Aviation medicine

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Aerospace medicine" redirects here. For the journal formerly known as Aerospace Medicine, see
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine
.
U.S. Navy flight surgeon performs a shipboard exam in the Persian Gulf
in 2004.

Aviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a

human factors in aviation and is thus a critical component of aviation safety.[1] A military practitioner of aviation medicine may be called a flight surgeon and a civilian practitioner is an aviation medical examiner.[1] One of the biggest differences between the military and civilian flight doctors is the military flight surgeon's requirement to log flight hours.[2]

Overview

Broadly defined, this subdiscipline endeavors to discover and prevent various adverse physiological responses to hostile biologic and physical stresses encountered in the aerospace environment.[1] Problems range from life support measures for astronauts to recognizing an ear block in an infant traveling on an airliner with elevated cabin pressure altitude. Aeromedical certification of pilots, aircrew and patients is also part of aviation medicine. A final subdivision is the AeroMedical Transportation Specialty. These military and civilian specialists are concerned with protecting aircrew and patients who are transported by AirEvac aircraft (helicopters or fixed-wing airplanes).

Atmospheric physics potentially affect all air travelers regardless of the aircraft.

air temperature is approximately −57 °C (−70 °F) at 10,700 m (35,000 ft). Pressure and humidity also decline, and aircrew are exposed to radiation, vibration and acceleration forces (the latter are also known as "g" forces). Aircraft life support systems such as oxygen, heat and pressurization are the first line of defense against most of the hostile aerospace environment. Higher performance aircraft provide more sophisticated life support equipment, such as "G-suits" to help the body resist the adverse effects of acceleration, along with pressure breathing apparatus, or ejection seats
or other escape equipment.

Every factor contributing to a safe flight has a failure rate. The crew of an aircraft is no different. Aviation medicine aims to keep this rate in the humans involved equal to or below a specified risk level. This standard of risk is also applied to airframe, avionics and systems associated with flights.

AeroMedical examinations aim at screening for elevation in risk of sudden incapacitation, such as a tendency towards

Flight Surgeon, doctors trained to screen potential aircrew for identifiable medical conditions that could lead to problems while performing airborne duties.[1][5] In addition, this unique population of aircrews is a high-risk group for several diseases and harmful conditions due to irregular work shifts with irregular sleeping and irregular meals (usually carbonated drinks and high energy snacks) and work-related stress.[1][6][7][8][9]

Topics in aviation medicine

Educational institutes

Medical boards & memember associations

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7817-2898-0
    .
  2. ^ Jedick, Rocky (2 November 2014). "Why Flight Surgeons Fly". Go Flight Medicine. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  3. PMID 15892538. Archived
    from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  4. PMID 10503756
    .
  5. S2CID 5654753
    .
  6. PMID 16956110
    .
  7. PMID 17357781
    .
  8. S2CID 37427615
    . Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  9. PMID 17310886
    . Retrieved 2008-07-16.

Further reading

External links
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