Comparing a pilots work to a Junior Doctor's is disingenuous. Junior Doctors are paid a pittance for the outstanding work that they do, and the fact that they work such dangerously long hours should not be mocked. Perhaps instead Mr Calder could devote his time to something more worthwhile, explaining why pilots have limits to their duty time while the medical profession does not. Pilots work in a safety related profession, as indeed do doctors. Much research has been carried out on the insidious dangers of fatigue. Instead of trying to drag down the standards established over the years in aviation lets try to raise them everywhere to the standard, which is by no means a benchmark, set by aviation.
For those who do not believe that fatigue is an issue the following is lifted verbatim from the pages of the BMJ:
An 8 year old boy was admitted for elective surgery on the eardrum. He was anaesthetised and an endotracheal tube inserted, along with an internal stethoscope and temperature probe. The anaesthetist did not listen to the chest after inserting the tube. The temperature probe connector was not compatible with the monitor (the hospital had changed brands the previous day). The anaesthetist asked for another but did not connect it; he
also did not connect the stethoscope.
Surgery began at 08 20 and carbon dioxide concentrations began to rise after about 30 minutes.
The anaesthetist stopped entering CO2 and pulse on the patient's chart. Nurses observed the anaesthetist nodding in his chair, head bobbing; they did not speak to him because they “were afraid of a confrontation.”
At 10 15 the surgeon heard a gurgling sound and realised that the airway tube was disconnected. The problem was called out to the anaesthetist, who reconnected the tube. The anaesthetist did not check breathing sounds with the stethoscope.
At 10 30 the patient was breathing so rapidly the surgeon could not operate; he notified the anaesthetist that the rate was 60/min. The anaesthetist did nothing after being alerted.
At 10 45 the monitor showed irregular heartbeats.
Just before 11 00 the anaesthetist noted extreme heartbeat irregularity and asked the surgeon to stop operating. The patient was given a dose of lignocaine, but his condition worsened.
At 11 02 the patient's heart stopped beating. The anaesthetist called for code, summoning the emergency team. The endotracheal tube was removed and found to be 50% obstructed by a mucous plug. A new tube was inserted and the patient was ventilated.
The emergency team anaesthetist noticed that the airway heater had caused the breathing circuit's plastic tubing to melt and turned the heater off. The patient's temperature was 108°F. The patient died despite the efforts of the code team.