Much has been said about how medicine should strive to emulate the enviable safety record of the aviation industry. This has led to a thorough examination of how the two “industries” compare and contrast.
One of the more interesting comparisons was published in the MJA last year:
It is said the medical profession should learn from the aviation industry, which has a much better safety record. This is possibly because pilots get a mandatory 8 hours’ sleep. They also have to rest between shifts, for longer than the hours worked. Pilots do everything in duplicate to ensure accuracy. Most importantly, the pilots know that if their passengers are going to die, they are going to die too. So, I think it is high time that medicine looks into emulating the aviation industry.
However – before we doctors start to feel too downtrodden, we should remember what we do better than the aviation industry:
For instance, all airline passengers (possibly except those in the front with the free French wine) are expected to exit the plane in the same condition as they entered. In medicine, we expect that they will leave in better condition. In this regard at least, the airlines should learn from us.
And, of course, it is this altruistic aspect of our work that renders too strict a comparison futile.
What about this idea of fitting your own oxygen mask before helping others? Just imagine if all doctors treated themselves first and then looked after the young, old and disabled.
Read the full article here.
Nair BR. Flying and medicine: mutual lessons. MJA 2008; 189 (11/12): 676 [fulltext]
About Chris Nickson
A new revelation -- planes and sick human beings are not the same.
* Human physiology: Not all humans are the same, unlike similar model planes. We have many variations and respond in sometimes unexpected ways, deviations that pilots would not be able to cope with.
* Humans don’t have nice flashing lights that tell you when things are malfunctioning, and where. We have several dozen problems, from the sublime to the life-threatening that manifest in “my tummy hurts” or “my head hurts”.
* Planes can be rescheduled if things go wrong. With humans, when things go wrong its called an emergency, you have to schedule it in *now* and its not the safest but it may be life-saving so we’ll do it anyway, anytime.
* Human anatomy: Like human physiology, human anatomy has many variations. Just to add some humour in the mix, most things in the human body aren’t nicely colour coded, or follow the same path each time. The most important things are often the hardest to find, and the easiest to cut by accident.
* Pilots don’t feel compelled to act in the best interests of the plane. They don’t lay awake at night wondering whether they did the right thing by their plane, whether the plane will come out better or worse as a result of their diagnosis or intervention. There’s a distinct human factor in medicine that can be negated in aviation because your only aim with a hundred passengers is to return them to ground level in much the same condition as when you took off.
Yes, there are similarities between aviation and medicine. Some disciplines of medicine are more similar to aviation than others (Anaesthetics, for example is far more comparable -- you want them to wake up to the same level of consciousness as when you put them to sleep). But there’s many differences that are simply ignored by those who control numbers and funding. Those that don’t work at the coalface will never know the emotional toll the human element can have upon the doctors and nurses that work here.
Whilst the methods used in aviation safety may be worthwhile as an aspirational goal for medicine, its self-defeating to say medicine should be on a par with aviation -- this will never be true.
Great summary Ruth -- couldn’t agree more!
Great summary Ruth -- couldn’t agree more!
Great summary Ruth -- couldn’t agree more!