Highlands medic swaps Everest for Raigmore Hospital
Raigmore Hospital’s latest recruit has swapped the mountains of Nepal for the mountains of the Highlands as she joins the Inverness hospital after spending eight weeks at Mount Everest’s base camp.
Dr Tash Burley, who started as a speciality doctor in anaesthetics earlier this month, is delighted that she is now working in the Inverness hospital.
But she really loved her time working in Nepal.
She said: "I hadn’t been to Everest before but had worked for a Himalayan rescue association in Pheriche in the autumn of 2011. You can’t work in the Everest camp unless you have worked in one of their other clinics.
"Working in those clinics essentially makes sure you can cope in an uncomfortable environment, a different diet, working in isolation and making decisions on your own. Most people there are anaesthetists or work in emergency medicine; there are a few GPs too."
Tash explained that the medical camp was set up by an emergency doctor from Montana called Luanne Freer who realised that those at base camp were not getting any medical care and over the years it has progressed.
She said: "Western climbers are charged $100, about £70, and although they do have to pay for their medication we will see them every day if they want us to. Not all climbing companies will sign up to it, some do have their own doctors but the majority of them do as they want that reassurance that it is okay for them to climb.
"About three quarters of the people you see are Sherpa and Nepalese people. I was there for eight weeks and saw about 350 patients during that time. For the locals it’s about 500 rupees, around £5, for a consultation and that could be their only medical care."
Tash continued: "I didn’t see that many unstable patients but there were still a number of challenges. At base camp you can’t just not get on with someone, you have to work it out so you can work together in that environment.
"It was also a challenge figuring out how to get someone to hospital. Base camp is over an hour by helicopter from Kathmandu and an afternoon at base camp is overcast with snow storms so someone getting sick at that time of day can change how you deal with them as in the morning you can get a helicopter fairly quickly."
She explained that while this year was a successful year as there were no earthquakes seven people did die which is above average.
Tash said: "The earthquake in Nepal last year did make me question my decision to go to base camp but Nepal is so resilient, they just get on with things and they have done so much building.
"There were avalanches every night when I was there and with one of them the powder cloud came right up to our tent but you can’t spend your whole time there being petrified, you’d just go home.
"The first few nights I was up at every sound but within a few weeks you know where the sound is coming from, you recognise a rockfall, you’re used to the cracks from the glacier you’re sleeping on. It becomes part of your day."
As much as she loved her experience at base camp, Tash is very much looking forward to being part of the team at NHS Highland.
Having lived in a town in New Zealand, which had a population of 300, Tash and her partner like living in a rural community. They have settled in Aviemore, close to the mountains which are a big draw for them.
She said: "I’m hoping that I’ll be able to share my experiences of working in a different environment. I have a diploma in mountain medicine and air and medical retrieval medicine and plans are in place to allow some transport training for some of the junior doctors at the hospital.
"I’m looking forward to being part of a team and to be able to contribute and be part of the community. I’m really looking forward to sowing seeds and making friends.
"I’ve learned a lot in the last few years and for me personally it’s great to be getting back into anaesthetics and sharing my experiences but also learning everything I can from everyone else. I’ll be among people who are experts in their field and I can learn from them. I’m very much looking forward to working here."
