Examine the influence of normobaric hypoxia on pilot*s* SA and performance of flight related procedures.
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Other condition
Synonym
Health condition
Oxygen shortage in body tissue
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
The influence of normobaric hypoxia on helicopter pilots' situation awareness.
Secondary outcome
The pilots' self-perceived state of alertness
Background summary
During military helicopter operational flight pilots must maintain a high level
of performance which is essential for flight safety and mission success.
Hypoxia is an external stressor which is present (to a greater or lesser
extent) during military helicopter flights where the use of supplemental oxygen
at altitude is not common. While situation awareness (SA) was identified as an
essential skill during operational flight, there is very limited data available
concerning the influence of hypoxia exposure on pilots SA. In addition, to our
knowledge there is no published literature that specifically examined the
effect of hypoxia on pilots SA during simulated flight.
Study objective
Examine the influence of normobaric hypoxia on pilot*s* SA and performance of
flight related procedures.
Study design
This study will be a counterbalanced, single blinded, within-subjects repeated
measures design
Intervention
Two flights will be flown, in one the pilots will be breathing normal air (sea
level) and in the other a gas mixture of 11.4% ± 1% oxygen. The equivalent
altitude of this condition is calculated to be 15,000 feet (4572 meter). The
condition in which the pilots breath normal air is considered as control.
Study burden and risks
We expect the risks in the presnet study to the participating pilots to be very
small. The pilots will be exposed to normobaric hypoxia (hypoxia that occurs
without a reduction in barometric pressure). This technique has medical safety
advantages because it eliminates risks * such as decompression sickness and
inner ear problems * associated with an altitude chamber*s reductions in
barometric pressures. Pilots of Royal Netherlands Air Force receive hypoxia
training every five years. Therefore, they are familiar with the symptoms of
hypoxia. In addition the pilots will not be exposed to extreme altitudes or
additional risks compared to the normal hypoxia training they follow during
their flight career. It is expected that during exposure to the simulated
altitude the pilots can experience hypoxia related symptoms. However we expect
the simptoms to venish after the pilots start breathing ambiant air.
Each pilot will spend a total of six hours participating in this study, this
includes the familiarization and test sessions. The six hours are deviided over
two days. Before and after each flight the pilots will fill in a short
questionnaire containing a question regarding their level of alertness.
Kampweg 53
Soesterberg 3769DE
NL
Kampweg 53
Soesterberg 3769DE
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
1. Subjects are pilots of the Royal Netherlands Air Force
2. Male
3. Age 22-55
4. The pilots need to pass thier mandatory medical examination and be declaired
"fit to fly"
5. Pilots need to have at least 3 years experience in the Apache helicopter
back seat and have a minimal of 400 flight hours.
Exclusion criteria
1. Pilots exposed to altitudes higher than 8000 feet for a period longer than
one week in the three months prior to the research.
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
No registrations found.
Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL68139.018.19 |