Aeromedical Flashcards
What is hypoxia?
Lack of oxygen to the brain- carefree feeling, headache, impaired judgement, drowsiness
Get oxygen immediately… get below 10k’ and declare an emergency
Must use aviation grade oxygen… 99.5% (moisture removed so it doesn’t freeze)
What causes:
Higher altitudes
carbon monoxide -serious form of hypoxia
Note- as altitude increases you are more likely to get hypoxia from carbon monoxide poisoning
What is carbon monoxide poisoning?
CO tricks your blood to bond w/ it instead of oxygen… headache to complete incapacitation.
Your brain wont notice anything is wrong unless you have some way to monitor in the airplane
Alcohol, how long?
FAA- 8 hrs, do not fly under the influence ( 0.04% or greater ABV)
12 hours bottle to throttle
How long should you wait between scuba driving and flying?
Nitrogen causes bubbles in the blood, the bends… dizziness, vision, convulsions, etc
AIM says a pilot should wait at least 12 hours prior to flying to altitudes up to 8,000 feet msl if a dive has not required a controlled ascent (nondecompression-stop diving) and at least 24 hours after diving in which a controlled ascent (decompression) is required.
Any flight above 8,000 feet msl should be delayed until at least 24 hours has elapsed.
The AIM says these recommendations are actual flight altitudes above mean sea level, not pressurized cabin altitudes—a critical point because of the concern for any potential loss of aircraft pressurization.
What is hyperventilating?
Breaths too fast
Exhale longer than you inhale and get ride of too much CO2
Feeling of suffocation
Drowsiness
Lightheadedness
Tingling of the limbs
Unconsciousness
Do:
Slow the breathing rate
Breathing into a paper bag
How do you overcome spatial disorientation?
Trust your instruments
“fly before 8, seal your fate”
No flying sooner than 8 hours after drinking alcohol
No flying unless blood alcohol level below .04%
Note: one alcoholic drink can impair your judgement and decision-making abilities and be detected in breath or blood for at least 3 hours
What helps you in your eye for Night vision?
Rods- primary sensor for nighttime vision
30min for your rods to adjust in the dark
Rods are not sensitive to red light
To rid itself of all the alcohol contained in one beer, the human body requires about
3 hours
A pilot, after drinking a moderate amount of alcohol, may still be under the influence
8 hours later
When are you most likely to experience a Somatogravic illusion?
Rapid acceleration (illusion you are nose up)
Happen during taking off… (pay attention to your instruments)
What is ADM?
Systemic approach to the mental processes used to determine the best course of action
Mental process used to determine the best course of action when something happens
Aeronautical Decision-Making is the systematic approach to consistently determine the best decision in response to a given set of circumstances
Risk management
Relies on situation awareness
Problem recognition
Good judgement
What is judgement?
Mental process of recognizing and analyzing all pertinent info in a particular situation
Rational evaluation of alternative actions
Timely decision on which actions take
What is the PAVE checklist?
Pilot
Aircraft
Environment
External factors
