Safety - Annapurna Base Camp

[keanu]

Could anyone please advice me about the safety & health issues (medical centres) plus any mean of an Emergency Medical Evacuation process like in Annapurna Base Camp Trek?

A brief reply will be much appreciated.

Keanu

[Per]

There is the large Shining Light Hospital on the way out of Pokhara, it is operated by christian missionaries and situated in a brahman village Hyengsa, in order to minimize cultural contamination. Brahmans are least likely to convert.

Other than that health services are minimal, poorly equipped, and far from the standards you expect. In an emergency your best bet is that some foreign trekker on the trail happens to be a doctor. You might be able to be evacuated by helicopter if you get some kind of helicopter insurance and deposit enough funds in advance, a necessary condition is that you are able to contact the helicopter people form ABC something I would not take for granted. Things are very different from in the west. In most of the Alps they will pick people that are in serious medical trouble regardless of who pays and even if they are not paid. In Nepal this is not so.

If you anticipate medical problems that you cannot handle yourself you simply should not go.

[yakshaver]

There is another big private medical hospital in Pokhara, quite good.

Nothing much on the ABC.

Is there a chronic medical condition we are talking about? Else, one of the reasons one goes on such treks is to "get away from it all", basically.

In terms of Medical Emergency Evacuation, it is all in your travel insurance. Make sure it covers that. The helicopter will fly upto 5000 mentres altitude, which is more than enough, as ABC itself is at 4200m altitude.

From this point of you you'll be fine.

Just make sure you have enough money (about 2200 USD) on your credit card, or have this money in cash with you. The emergency helicopter will not fly unless the money is in the kitty... Seriously, they will let you die. There have been to many tourist who've left witout paying.
You pay, and then you get a receipt and claim the money back when you are in your home country, from your travel insurance.

[keanu]

thanks for info yakshaver, is there any telephone service available on the route to ask help for rescue team? if not, than what is the alternative to send such messages??

nah! none of us have any chronic condition, its just for a sake of IN CASE!!, if not then we may have to opt for trekking package, which we are not that interested on, as we prefer to do ABC on our own.

[thesilvertops]

There used to be a telephone at Gandruk and maybe also at Chhomrong but the maoists cut all the telephone wires as part of their people's "liberation" war. I believe the house with the telephone in Ghandruk was "padlocked" by the maoists presumably because the owner resisted intimidation or allowed the army/police to use it. It may be that, as part of the peace process, the phones are now working.

That said, it might be that you are worrying too much about the risk of accident/illness. You ought to think more about enjoying the trek, the scenery, the mountains, the people, otherwise you might never leave home.

[Per]

is there any telephone service available on the route to ask help for rescue team? if not, than what is the alternative to send such messages??


There might be a "wire less" set in Gandrung or Ladrung. With the advent of maoism things have been sliding backwards for a decade, so there is not much and what was there has often been destroyed.

The alternative is a "runner". Unless all of you collapse at the same time one of you can run for help. It would be quite safe to leave the sick person in the care of the locals. They tend to be wonderful people. An alternative would be to ask a local to run for help. Locals get from ABC to the road head in a day. Pay half in advance, half when he returns with thelp


nah! none of us have any chronic condition, its just for a sake of IN CASE!!, if not then we may have to opt for trekking package, which we are not that interested on, as we prefer to do ABC on our own.

I would not worry. We have trekked a lot in Nepal and in Ladakh and we never had a medical problem we could not handle on our own. It might added that ABC is really close to the modern world, in a sense it is part of it, were it not for the trekkers locals would hardly ever go up there except possibly for a few shepherds. Thanks to the trekkers there is a string of lodges all the way to ABC. The higher are seasonal and quite simple.

It is a stunningly beautiful trek.

http://www.lowdin.nu/Treks/Modikhola/Film0363.jpg

More photos on http://www.lowdin.nu/Treks/Modikhola/Modikhola83.html

[yakshaver]

Phone lines are now working in all areas in the Himalya, including Ghandruk and Comrong.

As Per says, there are also satelite phones available at some lodges, including ABC, I believe, costing something like 5 USD per minute. Pretty expensive, but in an emergency.

I want to reiterate what others above may have mentined... The ABC, and most of the "classical" Himalayan treks in Nepal are not wilderness experiences. If something happens, you can get help. Someone will run to the next village to make that important phone call for you.
Or someone will provide a donkey to carry you down from the montains.
I have even seen people strapped in a plastic chair, carried by a porter.
You will be looked after. Just take rupees with you.


Per, nice pics mate!

[keanu]

Thanks a lot guys!! we'll definetly do annapurna base camp which is regarded as one of the most beautiful trekking route in the world. its just the little thought of being extra caution.
i can't wait for it now, cheers guys!