REPORT REVIEWS UNIVERSITY’S ROLE IN EVACUATING STUDENT RESEARCHER

	COLUMBUS -- A committee has reviewed The Ohio State 
University’s actions following the illness of a graduate student 
while on a research expedition to Tibet.  The committee is 
proposing that specific policies and procedures be formalized 
into institutional guidelines governing emergencies arising 
during research in the field.

	The student, Shawn Wight, a 27-year-old master’s degree 
student in geological sciences, became ill in early September 
while part of a university expedition to the Dasuopu Glacier, a 
2-kilometer-wide ice field that straddles a flat area on the 
flank of Xixabangma, an 8,014-meter (26,293 feet) peak on the 
Tibetan Plateau.

	Wight was evacuated from the mountain and treated at several 
Chinese hospitals before being flown back to University Hospitals 
in Cleveland.  He died in late November.


	The team’s location in Tibet is one of the most remote areas 
of the world.  The committee was appointed by Vice President for 
Research Edward F. Hayes to assess how the university responded 
to the emergency situation that arose there.

	In addition to formalizing the procedures followed in this 
case, the committee recommends that special attention be paid to 
improving communications between the campus and research teams in 
the field in the event of an emergency.

	“Although this student went through established 
acclimatization protocols while in the field, he developed 
complications requiring his evacuation,” explained Ken Jezek, 
director of the Byrd Polar Research Center.  “We have analyzed 
the events that occurred in this case and are using them to 
develop a uniform set of policies and procedures.”

	The report says that “the university responded quickly and 
effectively to secure necessary medical care and emergency 
transportation” to the best medical facilities available.

	“We found that the field team in particular (including both 
U.S. and Chinese participants) took extraordinary measures to 
transport Wight to facilities where medical services could be 
administered,” the report says.

	“This was accomplished in such a way as to minimize 
additional risks to other members of the field team.”

	Ohio State will be covering about $50,000 for medical 
evacuation and other related costs.  The report also recommends 
that the university “consider augmenting its emergency 
capabilities by evaluating commercial instruments for emergency 
evacuation and medical care.”

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Contact:  Linda Meadows, (614) 292-1582; Meadows.1@osu.edu
Written by Earle Holland.
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