>>>
an extremely difficult situation for a woman who works in one of the most isolated areas in the world. she suffered a stroke at the
south pole
and is pleading to be rescued but her bosses say right now the mission would be too dangerous. nbc'
anne thompson
is here is details.
>>
good morning, ann. you know what makes the missions so dangerous are the temperatures which are now at around 70 degrees
below zero
and that turns
jet fuel
to jelly so rescues outside the warmer months are rare but this woman says her life depends on it. the remoteness and adventure that attracted rene nicole ducert threatens her recovery.
>>
it gets less and less.
>>
the 50-year-old suffered a stroke in late suggest leaving this retired nuclear engineer to do simple subtraction and
blurred vision
.
>>
if you're watching
satellite tv
and the signal gets scrambled and you see mixed pixels here there and everywhere.
>>
the doctor at the
south pole
urge she be evacuated as soon as possible but the national foundation that funds the station and raytheon polar service that employees doucertte claimed the condition was not life-threatening and she was clinically stable.
>>
the statement is patently false.
>> reporter:
her attorney calls the decision unreasonable, insensitive and unethical.
>>
the
standard operating procedure
states if there is a risk associated with life, limb, eyesight or disability, they consider that to be an urgent medical event. it's clear to us that they did not follow the protocol because it's expensive.
>> reporter:
the
national science foundation
in a statement to nbc news says it's trying to manage risk. "nsf must always balance the patient's condition with the possibility for injury or the loss of life of the patient, the
flight crew
and the personnel on the ground at the
south pole
against the potential benefits to the patient." raytheon adds "extremely cold temperatures and
high winds
make an extraction dangerous for all involved, passengers as well as crew, and such an extraction is considered only in life-threatening conditions." there have been dramatic rescues at the
south pole
, most nosably dr. gerri nielsen who biopsied and treated her own progressive
breast cancer
until she was rescued october 16st,
1999
. dr. nielsen's cancer went into remission but came back. she died in
2009
. at this year, temperatures are getting warmer in antartica and regular flights should begin next month. she says she can't wait, she's already waited long enough.
>>
how does this move forward? sounds like they're nose to nose.
>>
it depends on the weather at this point, because they could get a
cargo plane
in there perhaps by the middle of this month and then they would put her on that
cargo plane
. the problem is, a
cargo plane
is unpressurized and the question is what would that do to her brain, if she has a blood clot, if there's some other problem in her brain. there's no mri, no
ct scan
so everybody's operating in the dark here and so she may have to wait until the pressurized planes can fly in and that's in november.
>>
something to watch.
anne thompson
, thank you so much this
“ ”