Luanne Freer puts her 'expedition medicine' expertise to good use, at 18K feet
(NEWSER) - Climbing the world's tallest peak is no easy feat. Just ask Luanne Freer. For nine years, the emergency room doctor from Montana has tended to climbers, tourists, local Nepalese, and anyone else brave enough to be in the deadly conditions of the Khumbu Valley at Everest ER. Intrepid Smithsonian Magazine writer Molly Loomis trekked to the remote clinic herself to witness the 53-year-old doctor, who got the idea to open the satellite rescue center at the Mount Everest Base Camp, at 17,590 feet, after volunteering at the clinic nearest the base; there, she realized many doctors didn't have the knowledge to treat climbers. More»
