In December , Nome doctor Curtis Welch watched as an outbreak started—with cases first thought to be simple sore throats or tonsillitis. In January , when 2 children died of diphtheria, the impending crisis became clear. Welch ordered a quarantine, but diphtheria is so contagious that many people were likely already exposed and he knew more cases would appear. Race dogs with shirts promoting immunization during the ceremonial beginning of the Iditarod race. Welch would have treated infected people with diphtheria antitoxin to fight off the effects of the poison that diphtheria releases into the body.
Not knowing if the expired antitoxin would work or if it might actually cause harm, Dr. Welch hesitated to use it.
To save lives, fresh diphtheria antitoxin was the only hope. On January 22, , Dr.
1925 serum run to Nome
Welch sent dozens of telegrams pleading for help to find and deliver antitoxin. National leaders in Washington, D. The next problem—figuring out the fastest way get the antitoxin to Nome. There were no roads or railways to Nome, air service was unavailable, and ships could not reach the town because of sea ice around Nome. This crisis made newspaper and radio headlines across America.
Celebrated sled dog Balto, who led the last mile leg of the race, with Gunnar Kaasen. Norwegian immigrant Gunnar Kaasen was the musher on the dog team that successfully delivered diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska in Teams of mushers traveled day and night, enduring blizzards and temperatures of 50 degrees below zero, handing off the package to fresh teams. Infected with diphtheria, they wheezed and gasped for air, and every day brought a new case of the lethal respiratory disease.
Curtis Welch, feared an epidemic that could put the entire village of 1, at risk.
serum run to Nome - Wikipedia
He ordered a quarantine but knew that only an antitoxin serum could ward off the fast-spreading disease. The nearest batch of the life-saving medicine, however, rested more than 1, miles away in Anchorage. With the nearest train station nearly miles away in Nenana, canine power offered Nome its best hope for a speedy delivery. Bone, recruited the best drivers and dog teams to stage a round-the-clock relay to transport the serum from Nenana to Nome. Even by Alaskan standards, this winter night packed extra bite, with temperatures plummeting to 60 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
Although every second was precious as the number of confirmed cases in Nome mounted, Shannon knew he needed to control his speed. If his dogs ran too fast and breathed too deeply in such frigid conditions, they could frost their lungs and die of exposure. Although Shannon ran next to the sled to raise his own body temperature, he still developed hypothermia and frostbite on the mile leg to Tolovana before handing off the serum to the second dog team.
After a large quantity of serum was found in Anchorage the first part of the delivery plan was a given. The lifesaving medicine could travel north to Nenana by train where it would be miles east of Nome. Options from Nenana to Nome were limited. The people who traveled and knew the route were the postmen. During the winter, they drove their powerful dog teams from Nenana to Nome on a regular basis.
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With deliveries and rest stops, the route took three to four weeks. The serum had to get there faster! The next thought was an express delivery. A strong fast dog team with an experienced driver would leave Nenana with the serum. Halfway to Nome, he would hand the serum off to another experienced driver with a fresh team who would carry the precious cargo the rest of the distance. Surely this would be faster than the traditional mail route.
The mayor of Nome had another idea.
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In February of , an airplane made the first winter flight in Alaska carrying mail from Fairbanks to McGrath, a distance of miles. Would it be at all possible to fly the serum to Nome?
Travel at 60 miles per hour through the air would be faster than dog team. For the children in Nome, speed was very important!
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There were pilots willing to fly the dangerous rescue mission. There were three planes in Fairbanks all stored for the winter and badly in need of repair.