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Medicine
Any over-the-counter medication whose name ends in "ine" should be checked in a flight medical examiner for use before flying. Beware of any medicine that is supposed to make you feel better. At altitude the effects may be damaging to flight safety. Medicine taken is just as likely, even more likely, to be the basis for grounding a pilot than is the ailment itself. Medicinal side effects are both variable and unpredictable. Virtually all medications have side effects. Never take a medication for the first time and then fly. Make the safe decision if you are sick.
Alcohol
FAR 61.15 requires you to report within 60 days any vehicle action involving drinking and drugs. This is in addition to you admission on the medical questionnaire. The report must include full identification, address, certificate number, type of violation, date of conviction or administrative action (plea bargain), the State, and whether this is part of a previously reported action. In an FAA enforcement action, the FAA will argue the strictest interpretation of the FARs.
Carbon Monoxide
The blood cannot absorb oxygen when carbon monoxide is available with its 200 times greater affinity to hemoglobin. A smoker's CO poison level is from three to ten percent which means that they can retain this poisoning for a half day which is COs half life.
A pilot is most likely to become CO poisoned because of heater muff leak. Symptoms are initially being able to smell exhaust fumes. A feeling of sluggishness, warmth and tightness in the forehead that is followed by a headache occurs in sequence.
CO reduces ability of blood to carry oxygen. Symptoms are similar to hypoxia. Headache, drowsiness, dizziness should initially be corrected by opening outside air vents. First, everything that is happening feels as though it is happening far away. You feel sick to your stomach and get very sleepy. Things lose their importance. Problems cannot be solved. Recovery takes considerable time.
Carbon monoxide exists as an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas resulting from incomplete combustion. CO is lighter than air and mixes quickly. For the thousand accidental deaths there are three and a half times as many suicides. Ten times as many survive as die accidentally. CO has a half-life of five hours in the living. Dead, CO lasts for three days.
Given the choice between carrying oxygen or carbon monoxide our red cells will chose CO 200 to 1 oxygen. This differential causes hypernic hypoxia by a low oxygen release to the cells and tissues of the body. The toxic effects initially cause the brain to increase the respiration rate. At 10% there are no appreciable effects but your are functioning at sea level as though at 5000'. At 20% we lose night vision, display shortness of breath, have a headache and tingling in the extremities. At 30% the previous symptoms become more pronounced along with vomiting, difficult in making decisions, irritability, and flushing. At 40% all of the above plus disorientation and unconsciousness. Brain damage and death follow. At 60% breathing ceases followed by death. Any CO poisoning requires that the NTSB be informed of crewmember inability to perform.
Most CO accidents are cause by heater defects where the muff about the exhaust pipe has leakage. The best defense besides continual inspections is to have CO detector detectors.
Is poisoning due to the exhaust fumes resulting from carbon burning with insufficient oxygen to produce complete oxidation. The resulting gas has one atom of carbon and one atom of oxygen. CO is odorless, colorless and cannot be tasted. CO poisoning may not be distinguished from fatigue or hypoxia except that the occurrence can occur at any altitude.
Engine exhaust in an aircraft has 7% CO. Very small amounts of CO over a period of time will reduce a pilot's ability to fly safely. It is the length of exposure as well as the amount that makes the critical difference. Susceptibility to CO poisoning increases with altitude due to the propensity of CO to enter blood. CO is 200 times more attracted to the blood hemoglobin as is oxygen. As little as one part CO to 20,000 (.005%) parts of air is enough to begin the death process of the brain.
Above 10% CO poisoning you will suffer from a headache. Above 20% you will be sleepy and sick to your stomach, HEADACHE, vision and speech problems. You will be incapacitated above 40% and dead at 70%. If you get a headache while flying, open the window and shut off heater.
CO has a half-life in your body of about five hours. It will take a full day to recover. 70% of exhaust system failures result in CO poisoning. CO prevents the hemoglobin from both carrying and releasing oxygen. Antihistamines, alcohol, lack of sleep, or blood deficiency will exacerbate CO poisoning. Prevention of CO poisoning is directly preventable by proper aircraft maintenance. Club aircraft require extra alertness.
If you suspect CO exists in your cabin air as you might smell some engine exhaust fumes.
--Get a detector.
--Put a checklist by the detector.
--Shut off the heater
--Use any oxygen
--Descend
--Land ASAP
--Get medical treatment
--When in doubt, get on the ground.
Cold Weather
Hot or cold temperatures affect the quality of the preflight. In the winter, as your body cools you tend to mentally and physically slow down. Flying in an unheated aircraft in the winter will drastically decrease your flying efficiency and effectiveness.
Dehydration
Human need for 2-4 quarts of water a day. You become thirsty with a deficit of 1.5 quarts of body fluids or 2% of body weight. The deficit causes a reduction in blood volume and triggers thirst. Thirst arrives too late and can be mollified too easily. At 3% of body weight fluid loss fatigue and weakness occurs. Symptoms are headache, sleepiness, dizziness and weariness. Avoid diuretics such as coffee and alcohol. Don't rely on thirst as drinking trigger. Measure fluid intake daily.
Research shows that people told to drink as much as they can, will only take in about half of what they need. Water is the great transporter within your body--nutrients, oxygen, and waste. Water is the medium for chemical reactions it cools and cushions. Our bodies are less solid and more a mobile aquarium in which your organs slosh about. The water in our body weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon and we are more than 50% water. You figure.
We lose two pounds of fluid overnight so drinking before bedtime is beneficial. Even so you are going to be in liquid deficit when you get up in the morning. Chronic dehydration is common. A sedentary lifestyle requires a half-gallon of water per day. Eight x eight ounces, that is. Dehydration makes you tired and listless. The more fit you are the more likely you are to feel these effects because fit people perspire more readily. Those who exercise should over-shoot their water intake by 50% just to break even.
In most cases a sports drink is better than water because they supply carbohydrates and sodium. One chemical provides energy and the other keeps you drinking while helping the body absorb water. The color of your urine is an indicator of the body's hydradration. Lighter is better than darker.
Hyperventilation
Stress, anxiety and fear cause hyperventilation. The person begins abnormal rapid breathing. Reduction of carbon dioxide causes suffocation, drowsiness, tingling, lightheadedness, and coolness. This leads to spasms, incapacitation, and unconsciousness. Symptoms resemble hypoxia. Can be corrected by controlled breathing in a paper bag.