Health and Safety
Risk is inherent in everything that we do in life. Without accepting and understanding these risks, we would not be able to do anything at all. The first concern of all activities undertaken as part of Operation Wallacea expeditions is to gain an understanding of the environments we will be working in, and from this to reduce risk to health and safety as far as is possible. These pages are devoted to explaining our approach to health and safety, and to giving as much advice as we are responsibly able.
|
Health and Safety Index |
|
|
Operation Wallacea's Approach to Health and Safety The first concern of all
activities undertaken as part of Operation Wallacea expeditions is the reduction
of risk to health and safety as far as practically possible.
Operation Wallacea has a seven point health & safety policy which is
reproduced below together with notes on how each of these policy points are
implemented: 1. Provision of relevant health and safety information to all volunteers before they arrive in Peru
2. Ensuring that appropriate qualified and experienced staff are employed on the project and that all field staff and group leaders are trained in the safe operating procedures
3. Identification of the risks associated with activities and locations, as well as the development of measures to minimise these risks.
4. Development and implementation of safe operating procedures for each of the activities undertaken.
5. Ensuring there are adequate communication, medical and evacuation procedures in position.
6. Training of all volunteers on arrival in the safe operating procedures, and acquainting them with the medical facilities available.
7. Recording all illnesses, accidents, near-misses or incidents which may have a bearing on health and safety and using this information as part of an ongoing refinement of the operating procedures.
|
General Travel and Health Advice for Peru
General Travel
It is worth checking the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Canadian Consular Affairs or the US State Departments' web pages on travel advice to Peru. We are continually monitoring the situation in Peru and will update our advice according to the latest information available. All stress that most visits to the country are trouble free but that petty and occasionally, violent crime can be a problem in the country. They also advise against travel to the border regions with Ecuador and to some departments and regions in the country, none of which the project operates in. The main risk from crime is when you are travelling to and from the sites and you will be accompanied at all times on these journeys by experienced Op Wall and Peruvian staff.
General Health
Please note that before you join the expedition that you should have completed and returned the detailed and confidential medical form sent to you by Operation Wallacea. On occasions these questionnaires reveal conditions that need further investigation before you join the expeditions so please make sure you return the forms by so that the Operation Wallacea medical staff can check them and make any necessary additional enquiries. Many GPs will usually only be giving advice to holidaymakers. You are going on expedition, living outdoors in fairly remote areas - so make this clear to your GP. We strongly advise that you see your dentist for a check-up and any necessary treatment 2-3 months before the expedition starts. Usually there is no dental treatment available on expedition.
You must consult your GP or travel clinic for personal advice and it is also worth checking the NaTHNaC web site for up to date advice. Operation Wallacea are not able to give official advice on inoculations. Some people are not able to have certain jabs, so blanket generalisations cannot be made.
We require you to be
up-to-date with the following inoculations:
}
Tetanus
}
Typhoid
}
Hepatitis A
}
Polio
} Yellow Fever
}
Malaria - It is generally advised that you take Doxycycline, Mefloquine
or Malarone though because advice changes from time to time it is worth checking with your
GP or travel clinic about one month before departure. You
will need to start taking malarial prophylactics one week before departure. No
drug offers complete protection from contracting malaria.
The only sure way of preventing diseases transmitted through insect bites
(particularly mosquitoes and ticks) is to prevent being bitten.
Use precautions including insect repellent; cover exposed skin, use of
mosquito nets etc.
The level of fitness required to participate in the research programme varies depending on the programme you are participating in. The monkey project requires you to do several hours of trekking and so a high level of fitness is required. The other general surveyor projects also require a high level of fitness although the amount of trekking is not as high.
Before you join the project it is well worth starting a fitness routine so that you can get to the level required for the site at which you will be based. You will still have to acclimatise to the higher temperatures though when you arrive!
Throughout the 2009 season in Peru the expedition staff kept detailed records of all incidents, illnesses, and near misses that occurred during the eight week season. The data were used during these summer months for purposes of feedback and evaluation, allowing staff members to take appropriate action to further reduce risks.
Illnesses and accidents were classified into the following categories:
Category 1 Death
Category 2 Emergency repatriation with subsequent repatriation for medical attention. (This category is intended to refer to potentially life threatening situations which result in the volunteer/staff member taking no further part in the expedition).
Category 3 Non-emergency evacuation to home/medical facility beyond local area. (This category is intended to refer to non life threatening situations with none the less required medical attention beyond the local area).
Category 4 Hospital treatment required in the local area.
Category 5 Treatment on site - serious injury/illness.
Category 6 Treatment on site - moderately serious injury/illness.
Category 7 Treatment on site - minor injury/illness.
Category 1 Incidents
There were no category one incidents.
Category 2 incidents
There were no category two incidents.
Category 3 incidents
There were no category three incidents.
Category 4 Incidents
One category four incident occurred during the 2009 season, a student sprained their ankle during whilst in Indiana returning from Lago Preto after loosing their footing on the pavement. She was taken to see the boat medic who administered pain relief and strapped up the ankle. It was suggested that the patient should be taken to the clinic in Iquitos to make sure there was no further damage. They were given an x-ray that showed no break but a temporary cast was put on to allow them to walk more easily, this was removed shortly afterwards and there were no further problems.
Category 5 Incidents
Whilst at dinner on the boat a student fainted, she was put in the recovery position and came round quickly and without complications. After speaking to the patient it was discovered that they faint on a regular basis but had not put this information on their medical form prior to joining the expedition. After having the next morning off to rest they went on a transect and fainted for a second time. The decision was taken not to allow the student to go on forest transects for her own safety.
Category 6 Incidents
No category six incidents were reported during the 2009 Peru expedition.
Category 7 Incidents
There were twelve category seven cases during the 2009 Peru expedition, these were minor incidents that could be treated easily by onsite medics. The majority of the cases reported in this category were minor gastrointestinal problems. Other issues included constipation, common colds, a sprain and blisters. All were resolved without further problems.
”Near misses”
These are incidents where no-one was injured, but the situation could have been serious if the circumstances had been slightly different. All staff were encouraged to report such incidents and records were kept. Defining how different the circumstances had to be in order for an incident to classify as a near miss, made it difficult to precisely quantify the number of such instances in a season. However, there were no recorded near misses in the 2009 season.
Conclusions
Given the 2240 man days spent in the field on the Peru expedition the level and number of incidents reported over the season is very low. None of the incidents have resulted in ongoing problems and all patients made a full recovery.
The average levels of incidents in the various categories were;
0.00 Category 1 incidents per 1000 man days
0.00 Category 2 incidents per 1000 man days
0.00 Category 3 incidents per 1000 man days
0.45 Category 4 incidents per 1000 man days
0.45 Category 5 incidents per 1000 man days
0.00 Category 6 incidents per 1000 man days
5.36 Category 7 incidents per 1000 man days
This data would indicate that coming on an Operation Wallacea project to Honduras is safer than participating in activities such as a rave, rock festival or a marathon. (Hodgetts and Cooke 1999)
