Chronic intermittent exposure to high altitude: the view from Mauna Kea

Author:

Forster, P.J.G.

Title:

Chronic intermittent exposure to high altitude: the view from Mauna Kea

Periodical:

International Society for Mountain Medicine Newsletter

Year:

2000

Volume:

10

Pages:

3-5

Subject:

Pulmonary edema High altitude physiology Acute mountain sickness (AMS) Altitude mountain sickness (AMS)

Summary:

Following a case of high altitude pulmonary edema on Mauna Kea and an episode when workers were stranded at the summit by a snowstorm, concern was expressed by both the trade unions representing the work force and the management of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh regarding the safety and efficiency of operating a facility at the summit of the mountain. In 1980 the Science and Engineering Council of the United Kingdom commissioned a two-year study at the telescope. The study was supervised by the late Professor Donald Heath, author of Man at High Altitude and High-Altitude Medicine and Pathology. This paper relates to that study and the experience of chronic intermittent exposure to hypoxia by workers on Mauna Kea. A description of the study is included in this article.

Label:

Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS)

Collection:

Periodicals