From Fire to Ice
From Fire to Ice
Xtreme Everest’s Investigator Dr Andre Vercueil is embarking on a new journey across the South Pole to further understand how the human body reacts to extremes of stress. With the expedition scheduled to start in December 2015, Andre will be joining Robert Small, who survived after being covered in 43% total body burns after a fire in 2010 in his ambitious expedition called “From Fire to Ice”. Rob is hoping to be the first (non-military) burns survivor to walk across the South Pole.
Dr Vercueil is a Consultant in intensive care medicine at Kings College Hospital who has a special interest in cold weather and altitude physiology. Andre has been part of both the 2007 and 2013 Xtreme Everest expeditions. In 2013 he led Sherpa Trek A up Everest. He will be assisting not only during the expedition, but before and after, performing tests all whilst monitoring Rob’s physiology. The team are hoping to see if there are any clues in Rob’s body’s response to the stress and cold, along with the sustained exercise that may help to explain how he survived.
Living under canvas and travelling on skis, the team will also be towing sledges of supplies 112 miles to the South Pole. They will face minus 50 degree wind chill and ascend to a polar plateau of almost 10,000 feet. The team's ultimate goal is to find important clues that can be translated back to the care given to intensive care patients suffering from severe burns.
To read more about the From Fire to Ice expedition, visit their website
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