they had been born to do it.  Of course I missed the med team veterans Brian, Grant, Jeff, Lori, Carolyn and Carly, but this team held up your illustrious reputations.

Desert beuty tip from 2 days ago (it was a good one so I dont want anyone to miss out in case that blog never makes it to the site ): Given a choice, dunking your head into a running stream is perferable to a standing pond for washing 5 days worth of dirt and sandstorm out of your hair.  Just make sure there isnt an old lady and her flock of sheep upstream around the bend.

Brain will be penning the med blog for the next race in Gobi and I should be back in full effect for Sahara and Last Desert!

And so it begins…

 

Dr. Brandee checking in at camp after closing down the first 2 checkpoints of the long day. At CP 17 (the 1^st of the day) there were several people with nausea, one dry heaving, and several blisters needing attention, but all in all, the group looked well.  No one dropped out there and Dr Suzie said “Still no IV’s.”  Of course that jinxed it because as I continued on to help at the next CP, the one person with dry heaves still couldn’t keep anything down.  He had been dry heaving the day before as well, so my goal of having an IV-free race was gone with the wind as I set up a mini MASH site and started an IV.  Luckily he still had decent veins so I got it in on the first stick!!  He perked up quite well after a liter and a half of fluid and was ready to set off just as the sweeps were arriving.

 

The night is still young and no one has arrived at camp yet, so I thought I’d fire off this early blog before I head back out to help out at CP 20 (where the wind didn’t stop all day and night last year and I spent the evening there in the car with my favorite patient struggling through severe abdominal pain) and CP 21- the overnight.  Drs Jess and Nicolas are still out and keeping everyone going through the CP’s in the canyon.  Dr. June was at CP 18 with me and she’ll stay at camp waiting for the finishers.  I’ll send another update when I get the chance…  and FYI… I am desperately missing Dr Brian (our official RTP med director) and Drs.Grant, Jeff and Emma from the previous teams.  Sure wish Nurse Carolyn was here to help on the overnight CP, but the team here is rocking it, so we’ll be just fine.-

 

Desert Beauty Tip: Given a choice, dunking your head in a running stream is superior to a standing pond of water for rinsing out 5 days worth of dirt.  Just make sure there is not an old woman with a small herd of sheep upstream. Dr Bandee signing off for now.

 

Hi, this is Dr. June checking in. The Atacama race has been one exciting adventure. There are endless surprises, particularly with the weather….as I sit in the cyber tent typing this blog with a nice gray cloud coming towards us with fast winds once again. This is the 3^rd day in a row with a gray cloud coming towards the campsite. Yesterday was the craziest with the sandstorm, high winds and rain (in the driest place on earth)!! (read Dr. Jessicas blog from yesterday for details). I have had so much fun meeting both athletes and volunteers from around the world who come from all walks of life. The racers are so amazing to compete in this race that takes a big toll on your body, especially your feet! I have become a pro at popping blisters, pretty foot taping and relieving pressure in toenails. We have been working hard in the medical tent under Dr Brandee’s direction to help out all the athletes. What a wonderful life experience this has been. Just want to give a shot out to my family, friends, Cleo and especially my hubby . Miss you and love you! – Dr. June

The competitors had an epic day yesterday, running/trekking 48 miles continuously. I staffed the second to last check point, CP 20 and took care of some interesting medical situations. It was the most stressful day for the competitors and they were pushed to their limits. There were the usual blisters to care for, abrasions, toe nail blisters to drain. In addition, there were a greater number of athletes with heat exhaustion, exertional exhaustion, dehydration, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, low blood sugar. A couple of IVs were started, which is always a challenge in the middle of the desert when the wind is blowing from every direction and trying to stay sterile with sand blasting in your face. The hardest part of being on the medical staff is to have to disqualify an athlete for medical reasons. Luckily, we did not have to do that yesterday, although it came very close. At 11pm, I had 6 people lying across my checkpoint floor - delirious, barely able to sit up. It amazing what some food, water, and a 20 minute power nap can do. These athletes were really determined to finish. At midnight, when it was cold, dark, and windy the final 6 competitiors left the second to last check point to compete the final 18km of the race. It is amazing what the body can be pushed to do, how it can recover, but most surprisingly, how we really forget the severe pain. The same athletes that were cursing the course, swearing they would never do another race like this again have awoken this morning planning their next racing the planets race! But who can blame them, it’s quite an accomplishment to trek across a desert carrying all your own supplies and having the opportunity to see the most beautiful scenery.

4/2/08

      Well, Racing the Planets had quite an epic day at campsite. Most of us experienced our first sand storm. Soon after the first 3 runners arrived at campsite, with Rob James back in the lead, we saw black clouds sweeping towards us.  Five minutes later we saw a small tornado circling towards us, quickly followed by what felt like 80 miles an hour winds hitting our campsite.  Dr. June and myself tried holding the medical tent down.  As I looked out, I saw 5 of our staked down tents being blown into the nearby lake 50 feet away.  One of our athletes held on to the tent and was blown up in the air 10 feet high before falling to the ground.  As I went to the tents trying to tell athletes to lay down on the ground, another tent flew up hitting one of our American athletes in the head, who thankfully was not seriously hurt.  As I ran from tent to tent,  I felt like I was being pummeled with gusts of sand.  Today was a good start to my training for my disaster medicine fellowship next year. 

