KATHMANDU: The Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) Nepal has dispatched medical teams, including foreign doctors, to three locations in Solukhumbu and Manang districts to provide medical aid to domestic and international trekkers.
Established in 2030 BS, the HRA aims to minimize casualties in the Nepal Himalayas, especially considering the rising number of Nepali and foreign trekkers venturing into remote wilderness areas.
Govinda Basyal, Chief Executive Officer of HRA, informed that with the arrival of the spring season, three foreign doctors and two Nepali doctors have been stationed at Sagarmatha Base Camp, Pheriche in Solukhumbu, and Manang village in Manang district.
Temporary health centers have been set up at these locations.
“We have trained voluntary health workers to provide specialized services to both domestic and foreign tourists embarking on trekking and mountaineering expeditions,” shared Basyal.
Each team consists of a foreign doctor and two Nepali doctors at Sagarmatha Base Camp, and two foreign doctors at Pheriche in Solukhumbu and Manang village in Manang district, respectively.
The medical professionals deputed to these areas have received extensive training on dealing with high-altitude sickness and other medical issues prevalent in mountainous regions.
Notably, Australian physicians Dr. Patrick Julian Teems and Dr. Thomas Ross McFarlen are stationed at the Manang Health Post, while Dr. Kathreen Anna Grela of Australia and Dr. Brian Mitchell Streakland of America are deployed at the Pheriche Health Post.
Additionally, American Dr. Gregory Hugh Steeler, along with Nepali doctors Dr. Nishant Joshi and Dr. Shreyeshi Karki, are stationed at the Everest Base Camp.
HRA has been providing medical services to thousands of domestic and foreign mountaineers annually. Furthermore, during the Janai Purnima festival, medical camps are set up at Gosaikunda to provide healthcare services to trekkers.
Chairperson Dambar Prajuli emphasized that volunteer doctors deployed in these regions have undergone rigorous training to handle high-altitude sickness and other medical emergencies. Doctors approved by the Nepal Medical Council are exclusively selected for deployment by the Association.
Since 2003, HRA has been operating health camps at the Mt. Everest Base Camp, while health services have been provided at Pheriche since 1973, at Manang village since 1980, and at Gosainkunda since 1997.
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