AsMA News

Association News

February 2012

Highlights of the AsMA Council Meeting
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Holiday Inn – Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA

The AsMA Council Meeting was called to order by Dr. Fanancy Anzalone, President, who thanked all present for t heir attendance. The Council Minutes from May, 2011 were approved.

One of the highlights of the meeting was that The Flying Physicians Association was approved as an affiliate of AsMA (see article on page 76 of the January 2012 issue of ASEM).

2012 Annual Meeting: The May 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting will be focused on Travel Medicine in response to feedback provided in post-meeting surveys from the 2011 Anchorage meeting. Dr. Anzalone announced an Executive Committee decision to move the Armstrong Lecture from the historical Thursday afternoon time of 2:00–3:00 PM to the new Thursday morning time of 8:30–9:30 AM. The move from afternoon to morning was made in an effort to improve attendance at the Armstrong Lecture. Free Wi-Fi was arranged with hotel for all attendees. All association activities are in the one hotel this year. There are skyways and walkways from the hotel to shopping and restaurants and MARTA. Attendees can get to the hotel from the airport via the MARTA (metro transportation).

Membership: There is a downward trend, mainly a result of Emeritus Members (450-460), several who do not attend AsMA, have passed on, or are very difficult to contact. Those contacted were notified of the new $50 dollar fee. Many responses were positive and pleased of the new ability to vote Today we have ~100 paid Emeritus Members. We expect the membership to drop some more as the Emeritus Membership Database is updated. The Executive Director estimates the total paid membership following the Emeritus process will be around 2,200.

Membership Survey Result—Ability for members to pay all [Constituent] dues at one time via AsMA website: website requires significant improvement to facilitate the process. ED will work with website designers and appropriate committees.

IMPak Update—Members can enter AMA Medical Education ID Number, AOA Member Number or AAFP Identification Number into their AsMA record. Medical identification numbers will not be provided during a member database search unless the member has authorized the numbers to appear during searches. Members can upload a photo into their membership record now. Members can enter spouse’s name in their AsMA record. Spouse’s name will not be provided during a member database search unless the member has authorized that name to appear during searches.

Finances: AsMA finances are projected to finish 2011 in the black. The Anchorage meeting was a great success with a net profit of $438K. The budget for 2012 was approved. This budget includes funds for an audit and for a new website design with increased functionality.

Investments—Our investment advisor (UBS) has done very well. Results are 6% better than the peer/reference group. Adjustment of registration fees helped.

501(c)(3) IRS Status—The Executive Director and AsMA Legal Counsel completed application with the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission to incorporate. Application was approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission on August 26, 2011. Now the IRS will review application and decide whether AsMA qualifies for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status as a charitable scientific and educational organization. If approved, approximately 60% of the dues will be tax deductible. Financial donations would also be tax deductible. We expect to learn the IRS findings by May 2012.

Bylaws: Proposed changes to AsMA Bylaws will be published in the March issue along with the current bylaws so that they will be available at the annual meeting for discussion.

Journal: The Journal doing very well. There are approximately 100 manuscripts in the pipeline. The Instructions to Authors were recently revised. There will be a Publishing Workshop held at AsMA 2012, Atlanta. Sarah Pierce Rubio, assistant to the Editor, has retired. She was thanked for her great service to the association. Over 100 applications for the position were received. Dr. Bonato introduced the new Assistant to the Editor, Debra Sventek.

2012 Scientific Program and Meeting: Dr. Saenger presented some statistics on the abstract process. More than 90 members agreed to participate in the peer-review group. The abstracts were divided into 6 tracks with 21 individual areas. The abstract submission site opened on 6 September 2011 and closed on 31 October. There were 547 abstracts submitted from 34 countries, of which 157 abstracts were posted the last day and 100 more abstracts in the days following the deadline. Breakdown: 547 abstracts from 34 countries including 58 panels, 173 slides, 77 posters, and 3 workshops. The numbers are within historical range. After review, the breakdown was as follows: Total Accepted 536: 2 workshops (10 abstracts) 52 panels (289 abstracts), 83 posters, 144 slides; 21 rejected (4% rejection rate).

