Off-Limits Medicine sometimes consists of accompanying adventurers to the farthest reaches of the planet, such as during the XP Antarctik expedition.

The accompaniment begins several months before departure: preparing the medication list according to the risk assessment, providing advanced training (sutures, medication management, clinical evaluation, etc.), drawing up a medical emergency and communication plan, and conducting simulations to test the systems.

In the case of the XP Antarctik expedition, this preparation probably made a big difference when one of the participants suddenly found himself unwell in the middle of the Antarctic Peninsula more than 4 days away from the extraction point.

One of the team members, François Mailhot, tells us: “After 15 days of the expedition, I got sick. We don’t really know what it was, probably a slow incubating virus. I was extremely tired. For four days, I slept 22 hours out of 24, unable to eat or drink. All this in the middle of a -45 C storm, I was also affected psychologically. Fortunately we had the support of SIRIUSMEDx.

As soon as my symptoms began, we were in contact with Dr. Marc Gosselin who followed up daily by satellite phone. He initiated treatments to avoid complications and allow me to recover and return safely. Our team was fortunately trained to help me with first responder training and pre-trip refresher courses. Do I need to tell you how immensely grateful my team and I are to SIRIUSMEDx for supporting us through this difficult time?”

XP Antarctik is the first autonomous team to have reached the Forbidden Plateau region and to have completed the ascent of Mount Walker, in addition to opening the way to two peaks never before trodden by other humans.

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