Contact: Sarah Ellis [email protected], (303) 315-5571 CU-Health Sciences Center Joins Team RE/MAX Global Balloon Mission
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center physicians and researchers today announced their participation in the upcoming around-the-world manned balloon attempt sponsored by RE/MAX International. Using state-of-the-art telemedicine communications, international satellites and the World Wide Web, University doctors will provide medical advice and monitoring, conduct high-altitude research and provide public education during the flight, scheduled for late December.
The mission, dubbed Team RE/MAX, could be the first successful global manned balloon flight, and will provide CU researchers with valuable information about high-altitude flying, while setting several manned ballooning records. The balloon, piloted by a crew of three, will reach heights of between 80,000 and 130,000 feet, traveling at the stratospheric edge of space. The pilots are Dave Liniger, chairman of the board of RE/MAX International; Bob Martin, a science reporter for KRQE, an Albuquerque TV station, and John Wallington, owner of Australia's largest commercial balloon company.
"This flight will showcase the 21st century version of the union of telecommunications and health care," said John D. Carroll, MD, professor of cardiology and medical director of the CU-Health Sciences Center's TeleHealth and Distance Education Program. "We have a fabulous opportunity to learn more about how humans adapt to altitude, building on work done by other medical scientists, including many from Denver. Furthermore, we will provide a unique educational experience in physiology and medicine for children and adults around the world via the Internet."
The CU medical advisory team will conduct thorough pre-flight health assessments on all three pilots, and will be available for consultation both before and during the flight. High-tech telemedicine "housecalls" between the pilots and University Hospital-based physicians will be available at regularly scheduled times and as needed during the flight. Headed by Ben Honigman, MD, associate professor of surgery, chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine at the CU School of Medicine and director of University Hospital's Emergency Department, the medical team will monitor the vital signs and health of the pilots via telemedicine studios already in use at the CU-Health Sciences Center. Medical device systems integration will be provided by Technology Integrations for Medical Applications, Inc., Vincent Grasso, DO, president. Design of the equipment is based on similar equipment used on the recent Everest Extreme Expedition. Global technical communications support for monitoring and tracking Team RE/MAX will be provided by AT&T.
University researchers, renowned for their expertise in the effects of high-altitude on human physiology and medicine, will conduct a variety of scientific studies during the flight. Eugene Wolfel, MD, CU professor of medicine and high-altitude investigator at the Pike's Peak laboratory, will coordinate the medical research team. Additionally, the CU-Health Sciences Center has created a website on High Altitude Medicine and Physiology, which will complement the existing Team RE/MAX website. A K-12 curriculum has been established in four languages for classrooms to follow the flight.
Information and updates on the flight can be accessed at www.remax.com or www.uchsc.edu. CU's medical, research and educational participation in the Team RE/MAX global balloon mission is supported by University Hospital, the CU School of Medicine and the CU-Health Sciences Center.
The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center is one of four campuses in the University of Colorado system. Located in Denver, Colo., the campus includes schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and dentistry, a graduate school and two hospitals.
###
RSS