Aviat Space Envir Md
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Medical assessment and treatment of crews during spaceflight is primarily perfomed by the Earth-based medical staff analyzing information received by telemetry and onboard preventive and medical treatment facilities. In the coming decades, the building of the International Space Station (ISS) will be the most important near-Earth space exploration project. Remote monitoring and distance support of the crewmembers by the Earth-based clinical medicine specialists will become increasely important. ⋯ It is evident that during interplanetary flight biomedical problems will be much more difficult than during orbital flights of the same duration. Such a long-duration flight will require development of a special telemedical support system, as well as onboard facilities, which will present many new challenges. This new system will involve the integration of information technologies with biology, as well as physics and chemistry, representing a new interdisciplinary technological breakthrough.
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Aviat Space Envir Md · Jul 2002
Sickness pattern among air travellers: review of 735 cases at the Oman airport.
The medical records of air travellers (passengers and crew) seeking emergency medical assistance at the Airport Emergency Clinic, Seeb International Airport, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, during a 1-yr period were analyzed to determine the sickness pattern among them. ⋯ The data may be useful for planning and developing medical facilities at commercial airports. Need for a safe, non-injurious environment at the airports is highlighted.
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This study examines the aeromedical outcomes of aviation personnel with asymptomatic cholelithiasis or those treated successfully with conventional (open) cholecystectomy (CC), laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), or extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for previous symptomatic cholecystitis. ⋯ Aviation personnel who receive waivers for asymptomatic cholelithiasis or cholecystectomy rarely present with symptomatic biliary disease.
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Aviat Space Envir Md · Jul 2002
Long-distance air evacuation of blast-injured sailors from the U.S.S. Cole.
The U.S. military uses a Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT) to air evacuate critically ill patients to facilities that can provide definitive medical care. CCATT is comprised of highly trained personnel and each team uses specialized equipment to allow for in-flight intensive medical care of patients. CCATT has the capability of providing care over long duration and distance. This report describes our recent experience of long-distance fixed-wing medical air evacuation of multiple critically ill sailors with blast injuries from the U.S.S. Cole. ⋯ CCATTs can safely transport multiple critical patients with blast injuries over long distance and duration by fixed-wing aircraft. Blast injuries can have multi-system effects and patients with subclinical pulmonary injury may be asymptomatic when hypoxemic in a hypobaric environment.
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Aviat Space Envir Md · Jun 2002
The effect of repeated altitude exposures on the incidence of decompression sickness.
Repeated altitude exposures in a single day occur during special operations parachute training, hypobaric chamber training, unpressurized flight, and extravehicular space activity. Inconsistent and contradictory information exists regarding the risk of decompression sickness (DCS) during such hypobaric exposures. ⋯ Data indicate that repeated simulated altitude exposures to 25,000 ft significantly reduce DCS and VGE incidence compared with a single continuous altitude exposure.