Thule members aid in lifesaving ice rescue

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Lisa Meiman
  • 821st Air Base Group Public Affairs
THULE AIR BASE, Greenland (AFNS) --  A National Science Foundation employee fell off a snow ramp at the foundation's research camp at Summit Station March 6 in Greenland, and the only place for him to get treatment was the medical clinic at Thule Air Base nearly 700 miles away.

The employee suffered two broken vertebrae in his spine, but he was able to get himself back to the facility. 

The extent of his injuries was not determined until the next day, as he was at a remote ice cap with a winter storm bearing down, without transportation and almost 250 miles away from accessable land, let alone an emergency room. 

The National Science Foundation staff scrambled to find transportation to the area's largest, most high-tech hospital, racing to beat the storm Mother Nature was predicted to unleash at Thule AB sometime that night.

A plane from Denmark, retrofitted with skis and wheels so the aircraft could land on the snow-ice runway at Summit Station, flew the injured man three hours to Thule AB at about 11:30 p.m. Less than two hours after the plane landed and less than an hour after the patient settled into the hospital, the base experienced one of its worst winter storms of the season with sustained winds of more than 50 mph and gusts 100 mph.

Once at the clinic, the Danish contractor and American military medical staff began a battery of tests, preparing him for another medical evacuation to the United States for additional treatment.

"There is no separation between contract and military medical care at Thule Air Base," said Capt. Ed Jackowski, the clinic administrator. "There is a seamless integration and cooperation of medical care between the two entities, resulting in the best care possible."

The Air Force clinic at Thule AB is unusual, since it regularly opens its doors to a much wider audience than just base residents.

"Clinic personnel will provide medical care to anyone in Greenland if they can make it to the clinic. This includes receiving medevac patients from other villages to receive care," Captain Jackowski said.

Along with the clinic, numerous organizations at Thule AB synched together to perform this rescue operation including the airfield, weather department, fire department and logistics flight.

"Since the rescue occurred after the airfield's normal hours, the airfield needed to be opened, inspected and cleared of snow prior to the aircraft's arrival," said Capt. Mike Balzotti, the airfield operations manager.

"The weather shop also published a terminal aerodrome forecast, alerting aircrews of the potentially dangerous weather conditions predicted to happen at Thule," Captain Balzotti added.

Summit Station is located at the peak of the Greenland ice cap in almost the middle of the country. The station, home to the Greenland Environmental Observatory, researches air and snow interactions to improve interpretation of ice cores drilled there and around the world. 

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