All good things must come to an end and certainly the lectures went out with a bang. We had 3 lectures spanning from 8am to 4:30 pm with 3 breaks (one for lunch). It was a marathon session but very interesting. The lectures were over Space Medicine, Toxicology (i.e. venomous and poisonous animals) and making a Wilderness Medical Kit. It became one of our first beautifully sunny days and during our few breaks we made sure to enjoy it. All the pictures of us today were on the front porch of Tipton Lodge where we had all our lectures and was the headquarters of all our scenarios.
All in all it was an interesting day. All we have left for the remainder of the elective is the 4-day hike. Unfortunately, one mentor had to drop out. Because of this one group had to disband and join the other groups. Fortunately everyone found a hike they were interested in hiking so everything worked out. Now to rest and relax until Monday. Here’s hoping for more good weather.
As to the weekend, tomorrow some of us are going to the Lost Sea http://www.thelostsea.com/ for a Wild Cave Tour. It should be fun.
Here are some interesting facts from yesterday –
- Politics in NASA really hinders science
- Medicine in space requires a completely different thought process.
- CPR in space is worthless due to taking to long to initiate
- The most dangerous venomous animal is the Bee
- Most use the term poisonous and venomous interchangeably but that is incorrect. A Bee or a Rattlesnake is venomous but not poisonous (i.e. they will make you sick if they inject the venom but will not make you sick if you eat them). Poisonous animals are like the Puffer fish.
- Superglue, duck-tape, trash bags and safety pins are essential in a wilderness medical kit
