With more than 15 years as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force and a successful career in orthopedic medicine, incoming CJP Chair Dr. Blake Curd offered his perspectives on “Healthy Flying” as part of Saturday’s safety-focused programming at CJP 2023.
“There are a couple of ways to think about healthy flying,” Curd began. “One is chronically or longitudinally over time. The other is, ‘are you good to go when you step to the airplane and decide to go fly?’ It’s a big topic.”
The latter is particularly important, he continued, as it serves as a regular checkpoint for all pilots. Curd recommended the IMSAFE acronym when preparing to take the flight deck.
The simple mnemonic (for Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol use, Fatigue and Emotion) can help pilots identify not only which of those factors might affect their performance and safety, but also how each can interact with others to compound those issues.
Even if a pilot feels fit to fly, however, they may still not be aware of their actual medical condition. “For most of us, by the time we’re at a place where we can fly some of these high performance aircraft, we’re also at a state where we might start to have a healthcare condition that can be best addressed to make sure we’re safe to fly,” Curd noted.
That means going beyond the occasional visit with your aviation medical examiner. “Seeing your AME every couple of years is no excuse for general healthcare,” Curd warned. “Your AME is looking at something way different than your general practitioner or internal medicine doctor.”
Pilots may also take proactive steps to monitor their overall health and detect signs of potential issues. Curd wears an Oura Ring, a smart device that provides an overall ‘readiness score’ that, as he showed to attendees, revealed a significant decline during a stressful professional time for him earlier this year.
“It was an indication that I was probably getting close to whatever limit I might have for being able to do a lot of things effectively,” he added.
Most are familiar with the usual recommendations of diet, exercise and sleep. Curd noted that staying hydrated can be equally important. “The effects from dehydration include decreased cognitive ability, decreased motor skills, decreased alertness,” he said. “Also, lack of concentration, anger, fatigue. I get a headache if I’m dehydrated.
“These things are corollaries and carry overs,” Curd continued. “They intersect with a lot of the other components of life and safety.”
Curd also warned that, while many individual states have approved cannabis for either medical or recreational, it remains banned at the federal level. “The legal limit of THC in your system is zero,” he said. “It’s a Schedule One substance meaning it has no recognized medical use.
“And THC stays in your system for a long time,” Curd added. “There’s lots of ways for people to find it should they be looking.”