II. Preparing for a Physiological Air War: Survey No. 2 by the Committee on Aviation Medicine of Aero Medical Research and Facilities in America (Jan 4–26, 1942)
Authors: Dean Jay B. 
Published: November 2023

America entered WWII on 8 Dec 1941, the day after Japanese Naval aviators attacked the US Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Territory. Three days later, Germany declared war on America. The next month (4–26 Jan 1942), the Committee on Aviation Medicine (CAM) undertook a 2nd survey of America's growing aero medical research programs (NAS Archives: CAM Bulletin, pp. 423–442; CAM Report No. 38, pp. 1–20, 26 Jan 1942). They visited 12 military and academic labs across America. The survey team consisted of the CAM [Drs. E.F. DuBois (Cornell), D. Bronk (U Penn), J.F. Fulton (Yale), E.M. Landis (U Va), W.R. Miles (Yale) & E.C. Andrus (Johns Hopkins)] and 6 liaison officers [Dr. C.H. Bazett (Natl Res Council, Canada), Maj. L.E. Griffis (Office of the Chief of Air Corps), Dr. A.B. Hastings (Comm Med Res), Cdr. E. Liljencrantz (Bureau of Aeronautics, Med & Surg), T.C. Macdonald (Wing Cdr., Royal Air Force), and Dr. C.F. Schmidt (U Penn)]. Special reports were made in the following areas; a partial listing of their recommendations follows: 1) Visual Problems—continue studies of depth perception in flying & tests for night vision adaptation; 2) Decompression Chambers—increase number of chambers on West Coast; 3) O2 Equipment—the Bulbulian No. 14 mask is suitable for immediate use, collaborate with the RCAF on further O2 mask development, develop liquid O2 systems, integrate O2 equipment better with flying clothing; 4) Air Embolism—develop tests for revealing the susceptibility of bends in flying personnel, explore collateral factors that influence the occurrence of bends in susceptible personnel; 5) Pressure‐cabins—continue debating the a) role of O2 equipment in pressurized flight and b) the medical dangers of explosive decompression; 6) Pressure Suits—good up to 53,000 ft but concerns over pilot fatigue; 7) Pilot Fatigue—develop psycho‐motor tests to assess fatigue in flight, drug development for mitigating fatigue, establish conservative limits of flying time/month; 8) Physical Fitness; 9) Acceleration Problems & Centrifuges—2 centrifuges and eventually 3 for “g” tolerance research on man at Toronto, Rochester, and soon Wright Field; initiate objective studies in planes and develop observational methods for recording the response of subjects under flight conditions producing high “g”; 10) Selection, Training & Indoctrination—use of psychological and personality qualifications in pilot selection to reduce attrition rate; increase number of indoctrination programs on use of O2 equipment and the physiological adjustment for altitude flying; include other tests, e.g., visual perception, tolerance for high acceleration and susceptibility to bends; 11) Drugs & Adrenal Cortex in Aviation—expand efforts to synthesize physiologically active steroids of the suprarenal cortex (compound E), determine if compound E and cortical extracts improve animal tolerance to anoxia; 12) Clothing—that clothing should be considered a subject of medical importance & a subcommittee be formed to work on problems of flight clothing (needs to be light, not bulky, flame‐proof, capable of prolonged flotation, easy to remove in case of fire); 13) Crashes & Safety of Flying Personnel; and 14) Library Facilities.

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