     The athletes have been truly amazing. Throughout the storm we had a dozen more athletes finishing into the storm.  We are still down about 10 tents as our drivers and staff are working on repairing them.  We may find ourselves even closer with the racers tonight if we can not get them repaired. But the spirit of the racers is still as positive as ever.  I have been impressed with the athleticism, sportsmanship, determination of all these racers.  I feel very lucky to be a part of Racing the Planets and having the opportunity to see the most amazing valleys, sand dunes, salt lakes, sunsets, sunrises to name a few.

-Dr. Jessica

Short and sweet today because I have to get back to my sleeping tent for some much needed “Gobi Tea” after a long evening in the med tent. Today brought us infected toes, blisters filled with dirt (which of course needed to be cut open, irrigated and bandaged).  But even with all that, only one person stated he would not start tomorrow due to blisters.  We had a mini sand storm today, but the med tent kept treating people right on through it- it was actually kind of cool to drill a toenail with a sand storm blowing outside.  Don’t want to jinx myself, so I won’t mention how many IV’s we have or haven’t started, nor how many times I have or have not gotten my truck stuck in the sand…. Did I mention that I get to drive the truck myself??  Thanks to my wonderful dad for making me learn to drive a manual transmission car when I was 16 years old because none of our trucks have automatic transmission.

 

Promise to write more tomorrow before we set off on the long day.  Thanks again for the emails folks!!

 

Desert beauty tip: use your buff or a shirt to cover your head when a sandstorm is approaching and you’ll keep 90 % of the gritty sand off your scalp and out of your hair, otherwise, your head is like a dust bin in a matter of seconds.

Battery died mid sentence on my last blog and I have no idea what I was saying… but I can say that we have already had more business today for the docs at the CP’s.  After the long walk in the water for today’s first leg, several people needed help caring for the barrage of new blisters caused by sloshing around in wet athletic shoes.  The heat was pretty significant in the mid day and I witnessed more than a few people vomit a stomache full of water… and then feel great!!  The med team and CP volunteers continue to remind everyone to drink, but frequent sips work better than trying to chug down an entire 1.6 liter bottle at the checkpoint. 

 

We nag and nag and nag about sunblock and still it looked like some of the athletes were fresh off the rotisserie with bright red sunburns on the backs of their necks and calves.    It is an unofficial beach day as we are camping next to the salt lake this evening.  Soaking weary feet in the cool salt water will certainly help.  A few people have gone in neck deep to cool off, but once they come out, their clothes and skin are covered in sharp salt crystals after the water evaporates.  They’ll get plenty of salt exposure tomorrow in the dreaded salt flats, so I can’t imagine wanting to be bothered with it tonight in your clothes.

 

No IV’s yet, but the day and race are still young. 

 

Back by popular demand- Dessert Beauty Tips- Today’s tip: It’s very easy to get a bloody nose from the extra dry air/environment here.  You can’t avoid blowing your nose because there is sooooo much dust/dirt blowing around.  But you can combat the bloody nose putting a little lip balm, sunblock, or lotion inside your nose in the morning and night.

 

Thanks to everyone who’s sent the med team emails so far- we love reading them.  Unfortunately we can’t read the responses to our blog posts, but keep the good will coming.  Everyone on the med team is doing great, June was at the base of the sand dunes today and got to help everyone dump the sand from their shoes and check their feet.  She’s doing great Gerold- no worries.  Happy Birthday Casey- sorry I missed the party with all the girls, but I’m sure the Karaoke was great without me dancing in the background.  Sweets, thanks for the note, olive juice 2.

OK- so I should know better than to praise the weather before actually arriving at camp.  After loving the sun and warmth of the town of San Pedro , we arrived at the 1^st camp last night to an utter windstorm that blew down our tent and bent the metal poles that were holding it up.  Welcome back to the desert, Dr. Brandee…

 

Otherwise, I spent today at the high pass- the highest altitude of the whole race, 3430 meters elevation between the start and CP 1.  The athletes were fairly winded, but all in very good spirits once I informed them that they had reached they highest point of the race.  “There’s more oxygen just down the way…”  Everyone made it over the pass within 2 hours.  Stay tuned for a longer blog tomorrow.

Dr. Brandee checking in for my 8th, yes, 8th RacingThePlanet event.  Our medical team consists of  myself, plus three (and a half) other doctors who will be taking care of all the blisters, dehyration, altitude sickness and sun/salt burns that the Atacama can throw our way.   Suzie is an Emergency Med doctor in Washington DC... June is a Rehab Medicine/Sports med doctor in California... and Nicolas is an Orthopaedic surgeon in Santiago.  Jessica is our "half" because though she is and Emergency Med doc in California, she is officially a course/camp/check point volunteer, but we'll be stealing her away to the medical tent when things get busy. 

At the start of this, my third Atacama Crossing, I'm thrilled to be here in early autumn, with blue sky and warm evenings,  far far preferable to me that the windy days and freezing nights of our previous Atacama races (which were held during the winter).  The warmth is sure to cause a bit more of an issue with dehydration and sunburn, but we'll be constantly reminding everyone....or "nagging" as the athletes will come to believe... to be ever vigilant in their crusades against the ill effects of the environment.

Off to start the medical check in now- saying hello to all the athletes and reviewing their medical forms.  Also recruiting a few more volunteer subjects for a medical research study looking at the effect of an anti-inflammatory muscle cream on preventing muscle and joint pain. We'll let you know how that goes as the long miles start to take their toll.  Welcome to what I'm certain will be another fantastic race in the desert.