Shake hands with danger

Press, 25 September 1987, Page 19

Shake hands with danger

'*! had a painting done to show tyou the greatest Antarctic hazard,” Garth Varcoe tells his audience. He holds up a mirror. The 200 members of New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme are themselves reflected in his "painting.” They get the message — a message that is repeated over and over during the week-long training course held in Tekapo each August.

By)

“Antarctica is a dangerous place. Only those people-, who ' know what they are doing,\and . who stick to the rules, are reallysafe.” A series of slides showing a foot blackened by frostbite (and eventually amputated) provides 1 sobering viewing for the many first-timers to the Ice. A film, “Shake Hands with Danger,” narrated by “Threefinger Joe,” emphasises the need

YVONNE MULDER

to observe every safety precaution possible when repairing machinery. . ■ “Shake hands with danger. You’ll save yourself a minute, but you may damm well lose it all,” croons Three-finger Joe as i operators ignore safety proce- . dures to save time. \ Garth Varcoe manages to get words of warning into every lecture he gives. He is the building and services officer for

Photographs by.

JANE HEALEY

the D.S.I.R. Antarctic Division. His responsibilities seem to cover about everything to do with buildings, machinery, fire fighting and communications. With hi? bushy greying beard and sometimes gruff manner, Garth is the archetypal frontiersman, except ipb one could accuse him of being the strong, silent type. ' A;-

In fact, this fear’s trainees at Tekapo learned about a new unit

of measurement involving Garth — the “varcoe,” used to measure . Antarctic bulldust. • “Except, of course, the. basic unit would have to be a micro- - varcoe, as that’s about as much as anybody can stand,” said Trevor Hatherton, who coined s the phrase. Mind you, Trevor would give Garth a good run for his money in the bulldust stakes. -

No place for the SQueamish

Antarctica seems to breed these “real characters” of men, and there is a tot of laughter and good-natured mud-slinging in between the deadly serious instructions on fiow to survive. Never leave Scott Base without recording your departure and destination in the book. Always stick to the flagged routes. Last year two Americans died when they fell into a crevasse after leaving the marked trail to make a short cut.

No New Zealanders have died in the 30-year history of the Antarctic Research Programme. D.S.I.R. staff attribute much of this to the intensive training they give all programme members.

First aid lectures and practical exercises take up many hours during the week, with injuries and afflictions associated with extreme cold naturally getting special attention. Paul Hamer, a New Zealand Army medic, explains why everybody needs a buddy in Antarctic. He or she is somebody who will look at your face and ears for the first signs of frostbite, and will provide a warm belly or armpit for you to thaw your frozen limbs. Antarctica is no place for the prudish or squeamish.

Do not attempt to rewarm the frozen area if there is any possibility of it refreezing — gangrene invariably results. Do not rub the frozen part before, during or after rewarming. The list of instructions is detailed. The realities of the harsh environment sink in.

Every field party is issued with a medical kit. It includes a scalpel, forceps and emergency sutures and needles. The hospital at the United States station at McMurdo can be a long way off for field parties especially when flying conditions are bad.

Wounds and cuts to the skin take a lot longer to heal in Antarctic conditions. The risk of infection for even minor burns should be considered as high for several weeks, says the first aid manual.

Trainees slide, make hedgehogs

Every precaution must be taken to avoid injury and illness. Trainees are taught how to get in and out of helicopters safely, and without their possessions being scattered by the rotor wash. The lack of snow around the Balmoral Military Camp, where the training programme is held, makes glacier travel exercises somewhat painful. Trainees slide along the gravel and try to dig in with ice picks as the person at the other end of the rope pretends to fall into a crevasse.

In other years, the camp has been covered by snow. This year, helicopters are needed to take trainees up nearby mountains to practice making hedgehogs (snow houses) and pitching tents in the snow.

But nobody is complaining about the warm and dry weather prevalent during the training programme. Conditions will no doubt be less pleasant during the 2 >/ 2 -day survival training programme all personnel go through upon arrival in Antarctica. Another aspect of safety is radio communications. Every party leaving Scott Base has to

carry a radio, which must be field tested by the party before they leave. Garth warns trainees against "sticky-beaking,” using up radio batteries simply *o listen to the general gossip on ihe airwaves. The rules and precautions necessary for safety stem neverending, but extremely sensible in the circumstances.

, As the operations manual says: “Antarctica is an extremely hazardous environment, with a harsh and suddenly changeable weather pattern and inhospitable and dangerous terrain and ice areas.”

So why do so many people want to travel and work there? “Because there are no sandflies” one Otago scientist is reputed to have said after years of field trips to Fiordland.

This is no doubt true, but there are many other lifeforms in the soil, meltpools, and seas of Antarctica. The 35 scientific projects to be undertaken this sum-

mer are very briefly outlined to all trainees in one afternoon session.

Dr Tom Clarkson, of the New Zealand Meteorological Service, says that the Antarctic atmosphere is the place to go to see what our air would have been like if we hadn’t fouled it up.

Probably the most well-known of the scientific projects is the international study of the protective ozone layer, which seems to have developed a “hole” over the Ice. Models had predicted an ozone depletion at the poles, says Dr Clarkson, but 30 to 50 per cent less was a shock.

How do penguins tell the time? You may ask why they would need to know the time, but it is very important that they breed at the best time for survival. With the 24-hour darkness in winter and continuous daylight in summer, “normal” physiological patterns are not evident. Blood samples will be taken from selected penguins under varying conditions of light and temperature.

In other studies some of the Adelie penguins will have radio

transmitters attached to their backs to trace their feeding patterns at sea; others will have their sounds recorded and played back to them to study their methods of recognition. It will no doubt be a confusing time for them. Modern communications technology will also be used to send information back to Scott Base from the remote video camera looking down the Mount Erebus volcanic crater. The laboratory

at Scott Base is part of a worldwide seismic sounding network!

The trainees in Tekapo learn a lot about Antarctica, the studies being undertaken there, and the history of human involvement in the world’s coldest continent

But the theme that manages to make its way into every demonstration, talk, discussion and exercise is “how to stay safe.”! As Garth Varcoe says, “Make sure you come home in a seat, not a box.” -