AM Training
McMurdo is a place where they take training seriously. We started out this morning at 7:30 am with an introduction meeting to all of the heads of the logistics departments at McMurdo. The introductions were followed by Light Duty Vehicle Training, Fire Safety Training, Waste Management Training, and Medical Training. We made a visit to the IT department to set up our laptops on the station's network. We also managed to sneak in a Crary Lab Tour/Safety Training before lunch. I am learning quickly that you don't waste time while you are in Antarctica; I feel like I have barely had time to catch my breath since our arrival on Saturday.
PM Training
After lunch we attended the Antarctica Field Safety Training and Helicopter Training. The best part of field safety training was opening up survival bags to explore the contents. We were able to practice lighting camp stoves and setting up tents. For some of the people at the training these were new experiences.
Managing Risk
At the beginning of the field safety training our instructor, Evan Miller, polled the audience to find out how many seasons everyone had spent in Antarctica and how many times they had opened a survival bag in the field. Out of more than 100 total field seasons a survival bag had only been opened once. Careful planning, proper training, excellent equipment and experienced people combine to make major field emergencies rare but always a possibility. It is comforting to be in an environment where risks are identified and every attempt is made to mitigate those risks. When accidents do happen there are extremely competent individuals at McMurdo to respond. Despite the excellent response there are definitely limitations to what can be done while in Antarctica and the extreme environment can magnify the consequences and even the probability of certain accidents so it becomes everyone's responsibility to remain alert and cautious in everything we do while here.
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