ABPM Aerospace Medicine cheat sheet

FAA Class I certificate validity: 12 calendar months for airmen under age 40; 6 calendar months for age 40 and older. Class II: 12 months. Class III: 24 months under 40, 12 months at 40+.

FAA Class I/II vision: distant acuity 20/20 or better in each eye separately with or without correction; near acuity 20/40 or better; Class III distant acuity 20/40 or better.

FAA hearing: demonstrate speech at 6 feet in a quiet room in each ear, or audiometry with no threshold worse than 40 dB at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz.

FAA disqualifying conditions include epilepsy, psychosis, bipolar disorder, substance dependence, and unexplained loss of consciousness; certification may be possible by special issuance waiver.

The AME performs the airman medical examination, issues the certificate when standards are met, and defers or denies when findings require FAA review.

Medication grounding rule: sedating antihistamines, opioids, and other impairing drugs preclude flying until the drug's effect has resolved and the condition is stable.

Color vision deficiency may result in a certificate limitation such as no night or color-signal duties unless an acceptable alternate test is passed.

Aeromedical certification decision rule: apply the condition-specific FAA guide, document stability and treatment, and request special issuance when standards are not met.

Alveolar oxygen: PAO2 = (PB − 47) × FIO2 − (PaCO2 / R); at altitude, falling PB lowers PAO2 even when FIO2 remains 0.21.

Dalton's law: total pressure equals the sum of partial pressures; oxygen partial pressure, not percentage, determines hypoxia risk.

Time of useful consciousness at FL350 is about 30–60 seconds; at FL400 about 15–20 seconds; at FL450 about 9–15 seconds.

Boyle's law: gas volume is inversely proportional to pressure; trapped gas expands during ascent and contracts during descent.

Henry's law: dissolved gas is proportional to partial pressure; rapid decompression can cause nitrogen bubbles and decompression sickness.

Unprotected +Gz tolerance is roughly 4–6 G; the anti-G straining maneuver and anti-G suit can add about 1–2 G of protection.

Decompression sickness treatment: 100% oxygen and recompression; return to flight only after complete resolution and medical clearance.

Cabin altitude is normally maintained at or below 8,000 ft; supplemental oxygen is required when cabin pressure altitude exceeds regulatory thresholds.

OSHA noise: permissible exposure limit 90 dBA as an 8-hour TWA; action level 85 dBA; exchange rate 3 dB, so 85 dBA/8 h equals 88 dBA/4 h and 91 dBA/2 h.

Noise dose: D = 100 × (C1/T1 + C2/T2 + …), where C is actual exposure duration and T is allowable duration at each sound level.

ICRP occupational radiation: effective dose 20 mSv/year averaged over 5 years, with a maximum of 50 mSv in any single year.

Confined space oxygen: safe range generally 19.5–23.5% by volume; below 19.5% risks hypoxia, above 23.5% increases fire risk.

WBGT combines dry-bulb, natural wet-bulb, and black-globe temperatures; work-rest cycles and water intake are set from WBGT and metabolic rate.

Hand-arm vibration: ISO 5349 uses frequency-weighted acceleration and daily exposure time to assess risk of vibration white finger.

Laser hazard: nominal ocular hazard distance depends on power, beam divergence, and wavelength; eye protection must match the laser wavelength.

Chemical exposure limits: TLV-TWA is an 8-hour average; TLV-STEL is a 15-minute short-term limit; IDLH is immediately dangerous to life or health.

Circadian low: alertness and core temperature reach a nadir around 0200–0600, increasing error risk during early-morning and overnight operations.

Sleep inertia: reduced performance for 15–30 minutes after awakening; it is worse after awakening from slow-wave sleep and after sleep deprivation.

Vigilance decrement: detection performance declines during prolonged monitoring, often within 30 minutes, and is worsened by fatigue and low workload.

Yerkes–Dodson law: performance rises with arousal to an optimum, then declines; complex tasks have a lower optimal arousal level than simple tasks.

CRM: crew resource management uses communication, leadership, assertiveness, and workload management to prevent error and improve safety.

Threat and error management: crews anticipate threats, detect and manage errors, and avoid undesired aircraft states through briefing and cross-checking.

FAA Part 117 requires 10 hours of rest before flight duty and limits flight time based on start time and crew composition.

Automation mode confusion: mismatches between pilot expectations and automation state are reduced by mode-awareness training, clear annunciation, and cross-checking.

Microgravity cephalad fluid shift: fluid moves headward, causing facial edema, venous congestion, and altered intracranial and cardiovascular pressure regulation.

Spaceflight bone loss: trabecular bone decreases roughly 1–1.5% per month in unloaded regions; exercise and nutrition are countermeasures.

SANS: spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome includes optic disc edema, globe flattening, choroidal folds, and hyperopic shifts in some astronauts.

Orthostatic intolerance after spaceflight results from reduced plasma volume and vascular tone; fluid loading and compression garments are used.

Galactic cosmic radiation: high-energy charged particles from outside the solar system; shielding is difficult and exposure raises cancer and central nervous system risk.

Remote medicine in space: telemedicine, standing protocols, autonomous crew training, and limited evacuation capability shape treatment decisions.

Isolation and confinement: behavioral health risks include depression, sleep disruption, interpersonal conflict, and cognitive decline; monitoring and countermeasures are required.

Spaceflight medical standards: NASA and partner agencies use physical, psychological, and specialty evaluations with waiver review for selected conditions.

14 CFR Part 67 establishes FAA airman medical standards, examination requirements, and certification procedures.

SMS four pillars: safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion.

NTSB investigates aviation accidents, determines probable cause, and issues safety recommendations; it does not regulate airman certification.

ICAO Annex 1 contains international personnel licensing standards, including medical fitness requirements for flight crew and air traffic controllers.

Aeromedical evacuation planning considers cabin altitude, oxygen partial pressure, gas expansion, vibration, and patient stability.

Research ethics: human-subject research requires IRB review, informed consent, risk minimization, and confidentiality protections.

Occupational health surveillance in aviation includes audiometry, respiratory protection, radiation dosimetry, and immunization programs.

Quality assurance for AMEs includes periodic training, audits, and FAA review of certification decisions and deferrals.