The name "Will Steger" has been synonymous with polar expeditions in the past two decades. In fact, Steger joins Amelia Earhart, Robert Peary, Ronald Amundsen and Jacques Cousteau in receiving the National Geographic Society's John Oliver La Gorce Medal for "accomplishments in geographic exploration, in the sciences, and for public service to advance international understanding."
Steger's latest trip will be to Baffin Island and is called the 2007 Global Warming 101 Expedition. As usual, it's a dangerous trip, and he'll need the best and brightest when it comes to emergency services.
For the third time the world-famous explorer will utilize the Cloquet Fire Department and local emergency room physician Dr. Skip Hofstrand of Saginaw as his lifeline while he and his crew are literally in the middle of nowhere in the North Pole. Hofstrand is a close friend of Steger's, and according to Cloquet Fire Investigator Gordy Meagher, working with Steger, Hofstrand and Steger's on-hand medical provider, Abby Fenton, has been a pleasure.
"We feel really fortunate Will Steger has allowed us to do this," said Meagher. "We had a great experience with him in 2004. He's happy with us and we're happy with him. It's a really nice thing that any department across the country would love to do, and we're fortunate enough to be a part of it."
The Cloquet Fire Department, along with Dr. Hofstrand, will be the direct medical contact for Fenton in the event Steger or anyone on their expedition were to be injured. If she has a medical emergency or trauma situation there, she'll be calling the Cloquet Fire Department and they'll provide her with directions on what to do and how to do it.
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"Dr. Hofstrand came up [to Ely, where Steger is based] on Tuesday with a couple of support staff and did medical training for all of us who are going on this recent expedition, and today I'm on the second step with the Cloquet Fire Department," said Fenton. "With the Cloquet guys, I went over how to put in an IV for a morphine drip for major pain and trauma and am really focused on the major stuff like a femur break or a punctured lung. I have to tell you, these guys are excellent at what they do, I've been very impressed and have learned a lot. Hopefully it'll serve me well."
"We want to make sure she's comfortable in her skills, and we're comfortable with her skills so we can walk her through a situation if something does occur," said Meagher. "So if we tell her, 'You're going to start an IV and do morphine,' we know she knows what that is. She's dealt with Dr. Hofstrand and now she's dealt with us. And we're going to give her a list of those protocols and anything she'll need. We know she has the skills and she can do it."
Fenton, who's been CPR certified for 15 years and is also certified as a wilderness first responder, has worked for Outward Bound leading wilderness trips in Montana and Ely in the summers for the past several years. She and the rest of the expedition team will be in contact with Cloquet Fire and Dr. Hofstrand via satellite phone.
"If and when they call us because they have an emergency up there, we'll find out what the situation is and talk her through it," said Meagher. "We'll do treatments over the phone, and we're going to call Dr. Hofstrand and let him know of the emergency. Then we'll then make a decision on what happens next -- for example, if we need to call a helicopter to them."
Meagher said they're just glad to be part of Steger's team.
"It's quite an honor," said Meagher. "We're here to help any way we can. That's why when they asked if Abby could come down and get a refresher on her skills, we said, 'Anything we can do to help.' It's been a nice change of pace."
Steger, Fenton and the rest of the expedition team will set out for Baffin Island on Feb. 14.
Writer Mat Gilderman is past editor of the Pine Journal.
