Non Standard medicals...
Prior posts are on the money... the whole program is schizophrenic, in need of a dose of lithium.
I held a CAAC medical for 3 checks... was still a major workout each time. They then added an addendum, the Carotid Ultrasound. Was done by a relatively ham fisted nurse at the CAAC base hospital. The crushing of one carotid, vs the light tough on the other was notable, as was the variation.. follow up, "need CTA". CTA= CAT Angiogram. No thanks. Next? OK, we will do a GE Lightspeed (Sestarmibi) instead... will accept that one. Still done at CAAC hospital. "you have a slight buildup... less than the ICAO/JAA/FAA standard... now do CTA. refer prior answer, no thanks. "But you cannot fly without a medical..."
Contacted a friend who is a vascular surgeon, who both conducts and has had a CTA conducted on him by another vascular surgeon. "DO NOT DO IT... unless your life depends on it..." The surgeon has a point, the statistics are people do die from perforation of the heart, at a non insignificant rate, and about 3 times more have mini strokes as a direct consequence of the procedure. The surgeon has a case in point, his own, where his heart was perforated, and he crashed in the operation, took 6 months to recover. Note that the CAAC doctors are GP's not vascular surgeons, and you cannot do this test with anyone else.
When I returned home, I visited the surgeon and redid the carotid as a risk management measure. He used high resolution doppler imaging, and got very low (surprisingly) measures of plaque buildup, about the same as the average 20 year old, and nowhere near what would be expected for one of my age/condition. The CAAC is happy to attempt to force healthy crew undergo invasive and risky testing, and irrational surgery (yes, some guys have gone off and undertaken stents on healthy systems to satisfy the CAAC docs... stents are good for about 10 years, and you get one redo, then you get to have a triple bypass... or die, your choice...).
Given that only 1/3rd of heart attacks are related to the vascular system, not too sure that the CAAC is in the business of risk management, as much as crowd control.
OTOH, the good news is that in my current duties, I now get a chance to inspect B- registered aircraft invading our airspace instead. What goes around, comes around.
The company I was with was fighting hard to make way within the CAAC system, they had their faults, but they are under constant attack by the inmates that have escaped and achieved positions of power in the CAAC system. Their local FOI's observing the ATPL flight test were a testament to the inexorable rise of incompetence in the CAAC, while innocuous in this case, their competency if C4 would hardly blow your nose. Having spent a lot of time in foreign lands, and worked at various levels in regulatory authorities, and worked with the same, I can honestly say I am impressed that CAAC is not held to account by the states that they launch scuds towards, or by the toothless gecko, ICAO. ICAO is of course not an institution interested in implementation, only establishment of the policies, and practices on the dusty bookshelf. There are competent operators in the PRC, but they are so in spite of, not due to the CAAC.
Final item. The company doesn't support the individual undertaking the CAAC medical, if CAAC stops your heart, and ruins your ICAO licenses, it's up to your insurance etc (if any), not the companies. On declining the invitation of undergoing the guinea pig program of CAAC medical, the company invokes the contract clauses the same day. Of course, the company also declines for 6 months to release your documentation/license etc, which they have no contractual rights to.
I like China, the land, the people and the food, but I am not that keen on what they do with bureaucracy and aviation.
Good luck in the middle kingdom.
Last edited by fdr; 23rd Dec 2012 at 04:41.