Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Lieberknecht | 180108-N-AO823-024 PENSACOLA, Fla. (Jan. 8, 2018) - More than 300 aeromedical...... read more read more
PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- More than 300 aeromedical specialists attended a weeklong conference onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, which ended Jan. 12, designed to provide participants the latest information regarding aerospace medicine.
The annual United States Naval Aeromedical Conference (USNAC) was hosted by the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI), which welcomed several guest speakers and presenters in the Navy Medicine community to discuss a wide variety of topics.
Rear Adm. Sara A. Joyner, Physiological Episode Action Team (PEAT) lead, kicked off the conference as the keynote speaker and reminded attendees that USNAC 2018's main focus included the research and testing involving physiological episodes such as hypoxia.
Hypoxia is a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching tissues in the body, and can carry symptoms of confusion, rapid heart rate and shortness of breath. Last year, Navy pilots training in the T-45 and pilots flying the F/A-18 Super Hornet and even the new F-35 have reported physiological episodes as a result of oxygen deprivation.
"I am looking at a group of people in front of me who are capable of fixing this, understanding this, and getting to the root cause," said Joyner. "What I would love this week is for you all to brainstorm how you can assist Naval Aviation in overcoming these challenges."
Overall, USNAC was geared toward active-duty and reserve occupational flight surgeons, senior medical officers, dental officers, ship nurses, medical administration officers, and aerospace medicine technicians (AVTs). The conference worked as a platform for participants to learn the latest in aerospace medicine; receive briefs on emerging technology; discuss challenges facing carrier and air wing personnel; develop courses of action to improve aeromedical support to fleet, fleet Marine force, and joint warfighters; and hear firsthand from senior leadership.
One specific presentation was hosted by Lt. Cmdr. Leisa Deutsch, department head of hyperbaric medicine at NAMI, who presented on when recompression therapy for special interest physiologic episodes should be considered. This discussion was part of several briefings showing how complex categorizing and treating physiological episodes (PEs) can be.
"It is a collaborative effort across Navy medicine to include the diving medicine community to offer the best available insight into treatment for these episodes," said Deutsch. "The explanation for these PEs is constantly evolving, and it is an exciting and challenging time to be involved."
Topics of discussion also included battle readiness in the medical field, radiation health, and clinical and ancillary services. The wide range of topics covered throughout the week met the goal of the meeting, according to Capt. Joseph LaVan, officer-in-charge at NAMI.
"This conference is a unique opportunity to bring together Aeromedical professionals from all disciplines to share information, get the latest updates and learn best practices from around the fleet," said LaVan. "It is one of the most operationally relevant medical conferences around, and we do our best to provide a highly relevant, information-dense conference every year. Turnout continues to increase, so I think that means that we are meeting the needs of our attendees.”
NAMI is a component of Navy Medicine Operational Training Center (NMOTC), which reports to NMETLC, the sole point of accountability for Navy Medicine education, training and logistical support. NAMI, NMOTC and NMETLC are all part of the Navy Medicine team, a global health care network of Navy medical professionals around the world who provide high-quality health care to more than 1 million eligible beneficiaries. Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ships, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield. For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy. For more news from Navy Medicine Education and Training Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/nmsc/.
| Date Taken: | 01.12.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2018 14:56 |
| Story ID: | 263264 |
| Location: | PENSACOLA, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 257 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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