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Mount Everest ER founder talks about treating climbers in the world’s highest hospital

By Chris Carroll 3 min read

photo Dr. Dave Fitzpatrick chats with Dr. Luanne Freer after her presentation about running the hospital at Mount Everest’s Base Camp at the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center on Thursday. Since Freer opened the hospital there have only been 19 deaths on Everest, all of which were not able to reach the hospital.

IF YOU GOToday’s first RiverRocks event is a hike at Greenway Farms, starting at 8:30 a.m. The day also includes yoga, “cosmic climbing” and music, spread all over the city. For more information, visit www.riverrockschattanooga.com.

photo A photo of Dr. Luanne Freer crying dated 2003 as shown during her presentation on running the hospital at Mount Everest’s Base Camp at the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center on Thursday has served as a reminder of why she continuously goes back to work in the harsh conditions. The 23-year-old sherpa in the hyperbaric chamber to her left was one of the first seriously sick people saved by the hospital.
photo Dr. Luanna Freer discusses the cost of oxygen tanks used by most climbers to scale Mount Everest during her presentation on running the hospital at Mount Everest’s Base Camp at the Chattanooga Trade and Convention Center on Thursday. Since Freer opened the hospital there have only been 19 deaths on Everest, all of which were not able to reach the hospital.

It’s not easy being high.

But it’s a little easier with Dr. Luanne Freer, an emergency medicine physician best known for starting Everest ER, the world’s highest hospital at Mount Everest Base Camp.

In Chattanooga for the Southeast Wilderness Medicine Conference, Freer told her tales Thursday night to about 100 at the Chattanooga Convention Center, touching on what she called an “unserved” Nepalese community known for attracting wealthy Westerners eager to reach the highest summit on Earth.

Nepal is the fifth-poorest country in the world. Since Freer founded Everest ER in 2002, more than 2,500 climbers, guides and others have been treated there for maladies including high altitude sickness, gastrointestinal illnesses and frostbite.