Flight Medicine

I am frequently asked by friends and family, what it is that I am doing here in Montana. When I tell them I am a Flight Surgeon, almost universally they ask, What is a Flight Surgeon? I think it is a fair question, since before I became one, I didn't know what they did either. So in explanation, I thought I would explain a little about my job, and some of the things I have done in the last 20 months.

A Flight Surgeon is an active duty primary care doctor primarily for pilots and their families, although here at Malmstrom, AFB I also take care of Missilieers, firefighters, the Red Horse Squadron, F-16 pilots of the ANG in town, and a few others. We are considered Human performance specialists or Human weapons specialists. Flight Surgeons are involved in patient care in clinic, but we also are rated Aircrew and are expected to fly regularly with our squadrons. For me that is the 40th Helicopter Squadron. We also work closely with Public Health, Bioenvironmental Engineering, and are considered the Occupational health experts on base. We are involved in emergency response and any in-flight emergency on base. We also work closely with the firefighters and EMT's.

I have really enjoyed flight Medicine, and some of the best parts have been the unique training opportunities. To become a Flight Surgeon I attended a two month fairly intensive course called Aerospace Medicine Primary course (AMP) down in San Antonio at Brooks, AFB. Some of the highlights included flying in a T-6(Texan) turboprop jet. I was able to get some stick time and did some loops, rolls, etc, and pulled some good G's. It was awesome. I also qualified for the F-16 in the centrifuge after enduring multiple episodes of 9G. It was a lot more brutal than I imagined and I was left with some broken blood vessels and bruises (G-measles). I also participated in a Survival and Evasion course (SERE) where we spent the week eating bugs, rabbits and sometimes nothing, and slept in the dirt, while trying to avoid capture and practice our navigation skills. It was a lot of fun. AMP was a great experience and at graduation we received our Flight Surgeon wings.

Since AMP I have attended a number of other great courses. In Feb 2007 I attended Arctic Survival in Fairbanks, AK. We practiced our survival skills spending the week in -40 to -50 temperatures as we built individual snow shelters and fires and killed a rabbit for food. It was beautiful, but very cold. I had a great time. In the spring I attended an Occupational Medicine course, Mishap Investigations course, Trauma management course, EMEDs course, and later in the fall an Advanced Clinical concepts of Aeromedical Evacuation Course. The Mishap course was very interesting as we analyzed and reviewed previous Air Force aircraft accidents and discussed their cause and ideas to prevent them occuring again. We also learned some investigational skills/methods, as Flight Surgeons are board members in Aircraft Mishap Investigations. Unfortunately, a few weeks after returning from this course, I was an eyewitness and medical responder to the Canadian Snowbird (Canadian equivalent to the Thunderbirds) accident after a plane crashed during their practice for the Malmstom AFB air show. I was involved in the Interim Safety board and helped gather information we passed off to the the Canadian Investigation team.

One of the best parts of being in Flight Medicine, and being at Malmstrom AFB, has been flying with the 40th Helicopter Squadron and participating in Search and Rescue. I have had the opportunity to participate in numerous Search and Rescue operations (SAR's) this past summer, some of which involved high mountain operations. As the Flight Surgeon, I am the one that rides the Hoist to pick up patients in the stokes litter (stretcher)or on the penetrator (three prong seat.) Riding the hoist is a lot of fun. I have really enjoyed the beauty of Montana. We fly in some pretty spectacular areas around the state. This has really been one of the highlights of my job.

This Spring I attended a global medicine course at Brooks, AFB which was extremely interesting. Some of the highlights included touching a live Gabon Viper and an Indian Cobra. The snake handler let them go and move about the room. I also attended a Wilderness medicine Course at Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah, where I learned a lot of great stuff, and the highlight of course was the snowboarding.

Most recently, I returned from a course called "Top Knife" at Luke AFB, AZ. This was a two week course where the first week was spent getting oriented to the cockpit and fundamentals of an F-16, and learning the basics (very basics) of how to fly and dogfight in an F-16, with a few simulator lessons to practice our skills. The second week was devoted to flying backseat in the F-16. This was an unbelievable experience. I was able to fly during the day, and at night with Night vision goggles (NVG's). The pilot gave me some stick time and allowed me to fly an instrument approach. We practiced fighting maneuvers, targeting and dropping bombs and shooting missiles. Flying in an F-16 was incredible. The purpose of the course was to better enable us to understand the mental and physical stressors of the pilots we take care of, and to make us more proficient in the back seat if an emergency does occur. I feel extremely lucky to have had this opportunity.

So, hopefully this explains a little about the life of a Flight Surgeon, and what I have been doing here in Montana. Sorry if it is a little verbose, but this will likely serve as my only journal and blog entry for the year. For those of you who don't already know, I finish my active duty tour in June of 2009, and have already signed a contract at Penn State for their Anesthesiology Residency program which is three years.