Sponsor: Siemens

Siemens Medical Solutions Diagnostics Ltd

Working closely together, the Caudwell Xtreme Everest team and experts at Siemens have adapted a standard hospital blood gas analyser to work accurately in the harsh high altitude environment of Everest Base Camp (5,300m). This has involved a great deal of hard work from engineers at Siemens changing the circuitry and programming of the analyser followed by clinical testing at sea level and then in a hypobaric (low pressure) chamber. The analyser will be able to measure the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood of subjects and hopefully enable us to see how much oxygen there is in the blood of a climber on the summit of Mount Everest.

A special thanks must go to Bob Mayall and Steve Carey for their help in ensuring the analyser was fully functional in time for the expedition.