Local Nurse In Xtreme Challenge For Medical Research
9 April 2007
|
A clinical nurse specialist from Tooting is preparing for a
modern day adventure when she sets off on Saturday April 28th to
climb Mount Everest as part of a pioneering medical research
project: Caudwell Xtreme Everest.
Lisa Cheshire works as a clinical nurse specialist in The London
Clinic Liver Centre. She is one of 200 volunteers from the general
public who have been selected from across the UK to take part in
the three-month expedition (March – June 2007) organised by The
Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment Medicine (CASE)
at University College London.
The project aims to place a research team on the summit of
Everest who will use the extreme environment as a means of
investigating critical illness and human physiology. As a
volunteer, Lisa will be playing a vital role by allowing the
expedition researchers to carry out specific tests on her
throughout the ‘trek’ to study the human response to low oxygen
levels (hypoxia).
Dr Denny Levett, who works in the Critical Care Unit at The
London Clinic and is one of the key researchers on the Xtreme
Everest expedition explains:
|
|
| |
|
“Low oxygen levels (hypoxia) are an almost universal problem in
critically ill patients on breathing machines. However, it is
difficult
to study the effects of low oxygen levels on their own in a
hospital setting, such as The London Clinic, as patients have so
many other health problems occurring at the same time. Studying
healthy individuals with low oxygen levels on the expedition will
be invaluable in helping to increase our understanding of the
effects of hypoxia and enable us to use this knowledge when caring
for critically ill children and adults affected by it back at
home.”
For three weeks (April 28th – May 20th 2007) Lisa will be
travelling in a group of around 16 volunteers including three other
colleagues from The London Clinic. Staff at the independent
hospital were offered the opportunity to apply for one of three
‘golden’ places to take part in the expedition. The chosen team
will have plenty of time to ‘bond’ on the expedition spending much
of their time trekking together, often for 4 to 5 hours a day,
camping in tea houses en route and a three-night stay at Everest
Base Camp in tents. Lisa recently had a taste of the adventure when
she took part in a pre-trek training weekend in Snowdonia including
talks and advice on equipment and acclimatisation, a presentation
on the trek itself, a training walk and plenty of time to relax and
get to know her fellow trekkers.
Looking forward to the expedition, Lisa comments:
“This expedition presents such a unique opportunity for me to
combine my career in nursing with a love of the outdoors – so I
jumped at the chance to be part of the project! I am looking
forward to the whole experience, from working closely as part of a
team, to meeting people from a different culture in a beautiful
setting. Ultimately, if by participating as a healthy volunteer in
a research programme it might enable scientists and clinicians to
improve care for future critically ill patients – then I feel
honoured to be part of the initiative.”
The London Clinic, one of the UK’s most established independent
hospitals, is dedicated to providing progressive technology and
medical excellence for all its patients. The research project holds
particular significance for The London Clinic as it is home to one
of the capital’s busiest, fully equipped Critical Care Units
(CCUs). As part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, The London
Clinic is thrilled to be supporting the Caudwell Xtreme Everest
project – both by sponsoring the medical research programme and
funding four Clinic staff members as expedition volunteers.