Safety & Advisories

Inside Everest's Only ER: No X-Ray, 500 Patients a Season, and a Cough That Could Kill You

At 5,364 metres, a canvas tent has been the only emergency room between Everest Base Camp and Kathmandu since 2003 — staffed entirely by volunteer…

By Laxman Rawal · Jul 20, 2026

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There is no X-ray machine. There is no CT scanner, no on-call surgeon, no ambulance bay. What there is: a canvas tent pitched directly on the Khumbu Glacier at 5,364 metres, a stethoscope, a pulse oximeter, and a small rotating team of volunteer doctors who…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

What this means for trekkers

What this means for you Everest ER is a peak-season clinic for climbers and the local Khumbu community, not a facility built for trekkers passing through — but its lessons apply to anyone walking to Base Camp. A cough that develops above 3,500 metres is…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

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