• Title/Summary/Keyword: Aviation medicine

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Understanding Peripheral Dizziness and Evaluating Suitability for Aviation Work (말초성 어지럼의 이해 및 항공업무 적합성 평가)

  • Kim, Hyun Ji;Kim, Kyu-Sung;Kim, Young Hyo
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.9-12
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    • 2021
  • Aircraft accidents caused by dizziness of aviation workers are so common that they account for 5% to 10% of the total, and in most cases, have fatal consequences. Therefore, it is essential to diagnose and treat the dizziness of aviation workers properly. Common diseases caused by abnormal vestibular function include benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere's disease, and vestibular neuritis. In this paper, we first proposed an overview of these diseases' pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. Also, we evaluated the importance of these diseases in aerospace medicine and presented aerospace medical dispositions for aviation medical examiners.

Development Plan of Licence Holders Health Management System (항공종사자 건강관리 제도의 발전방안)

  • Han, Bok Soon;Kwon, Young Hwan;Kim, Soo Geun;Choi, Eun Hi;Jang, Joung Soon;Shin, Yun Young;Ha, Yoon
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.67-71
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    • 2019
  • The health of licence holders (flight crew members and air traffic controllers) is recognized as an important element of aviation safety. The medical emergency symptoms that occur during the flight duty period without prior notice can interfere with human performance capabilities and threaten aviation safety. To prevent this, ICAO has been required to conduct a periodic medical assessment process of licence holders including routine analysis of in-flight incapacitation events and medical findings during medical to identify areas of increased medical risk and continuous reevaluation of the medical assessment process to concentrate on identified areas of increased medical risk. The supply and demand of licence holders have become a major issue due to the increase in air traffic around the world, and the pilot retirement age has been extended to 65 years. But, there is no significant change in the aviation medical assessments process. The follow up of the result of medical examination discovered through aviation medical examination is a very important part, but it has not been properly implemented, and the sick leaves and medical inflight incapacitation reporting system should be improved. The management of health risk factors for licence holders must be implemented to prevent aircraft accidents or aviation safety problems caused by health problems. In this paper, we propose the development plan and concrete improvement plan of the health risk management system of licence holders in Korea in terms of aviation safety.

COVID-19 and Aviation Medical Examination (코로나바이러스감염증-19 (COVID-19)과 항공신체검사)

  • Kwon, Young Hwan
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.30 no.3
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    • pp.86-90
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    • 2020
  • Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on our society as a whole. The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis, it is also an economic, social and humanitarian crisis. Considering the dramatic global economic and social impact that the crisis has engendered, the aviation system is standing on the doorstep of rapid transformation. In particular, the impact on the aviation and travel industries is enormous. Air travel to most countries has been suspended and blocked. Looking at Korea's current situation, COVID-19 has wholly changed the aviation industry. As COVID-19 spreads around the world, countries have come up with aviation safety measures. Infectious disease safety measures were established to protect passengers and crew members, and countries with collapsed medical systems extended the validity period for aviation medical examinations. In Korea, on August 11, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport provided guidance on medical measures related to COVID-19 through an official letter of "Notification of cautions for pilots and air traffic control officers (ATCO) when COVID-19 is confirmed". Overseas countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom have announced regulations for aviation medical examination regulations in relation to COVID-19, and have set standards for returning to aviation after COVID-19 is confirmed. In this paper, we would like to investigate the regulations for aviation medical examination related to COVID-19.

Editorial for Vol. 31, No. 1 (편집자 주: 31권 1호)

  • Kim, Young Hyo
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.1-3
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    • 2021
  • In Vol. 31, No. 1, our journal prepared four review articles and two original papers. First, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of our journal, the first review article described the history, development, and recent efforts for the qualitative improvement of the journal. For aviation workers, dizziness is an important disease that can interfere with their work. So, in the second review, we introduced guidelines that aviation medical examiners should be aware of in evaluating aviation workers who complain of dizziness. In the era of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is very important for aviation workers to get the vaccination safely and return to their work. So, Kwon introduced the latest updated guidelines for vaccination for aviation workers. In addition, Kim described the relationship between COVID-19 infection and respiratory allergic disease, and appropriate treatment guidelines. Lim investigated the recent trend of human papillomavirus vaccination for foreigners during the COVID-19 period, and investigated its implications. Finally, Ra developed various programs to strengthen students' global competencies and analyzed their satisfaction.

Analysis of Three Years of Airmen Medical Certificate for Preparing Aviation-related Health Promotion Plan (항공종사자 건강증진활동계획에 반영되어야 할 근거자료: 3년간의 항공신체검사 결과 분석)

  • Han, Bok Soon;Kwon, Young Hwan;Shin, Yun Young
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.40-49
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    • 2020
  • In accordance with ICAO SARPs, the states should implement appropriate aviation-related health promotion for airmen subject to an aviation medical examination to reduce future medical risks to flight safety. We aimed to analyze the results of the aviation medical examination to use as objective evidence for establishing an aviationrelated health promotion plan. The results of the final issuance of airmen medical certificate from 2015~2017 were collected from the e-sky computer system. The 30 cases (0.3%) in 2015, 22 cases (0.2%) in 2016, 38 cases (0.3%) in 2017 were unfit for flight duty. The 34 unfit out of the total 90 cases were renewal physical examinations. The cardiovascular disease was most commonly in 11 cases, followed by 8 tumors, 4 psychiatric diseases, 3 ophthalmic diseases, 2 respiratory diseases, 2 neurologic diseases, 2 otolaryngological diseases, 1 endocrine disease and 1 digestive disease. The results of this study can be used as objective data in aviation-related health promotion plan. The health promotion activities based on objective data can contribute to improving aviation safety by improving the lifestyles of airmen.

