A day in the life of a … station doctor
Hello everyone! Today I, Anja, am taking you on a journey through my everyday life. Unlike the scientists, my days are very different from one another. When everything is running smoothly, I have very little to do as a doctor. Then, I tend to be busy in my role as the station manager, i. e. mainly administration, public relations and tidying up. Or I am available to the others for sea ice or snow depth measurements, for example. So: Let us get started!
My alarm clock rings at 6.15 am. If I want to do sports in the morning, I get up right then. This week, however, there are blood tests again for the medical studies we are taking part in here for Charité (Berlin) and Ludwig Maximilian University (Munich). In this case, time for exercising gets tight. Therefore, I don’t get up until 7.00 am. On the way to the hospital on deck 1, I make a detour to the mess on deck 1 and say hello to Laura, our hard-working cook, who has long been whirling in the kitchen. My second glance then is at the mess monitor to find out about the weather and wind conditions. After very cold and calm days last week, with temperatures as low as -42°C, it is now a lot stormier again, but also milder. -15°C and 37 knots of wind speed make the temperature outside feel like -30°C. Inclement!
At 7.45 am, the first test subject arrives to have his blood taken, and by a quarter past eight, the other three scheduled for today have arrived as well. After the blood samples are taken, I hand out the questionnaires for the various test batteries. Then I go to the mess, our dining hall, drink my first cup of coffee and meet the team members who have breakfast here in the morning. That way I can already meet half of the team and know how they are doing. With my second cup of coffee, I go back to my office and read the emails. Some are answered immediately, others take a while. Work continues at 9.00 am in the small hospital, which I use as a laboratory this week. The blood samples need to be centrifuged, pipetted and portioned and then frozen at -40°C.
The samples will be stowed in a reefer, a special refrigerative container, next year when the ship collects the return cargo from the Neumayer station. This way, they will still reach their destination Bremerhaven in spring 2025 frozen at -40°C.
Today, in the middle of winter, I am also carrying out a small laboratory test on everyone here on site. If there are any abnormalities, I can discuss the findings with the respective team members later.
Meanwhile, it has gotten to 11.00 am. I continue with the steam autoclave. I have to sterilize all of the instruments I use in the operating room or for dental treatment myself. Three days ago I did the monthly drinking water tests. I always take samples of tap water from various points in the ward (kitchen, mess, bathrooms), which is then analyzed for possible bacterial contamination. The samples were unremarkable and were documented accordingly. The sample containers must now be sterilized again for the next test. In order to do this, they are sealed in special sterilization bags. Then, all microorganisms are killed in an autoclave using steam and high temperatures.
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Before the actual sterilization process, a vacuum test and a performance check using the B&D test must be carried out. Both are faultless, so I can start.
Lunch is served at 12.30 pm, which is usually attended by everyone who is not working outside the station. Today we have smoked pork chop with sauerkraut, and vegan meatloaf with nuts for the vegetarians. After the meal, we wash up together and tidy up the kitchen before returning to the hospital at around 1.30 pm. The sterile material is removed, the control test is OK.
It is now 2.00 pm Back in my office, I continue the inventory of medicine that I started this month. I have more than 300 medications at my disposal. The stock needs to be recorded in terms of quantities and expiry times. The order list is then sent to Bremerhaven at the beginning of September so that everything necessary can be ordered in time for the shipment in November.
From 4.00 pm, I deal with penguin eggs today. On behalf of the UBA (Umweltbundesamt / Federal Environment Agency), up to 15 abandoned or lost penguin eggs are to be collected. Over several years, the eggs will be used to systematically monitor chemical pollutants in the polar region. We found the first two eggs three days ago. The location where they were found was recorded using GPS, they are stored here in a freezer. I now take the eggs to photograph and X-ray them.
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Exactly as the other samples, they will then be frozen and sent to Germany next summer.
Before I start tidying up, someone comes in with complaints. After a brief examination, a check-up is arranged for tomorrow.
Next, it is already time for our 6.00 pm meeting. We talk about today’s events and plan for the upcoming days. For example, does anyone need help with outside or field work, or when can the ramp to the underground garage be reopened for driving out after the storm? Dinner is served at 6.30 pm, but there is enough time for a quick game of billiards with Andrey beforehand. After dinner, we do the dishes, always accompanied by loud music, and after that it is time to call it a day.