Aerospace Human Factors Committee:
Membership Survey Result—There is a need for increased human performance and life support focus (LSBEB/AsPS/AsHFA/IAMFSP/Aerospace Human Factors Committee) & Human Systems Integration Exploratory Committee (AsHFC & LCDR Foster). Col. White has made contact with all the constituent organizations and received positive feedback from all on the survey. Will continue working with organizations and LCDR Foster. It was noted that the HSI community is looking for “a professional home”, e.g., as a separate group or incorporated into another group that would be focused on human performance. Also, a v irtual journal on HSI was suggested, which Dr. Bonato, Editor, is currently exploring for execution.

Education & Training Committee: The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences requested AsMA CME accreditation for a 2-hour course on Nutritional Supplements. The Committee submitted a draft process for reviewing and approving/disapproving enduring materials for AsMA CME accreditation. After a lenghthy discussion, the proposed process for reviewing enduring materials for CME credit was approved.

History & Archives Committee: Dr. Walter Dalitsch is now the Committee Chair as Dr. Mohler has retired. The committee is working on a project regarding Space Medicine History and Chronology—a long term project—and have identified a subcommittee which will peer-review the product.

Science & Technology Committee: Having an AsMA Speakers Bureau was presented as an idea through the Fellows Group. There was very positive response from many Fellows. Council recommended moving forward with formally establishing the Speakers Bureau. Association Headquarters will work with S&T committee to develop. Sign-up tables will be made available at the Atlanta meeting.

Corporate Membership Committee: The Committee continues to work on a tiered membership structure and benefits package for Corporate Members. They are working closely with the Affiliate regarding a Speakers Bureau lecture series and recruitment efforts.

Awards Committee: Dr. Belland thanked his co-chairs, members of the committee, and others for their dedication. He followed with a discussion of the new Goldenrath Award, the only cash award offered by AsMA, thanks to a $100 K bequest from the Goldenrath family. Said award, though focused on Aerospace Physiology, it is not an Aerospace Physiology Society award; it is inclusive of all disciplines and nominations are encouraged.

Outreach: ED continues to manage numerous unsolicited queries from concerned travelers and physicians managing difficult medical cases in patients scheduled to travel. ED reaches out to Association members to provide expert answers. This is a great public service process.

Air Transport Medicine (ATM) Committee: A new paper on Deep Vein Thrombosis—Guidelines for Passengers is under review. The ATM Committee has begun the process of updating these three publications: AsMA Medical Guidelines for Airline Travel (2003); Medical Guidelines for Airline Passengers (2002); and Useful Tips for Airline Travel (2005). The USAF Residency in Aerospace Medicine program director expressed interest in assisting the ATM Committee in updating these documents.

Communications Committee: “Dr. Aero” (online discussion bulletin board) Update—AsMA legal counsel provided the following legal disclaimer: “Disclaimer—Neither the Aerospace Medical Association staff nor its members are able to provide medical diagnosis over the internet. If you have medical concerns about flying, you need to be evaluated by a doctor who can provide you professional recommendations for flying based upon your condition. Information provided on this forum is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your own health care practitioner.” The disclaimer was approved and the ED will purchase the bulletin board license and work with the SCUBA Board IT POC to establish the Dr. Aero forum.

Resolutions Committee: Dr. DeJohn stated that the electronic forum now available via IMPak to membership. Electronic forum will allow members to review and comment on draft resolutions.

International Services: There are approximately 100 nations represented in AsMA. The goal is to increase this membership. To this end: 1) a film regarding what is AsMA will be distributed; 2) An international data bank describing international education and meeting opportunities is being prepared and requested for inclusion in the AsMA Website (demonstrated how membership would post the information via a pull-down menu); 3) an announcement about the annual AsMA International Reception and Speaker during the Opening Ceremonies (AsMA 2012) was requested; and 4) a survey of international membership regarding their needs was proposed.

AsMA will sponsor a panel of speakers at the 2012 ECAM in London (November 2012), facilitated by Dr. Bellenkes, former AsMA President. The topic of interest is Space Medicine. AsMA will provide financial support to send a delegation of experts (AsMA members) to 2012 ECAM.

Constituent Reports: Highlights presented by Constituent representatives. Recurring themes: membership is the lifeblood of our organization, including the need to scrub membership lists as well as survey members for their member expectations; panels sponsored; use of social media; collaboration.

