EVEREST EDUCATION EXPEDITION" TAKES STUDENTS TO NEW HEIGHTS

Tomorrow's Scientists Interact Live with Today's Telemedicine Pioneers Via Videoconferences with Mount Everest and the
(E3 99) Everest Extreme Expedition Team on May 17th and 18th

Science and Exploration Enthusiasts Coast-to-Coast Can Watch on the Internet

MELVILLE, N.Y., May 14, 1999 - - The next generation of America's scientists will have a unique, first-hand opportunity to learn how medical research and field science is conducted in the world's most extreme environment on May 17th and 18th when live videoconferences enable Long Island, New Haven and Los Angeles students to interact with the E3 99 Everest Extreme ExpeditionÔ 1999 team in real time from Mount Everest. The "real-time" videoconferences are the highlight of a comprehensive educational program and curriculum sponsored by OLYMPUS America, Inc. and St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center of Port Jefferson, N.Y., with participation by Yale University/NASA Commercial Space Center for Medical Informatics and Technology Applications (CSC/MITA), Dowling College of Oakdale, N.Y and Eastern Suffolk BOCES.

Now operating 17,500 feet above sea level at Mount Everest Base Camp, the E3 99 Everest Extreme Expedition is researching the human body's response to living and working in high-stress, low-oxygen extreme environments, supported by some of the most advanced medical devices and communications technology ever deployed in the field. E3 99 team members Dan Biondi, senior vice president of OLYMPUS America's Scientific Equipment Division, and Dr. Nick Craig of St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center are returning from Mount. Everest to serve as hosts for the educational videoconferences.

"As a leading sponsor of E3 99, we at Olympus feel we have an obligation to add an educational component to inspire America's youth with the same kind of scientific inquisitiveness that is at the very heart of this expedition," said Biondi. "Today's students will soon benefit from - and carry on - the health-science research now being conducted by the E3 99 expedition, making it a living legacy." More than 750 students, parents and teachers from Long Island, Los Angeles and New Haven area schools will be attending the two interactive videoconferences, which will be held at the OLYMPUS America corporate auditorium in Melville, N.Y., the California Science Center in Los Angeles and the Yale CSC Conferencing Center in New Haven. Pediatric patients from the St. Charles Hospital and its Educational and Therapeutic Center will also be able to participate via a live link set up with the hospital's facilities on May 17th. On May 18th, a similar link to the Sherwood Corporate Center in Holbrook, N.Y. will enable participation by students enrolled in Eastern Suffolk BOCES pre-collegiate programs, which include initiatives for physically and emotionally challenged children. A special inspirational address to the BOCES students will be made by Alexandra Elman, a friend of E3 99 Expedition Leader Scott Hamilton. Blind for four years, Elman continues to mountain bike, ski, hike and mountain climb - and is making plans to climb to Mount Everest Base Camp in the next millennium.

"The opportunity for some of our students and patients who are physically challenged to share the Everest experience in a real-time exchange is another step forward in our mission of compassionate care and education," said Barry T. Zeman, president and CEO of St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center. "We also believe that the telemedicine technologies being practiced today on Everest have a special relevance for families with physical challenges, including the potential for in-home monitoring and delivering guidance regarding physical therapy to both parents and children."

Students will gain hands-on experience with the cutting-edge, non-invasive medical devices being tested on Mount Everest via demonstration stations set up at the OLYMPUS videoconference site. Included will be the digital precision microscopes donated by OLYMPUS to E3 99 that are enabling team members to practice pathology at extreme altitudes; Cytometrics' CYTOSCAN, which provides continuous, real-time images of the microvascular system; 3D Doppler Ultrasound equipment, and the remote Personal Monitoring Devices being worn by climbers as they attempt the summit of Mount Everest this month.

A Complete Educational Curriculum Linked to the World's Rooftop

The "Everest Education Expedition" sessions will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET with an overview of the scientific aspects of the expedition and the geographical and cultural aspects of Nepal and Mount Everest,presented by Biondi and Craig. Students will learn about the telemedicine applications and technologies enabling the link with Mount Everest from E3 99 technical director Brett Harnett of YaleUniversity/NASA CSC/MITA and Dr. Peter Angood, a member of the E3 99 medical support team at Yale.

At 9:00 p.m. ET, the E3 99 team will be brought live from Everest Base Camp via state-of-the-art wireless satellite technology. Following a visual tour of the camp, E3 team members will give their perspectives on the mission's progress and answer questions posed directly by the students.

Internet Broadcast Brings "Everest Education Expedition" to Desktops Everywhere

While students at the Long Island, Los Angeles and New Haven sites enjoy an interactive link to the expedition, thousands more science and exploration enthusiasts will be able to view the two "Everest Education Expedition" sessions as they occur via the Internet, broadcast by broadcast.com. starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. The sessions can be accessed at http://webevents.broadcast.com/olympus/everestextreme99.

The entire proceedings will also be posted subsequently on the E3 99 Website, http://www.everestextreme99.org. Teachers will be able to download the educational curriculum created by Dowling College for classroom use, including the study and implications of oxygen deprivation at high altitudes. Students and the general public can also access the E3 99 Website daily to track the progress of the expedition and view medical data, global positioning status, team member journals and pictorial archives posted from Everest Base Camp.

About the (E3) Everest Extreme Expedition

Utilizing the world's most hostile and demanding environment as a laboratory and proving ground, E3 researches new medical protocols and technologies destined to accompany humanity during space exploration and enhance the quality of medical care delivered here on earth.

This year's team, which ranges in age from 23 to 60, embarked upon its six-week health-science expedition to Mount Everest on April 23. The E3 99 expedition is organized by the Yale/NASA Commercial Space Center for Medical Informatics and Technology Applications (CSC/MITA), Millennium Healthcare Solutions, Inc., and The Explorers Club, with participation by the National Institutes of Health. Financial and in-kind support for E3 99 is provided from a wide range of private and public partnerships.

In addition to sponsoring the educational videoconferences and curriculum, OLYMPUS America, Inc. is a leading sponsor of E3 99, providing both financial support and high-end precision microscopes for the expedition's cutting-edge research and for ongoing use by the Himalayan Health Organization. The company's E3 99 sponsorship is testament to its belief in utilizing telemedicine to deliver real-time information to preserve and improve lives. The E3 99 expedition is one of numerous research projects supported by OLYMPUS, including studies by the National Institutes of Health, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Scripps Institute of Research and the Long Island Cold Spring Harbor Labs.

A second Long Island-based sponsor of E3 99 is Saint Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center. Founded more than 90 years ago as a school for children with disabilities, St. Charles integrates medical and education programs, and has the first and only New York State designated pediatric traumatic brain injury unit on Long Island. The hospital, which was reaccredited in 1998 with the coveted Commendation of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, serves more than 500 children daily with educational, early intervention and traumatic brain injury programs.

Other sponsors of E3 99 include the Association of the United States Army; Lucent Technologies, Inc.; Cisco Systems; Becton Dickinson; CardioDynamics International Corporation; Compaq Computers Corporation, DHS Systems LLC; MOUNTAINSMITH; Nestle Clinical Nutrition; Kifaru International; PowerBar, Inc., and Camelbak, among others.