Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-06
Nursing Aviators
Dy Frederic ]. Haskin


/ nautics, who say that our aviatDrs are |
| no more temperamental than any other |
| crowd of healthy, normal young men, |
| living under strain particularly trying /
to the nervous system.
Yet IL is n fact that the aviator is /
much more in need OF careful medical |
attention than the ordinary soldier.
A large proportion OF hrs time ~ spent
at attitudes which cannot give his lungs
the air element so essential To bodily /
vigor. The unnatural postures he Is
compelled at times 20 assume, the attacks
of dizziness which accompany swift
hying, and the debauch Of sensation /
which goes with delicate manoeuyrcs
in the air are not conducive to perfect
nervous and physical equilibrium.
The aviator has become an intricate,
troublesome, highly sensitized piece OF /
mechanism As n master mechanic /
must be provided to care for the air.
plane, so must master mechanic oi
another sort be on hand to care tor the |
aviator.
| Wherefore the government has ap-
pointed o special corps Of doctors and
trainers for the work of caring for and
conditioning the flyers. The doctors
are known as flight surgeons" and the
trainers are ranked as physical directors
ACCIDENTS DUE TO NERVES.
II is now believed by the Bureau of
Military Aeronautics that an alarming
percentage Of airplane accidents ls due
to nervousness or other disorder on the
part Of the flyer II il also believed
that great number Of men have boen
] admitted TO the aviation schools who,
through nervous and physical defects,
are untitled for the hazardous task Of
flying IL will be part Of the duty OF
the flight surgeon" 10 detect such men
and recommend their transfer TO another
branch Of service.
Each cadet who has won his wings
m the air service IS now required 70
pass newly instituted heart, ear, eye,
and lung test Of the most rigid sort,
before being commissioned ~ a flying
officer This test ia the result Of long
study and experimentation at the Halle
hurst Field Medical Research Laboratory,
Mincola n r. The test, hereafter,
will be conducted by the doctors APP
pointed as fight surgeons It will also
be their duty to institute such measures
as rest periods. recreation, and temporary
excuses from duty. The flight surgeon
il to live in close contact with the flyer,
and to discover and analyze his Idiosyn-
! ! Cracies.
Even those flyers who are most perfect
air 2O,O0D feet up without severe strain,
and it has been found that many seasoned
pilots cannot undergo quick changes
in altitude, occasIoned by climbing and
diving, without similar strain. Because
the danger of submitting these men TO
actual flight tests was too great, the
Medical Research Laboratory under
took 10 devise a ground test which would
give the same result
nERE IS THE TEsT.
The test they evolved IS conduct cd
IN the following manner. The piiot,
with his nnstrils plugged 30 that he
cannot breathe through them, IS placed
in a room with his examiners. An APP
paratus connected by tubes 10 q tank
Of air is placed at his mouth. Each
breath taken by the pilot Is measured
| bv instruments, and at various stages
an analysis il made OF the air. ffis ex-
halations are taken into another tank
and relieved OF carbon dioxlde, and then
brought into the first tank. Thus the
amount Of oxygen in the tank IL gradually
reduced, duplicating the air conditions
| of high attitudes The examiners, all
of them specialists, keep careful watch
on his heart, pulse and blood pressure.
Every three minutes a test Is taken q
the eyes
The pilot under test Is compelled 70
give the same careful attention to business
as if he were guiding a plane tabi
with several small electric light bulb
Is put in front of him, and every tiv'
seconds one OF the bulbs IS lighted
: The pilot must extingIlsh 1t instantly
: All of his DELAYS and errors are carefully
: checked by observers.
! At the side OF the pilot Is an amrneter
: similar to the speed dial OF plane.
I Throughout the test the pilot must
I keep the indicator OF the dial at q constant
! point The point is changed by the
examiners from time 70 time, and the
I niiot must make an immediate correction
7 Both the ammeter and the electric
light bulbs he must control with has
I right hand while his left Is used for the
registration of his blood pressure. With
I a foot treadle. something like that of
an auto accelerator, he must keep the
motor of an electric fan at constant
/ speed.
DROwSINEss a SYMPTOM.
The test requires about thirty minutes.
Toward the end the pilot usually be
/ comes drowsy from lack of oXygen-the
same effect .ls that produced at attitudes
I where the oxygen Is cOTrespondlngiy
| scarce. This condition IS indicated in
I the action of his heart, eyes, ear and
! brain. lie Is apt to let the motor slow
down or miss entirely his control of the
I electric bulbs If his pulse or respiration
becomes too abnormal, he Is released
I from the test.
Bv these tests the classification Of
the pilot is determined The first class
I is composed of men who can endure
an altitude of more than 20, ,00Ofe without
I fatigue. There are but few such pilots,
I and most of them will be designated
I TO drive pursuit planes when they reach
the front. The second class includes
I men who eau endure the attitudes Of
I from $4,000 TO 10000 feet, The third
7 class consists of those who may fly
t between 10000 and 5000 feet. The
! fourth class includes those who fly from
+ the ground to 5000 feet. The test how
I ever. is not final criterion. Future
I tests may shift the pilots from one class
: to another.
One fact brought out by the tests
IL that there were and perhaps still are,
MANY men in the aviation camps un-
fitted 10 become flyers at all. In some
u -