New Business: Maintaining Affiliated status with AsMA—ED reported a lengthy list of Affiliated Organizations and many have not had any contact with the Association in many years. Council agreed if Affiliated Organizations are not interacting with AsMA annually, they should be dropped from the Affiliated Organizations list. ED will reach out to all current Affiliated Organizations and attempt to make contact.

Aerospace Physiology Certification—Three members of the Aerospace Physiology Certification Board approved in May 2011 allowed their AsMA memberships to lapse. One renewed his membership once notified. Two chose not to renew their memberships. According to the AsMA Bylaws (Article IX, Section 2.) all members of certification boards are required to be AsMA members and approved by the Council. The Aerospace Physiology Certification Board President selected two new members for the board to replace the two members that had to be dismissed. The Council approved these two new Aerospace Physiology Certification Board members as required by the Association Bylaws: Maj. James W. Davis, USAF, BSC, and Lt. Col. Lance Anniceli, USAF, BSC.

The date of next meeting will be 9:00 a.m. Sunday, May 13, 2011, at the Hilton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, GA.

The full minutes of the meeting are on file at the AsMA Headquarters office.

FAA Issues Final Rule on Pilot Fatigue

U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have announced a sweeping final rule that overhauls commercial passenger airline pilot scheduling to ensure pilots have a longer opportunity for rest before they enter the cockpit. The Department of Transportation identified the issue of pilot fatigue as a top priority during a 2009 airline Safety Call to Action following the crash of Colgan Air flight 3407. The FAA launched an aggressive effort to take advantage of the latest research on fatigue to create a new pilot flight, duty and rest proposal, which the agency issued on September 10, 2010. Key components of this final rule for commercial passenger flights include: Varying flight and duty requirements based on what time the pilot’s day begins; Flight duty period; Flight time limits of eight or nine hours; 10-hour minimum rest period; New cumulative flight duty and flight time limits; Fitness for duty; and a Fatigue Risk Management System. For more information, please see the FAA’s press release, available online from www.asma.org or the FAA website.

Albrecht-Ludwig-Berblinger Prize

Frankfurt, October 29, 2011: On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flug und Reisemedizin (German Society for Aviation and Travel Medicine)/European School of Aviation Medicine, the Albrecht-Ludwig- Berblinger-Prize (Honorarium $20,000) has been awarded to Prof. Dr. John L. Barbur, London University, UK, and Prof. Dr. Matthias Hölzl, Charite Berlin, Germany. Prof. Barbur received the prize for the development of a computerized color vision test system to objectively quantify minimum color vision requirements for professional flight crews. Dr. Hölzl has been awarded for his scientific work related to investigations concerning the head-trunk-coordination and associated proprioceptive systems and stimulus. The annual Albrecht-Ludwig-Berblinger-Prize represents the highest recognition for scientific work in the field of aviation medicine.

International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine – Bucharest, Romania

By Michael Berry, M.D., AsMA Past President and IAASM Past President

For those members of AsMA who may not be aware, The International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine is, as the name implies, an international scientific aerospace medicine organization, somewhat the international counterpart to our U.S. based scientific organization, though smaller. The Academy has a maximum membership of 250 Academicians. The Secretariat of the Academy is located in Quebec, Canada, and is headed by the Secretary General, Claude Thibeault, M.D., a past president of the Academy and also of AsMA. The organization was founded in 1955 through the efforts of a group of prominent aerospace medicine physicians from the U.S, Canada, Great Britain, and France, several of whom had also been President of AsMA. The Academy’s premise is the promotion and search for new knowledge in aerospace medicine, and the contribution to international co-operation among those devoted to education and research in this particular field. At present, there are members from 53 different countries. As part of the Academy’s effort to promote aerospace medicine worldwide, the Academy sponsors an annual International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine that is hosted by an individual country. This international scientific meeting has been hosted by over 40 countries throughout the world, the most recent Congress being in Bucharest, Romania. Our AsMA President, Dr. Anzalone recently mentioned this outstanding Congress in his October President’s Page. As the President of the International Academy during this meeting and the previous one held in Singapore, I want to give you a more detailed description of this meeting in hopes that it will stimulate many of you to consider attending the next International Congress in 2012 in Melbourne, Australia.

