Day 2 on the Station

Life at McMurdo

Things start early here on the station.  Breakfast is from 4:30 am to 7:30 am.  There is an omelet station, cereal, oatmeal, eggs, toast, a waffle maker and more.  Today I had eggs over medium with some bacon, green peppers and cheese.  Sounds like a good Wisconsin breakfast.

After breakfast we began our training. 

First up was Light Vehicle Driving Training.  

This training consisted of safety checks around the vehicle, maintenance, snow roads, the transition (this is the spot where the land meets the floating ice shelf), hand signals, the MicroBrake, VHF Radios, and of course speed limits.  There is no police to pull you over for speeding but speeding is a big no no.  Speeding ruins the roads and is bad for everyone including the environment.  The top speed in Light Vehicles is 25 MPH.  In town there are lots of people walking around so speed limits are 5 MPH or 15 MPH.  Getting around can be a little slow but this is ok.  The trainer reminds us that this is a harsh continent and we need to take it slow for health and safety.

Second Training - Fire Safety Training

Fire training wasn't too different here.  There were procedures on how to report an incident and how to evacuate a building.  All buildings have signs on how to leave the building as well as where to meet up for after the incident.  When we evacuate a building back home we just head to the outside and get away from the building.  Here the outside can be quite harsh during different times of the year.  So when an evacuation is necessary you head outside and into another designated building.

Training Number Three - Waste Management

Yup, training on how to handle your own trash.  At home in most places we have trash and recycle.  In San Francisco, where my brother lives, there is trash, recycle and compost.  Here it is even more complicated.
 
Landfill, Recycling, Metal, Wood, Sani-Waste, [at this point I couldn't write fast enough and the trainer moved on to the next slide :)  ]

We sort all of our own trash.  Over 300 containers of waste are shipped back to the U.S. each year and they are really proud of the fact the over 65% of that is recycled.

Medical Training

"Antarctica is a harsh continent"  the Doctor giving the training opens with this.  Most of the injuries that happen on the station are not what you would think.  Most are slips and falls.  The training here also talked about services available to us at McMurdo General Hospital, use of AED's, contraception available [apparently this is a happening place], dehydration, and Kidney Stones.  WHAT??  Kidney Stones - oh great!  This wasn't mentioned before.  Had to talk to the Doctor 1-on-1 after his presentation.  No worries - just have to push liquids.  2 full drinks with each meal, 2 water bottles per day, drink drink drink, pee pee pee.  This is a desert.

Environmental Awareness

Yes, still going, more training.  This one the focus is on being a steward to the environment, the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the Antarctic Conservation Act signed into U.S. law, spills (even a drop), and your issued Pee Bottle.  I even got a bumper sticker "There is no P in Antarctica"

Lunch

I needed the break.  My brain was going to mush with all the information.  Lunch was Shepard's Pie.  It was pretty tasty.

Afternoon training - 4 Hours of Antarctic Field Safety (AFS)

Training for the afternoon included Survival Bags (pictured below), Risk Management, Field Stoves, Cold injuries, Tents, and Helicopter procedures.

The field stoves were interesting.  There were two stoves set out at each table.  This was a hands-on operation.  I got to assemble the pump, prime it by hand to pressurize the cylinder of fuel, let a little fuel out of the valve into the basin, then close it off.  Too much fuel is a bad thing, not enough, bad thing too.  I got it right on the first try!  Remember at this point the fuel is off, valve closed.  The fuel in the basin burns off and heats the tube.  The tubing needs to be heated enough to cause capillary action and change the fuel from liquid to gaseous state.  Right as the flame is starting to die off you turn on the valve and Voila!! blue flame!  Orange flame bad, inefficient, scorches pots, not enough heat.  Blue flame good!  Now you may cook your "stuck in a bad storm dinner" in the bags near the bottom of the picture.  The Survival Bag includes meals for two people to survive three days stranded.

The training continued with graphic pictures of frostbite and other nasty cold weather conditions.  Ouch!

Later we got to setup tents in the open area outside the classroom.  This was a group effort.  They were nice tents for two.  The instructor also showed us how to properly dig an anchor in the snow for the tent stakes and how to use the ice drill for making a V into the ice for tent staking when on ice.

We wrapped up the training with a video on HELO (helicopter) procedures.  

Today was loads of information.  

Time for a much deserved dinner, Beef Burgundy.