Sunday, November 17, 2019

Physiological Issues in UAS


We all know that some drugs may compromise a pilot’s ability to control the aircraft and/or adversely affect judgment and decision making. The difficulty comes for investigators in trying to quantify the known detriment that comes with various medications and the physical conditions that require their use. The Federal Aviation Authority. The FAA has provided pilots with a list of medications that are generally safe when used to treat a common ailment (GO) and those that are not (NO-GO) (FAA, 2019). Under these guidelines, FAA says to avoid medications or ingredients that are Sedating or having a Hang-over effect. Such medications can include brompheniramine, Benadryl Dayquil Advil PM, Tylenol PM which contains diphenhydramine.
When conducting UAS operations and one needs to take OTC medications, it is generally safe to follow dosing intervals suggested by the FAA. The dosage interval suggests that If a medication says to take it 4 times per day, the dosing interval would be 6 hours and the wait time after the last dose would be 30 hours (6 hours x 5 = 30 hours). Therefore, the UAS operator can continue operation after the 30hours.
Fatigue, irritability, confusion, and other changes to your mental state such as a brain fog, which is usually characterized by memory problems, lack of mental clarity, poor concentration, and inability to focus which will make any operation of the UAS unsafe.
Reference
FAA. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/2018/media/SE_Topic_18-10.pdf

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