The locations of International Congresses are selected by the Academy Executive Council which chooses from various bids for a specific year by countries with an Academy member and a strong desire to hold a Congress. The choice of Bucharest, Romania arose in an interesting though not unusual manner. In 2005, AsMA member and Academy Past President, Dr. Silvio Finkelstein was attending the International Congress in Warsaw, Poland and was introduced to Dr. Marian Macri of Romania by Dr. Elena Cataman (Moldova), a member of AsMA and the Academy. In 2004, Silvio had previously met Dr. Cataman while giving Aerospace Medicine lectures to physicians in Moldova. An immediate friendship developed with Dr. Macri, and he invited Silvio to visit Romania. In 2006, Silvio did so, and after seeing the Romanian Aerospace Medicine Institute under Dr. Macri’s command, the facilities for international Congresses, and the respect the country’s high level authorities had for Dr. Macri, Silvio advised him to submit a proposal to the Academy on behalf of Romania, and bid for an International Congress. The bid was accepted, and the results could not have been more outstanding!

The Bucharest Congress began Monday morning, September 12th, with an exceptional Andre Allard Memorial Lecture presented by Major General (retired) Dumitru Dorin Prunariu, Ph.D. who was the first Romanian Cosmonaut and is the President of the Scientific Council of the Romanian Space Agency. His talk addressed Romania’s background in aviation and space research and described his own space flight in 1981. It set the stage for what proved to be a remarkable scientific meeting, in addition to wonderful cultural and social experiences over the next 3 days. The John Ernsting Panel followed the Allard Lecture, with excellent presentations on the theme of Global Response to Public Health Threats. The scientific sessions that followed on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday were in the areas of aviation cardiology, aeromedical standards, psychology and psychiatry, hypoxia and altitude, disorientation, aviation orthopedics, aeromedical evacuation, and general clinical aviation medicine. There were 299 attendees from 57 different countries, and 93 papers were presented by slide or poster. The papers were all rated by the attendees as good to very good, with the cardiology and vision topics being the most popular.

Wednesday of a Congress is traditionally devoted to technical tours and lectures. These are always very popular and give the attendees a unique experience of the country visited. In Bucharest, one of the tour choices was The National Institute of Aerospace Medicine, where we toured an altitude chamber, a hyperbaric chamber, a spatial disorientation demonstrator and trainer and a night vision lab. I attended this tour and was greatly impressed by all that I saw. Those interested in military matters visited an Air Force base, with a static aircraft display, a modern MEDEVAC helicopter and an IAR 330 PUMA simulator. Those interested in Air Traffic Control visited the Romanian Air Traffic Services Administration’s modern facility.

Social and cultural events are always a special part of International Congresses. In addition to the new scientific knowledge, and personal contacts gained, these often prove to be the source of the most special memories that one brings home from a Congress. As the President of the Academy, the Singapore and Bucharest Congresses were certainly singular experiences for me. A special memory from Bucharest was the abundance, richness, and variety of food provided, and its beautiful presentation at every event from the poolside Welcome Reception on Monday evening with a chamber music group providing entertainment, to the BBQ lunch in the Snagov Palace of the prior Romanian President, to the truly exceptional Gala Dinner and closing ceremony on Thursday night. This particular event was a sumptuous five course dinner, lasting until midnight, with each course interspersed with varieties of excellent entertainment and dancing. It was a fantastic evening.

Special tours were available to accompanying persons that visited the city of Bucharest, the National Military Circle (a truly remarkable and impressive building, inside and out), and The Village Museum. In addition, there were pre- and post-Congress tours available offering varying experiences of the many aspects of Romanian culture and geography. These were to the Danube Delta (the area where the Danube River empties into the Black Sea); to mountainous areas of Sinaia, Bran Castle (Dracula Castle), and Brasov; to Bucovina (northeastern Romania) and the Painted Monasteries.

The Bucharest International Congress was a credit to the organizers, headed by Dr. Marian Macri, and assisted by Dr. Silvio Finkelstein. They are to be commended for a great scientific and cultural experience. The Congress provided all that it promised, and more, to those of us who were lucky enough to attend. I would highly recommend to all of you to attend, and experience an International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine. It will be an experience you will not soon forget, both scientifically and culturally. The next Congress will be in Melbourne, Australia, September 16 to 20, 2012. The venue is exceptional and I know the organizers have planned an exciting time for all. The web site for this Congress is www.icasm2012.com. Make your plans now!