Editorial for Vol. 31, No. 2 (편집자 주: 31권 2호)

  • Kim, Young Hyo
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.31-32
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    • 2021
  • In Vol. 31, No. 2, our journal prepared a review article, two original papers, and three case reports. First, autonomous systems are increasingly being introduced in aircraft systems. Therefore, it is crucial that flight crews are trained to adapt and handle these autonomous systems better. Consequently, we discussed crew resource management for handling autonomous systems. The fatigue of aviation workers is one of the biggest threats to aviation safety. Therefore, we analyzed the degree of fatigue in commercial aircraft pilots and evaluated the relationship between fatigue and their workload and the effect of fatigue on sleep. Since obesity has a significant impact on the health of aviation workers, we also comparatively analyzed the prevalence of obesity in Korea and Japan based on the data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We defined cases that are difficult for aviation medical examiners to evaluate. This issue included cases of peripheral dizziness and tinnitus, cases of atopic dermatitis treated with biological agents, and cases of malignant tumors.

US FAA Physical Examination Standards and Amendment of AME Conservation Education: Comparison with Korea (미국 FAA 신체검사 기준 및 AME 보수교육 변화동향: 한국과의 비교)

  • Kim, Young Hyo
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.28 no.3
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    • pp.52-55
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of the aviation physical examination guideline is not only to determine the physical fitness of the aviation workers but also to treat the underlying diseases of the aviation employees effectively and to carry out the optimal aviation duties. As medical science advances, treatment guidelines for various diseases are rapidly changing, and aviation physical examination guidelines need to be revised accordingly. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the change trends of the AME guideline around the world and appropriately reflect it according to the situation of Korea. It is also necessary to continue the training of AME who are required to carry out examinations and certificates by these revision guidelines. Therefore, it would be desirable to analyze the education system of the advanced countries including the US and introduce the advantages of these systems into Korean AME education curriculum. Primarily, with the development of the Internet, various online lectures have been developed recently. Therefore, we first aimed to look at the changes in the current AME guideline of the Federal Aviation Administration. Next, we aimed to discuss changes in the course of the AME refresher course. Finally, we would like to suggest some points to be improved by comparing these AME guidelines and educational programs with those of Korea.

A Study on Fatigue Management of Aviation Maintenance Mechanics-Focusing on Shift Workers (교대근무 항공정비사의 피로관리 연구)

  • Kim, Chun-Yong;Choi, Se-Jong
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.61-65
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    • 2020
  • In the case of aviation maintenance work, several kinds of shift works are performed during day and night, and a lot of works are performed on the ramp due to the characteristics of the aircraft flight schedule. Maintenance workers are often exposed to the sun or in cold temperatures for aircraft maintenance works. The fatigue risk of the maintenance workers will be weighted. In particular, the work at night shift under normal biological rhythms can make maintenance workers feel sleepy during daytime work. It can also affect the safety of aircraft and individual workers. Accordingly, this study will consider fatigue-related previous researches in the field of aviation maintenance, review the effects of shift work, and how fatigue affects aviation mechanics during the day/night shifts. Considering these factors, we tried to present a plan that can minimize the fatigue of aviation workers through this study.

The Role of Aviation Medical Examiners in the Diagnosis, Treatment and Aeromedical Assessment of Patients with Allergic Rhinitis (알레르기 비염 진단 및 치료, 항공업무 적합성 평가에 있어 항공전문의사의 역할)

  • Kim, Young Hyo
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.66-69
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    • 2020
  • Since allergic rhinitis is a disease with a very high prevalence, it is common to find patients with allergic rhinitis among aviation workers. However, they are so afraid that the report of rhinitis will have a negative effect on the evaluation of one's work suitability. Therefore, aviation medical examiners (AMEs) must be able to accurately understand the nature of allergic rhinitis, and confidently explain that appropriate treatment of rhinitis has a positive effect on their performance. In the treatment of allergic rhinitis, there are some medications that may cause drowsiness, which may impair the accuracy and safety of the aviation service. Therefore, AMEs should accurately know safe drugs that do not cause drowsiness and prescribe them to patients. In addition, it is necessary to know exactly whether air workers may receive the latest treatments for allergic rhinitis, such as surgical treatment and immunotherapy, and be able to recommend these treatments appropriately. Therefore, in this paper, we first briefly describe the pathophysiology, genetics, causative antigen, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of allergic rhinitis. We also aimed to discuss safe medication and other treatment modalities for allergic rhinitis.

Artificial Intelligence in Aviation (항공분야의 인공지능)

  • Hyun, WooSeok
    • Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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    • v.29 no.2
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    • pp.59-66
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    • 2019
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) born in 1956 is a general term that implies the use of a computer to make intelligent machines with minimal human intervention. AI is a topic dominating diverse discussions on the future of professional employment, change in the social standard and economic performance. In this paper, I describe fundamental concepts underlying AI and their significance to various fields including aviation and medicine. I highlight issues involved and describe the potential impacts and challenges to the industrial fields. While many benefits are expected in human life with AI integration, problems are needed to be identified and discussed with respect to ethical issues and the future roles of professionals and specialists for their wider application of AI.