Safety Guidelines

Work at high altitude

General information

• Important facts about the physics of the atmosphere at high altitudes and the reaction of the human body (html or ppt)
• Definition of the "High Altitude (>3000m) Medical Examination"
• "Anamnese Questionnaire" for ESO staff working for ALMA/APEX at the Chajnantor plateau or visiting the site (doc or pdf)
• Potential use of oxygen enrichment of room air (High Altitude Medicine and Biology 3, 59 (2002))
• Medical and Physiological Considerations for a High-Altitude MMA Site (MMA Memo Nr 162)
• High altitude indoctrination (J. Schneider; html, html for IE, ppt)
• Lake Louise Scoring System (LLSS) (doc or pdf)
• High Altitude Tutorial prepared by the International Society for Mountain Medicine (ISMM)

ALMA specific information

• ALMA Safety
• Internal ESO memos concerning medical check-ups
  • P/1209/03/bo (18.08.2003)
  • 311.03 (MoP Chile, 16.09.2003) and P/1245/03/bo (ALMA, 08.09.2003)
• Levels of radiation exposure near AOS and OSF (ALMA Memo No. 446, 12.02.2003)
• Working at high altitude: Medical problems, misconceptions, and solutions (ALMA Memo No. 477)
• ALMA High Altitude access information for ESO staff members
• Visiting the ALMA Site:
  • Important Information for ESO visitors: All visitors of the High Altitude Site near San Pedro de Atacama must register at the ALMA office in San Pedro. Be aware of the required medical clearance when visiting the Very High Altitude Site (5000m) at Chajnantor. A written approval by the ALMA Site Manager prior to the visit is mandatory.

APEX specific information

APEX specific information can be found at the APEX Safety site