Asthma hospital admission
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Asthma hospital admission
Hi,
I'm hoping to start the PPL soon and eventually the ATPL. I have a question about the class 1 and 2 medicals.
As a kid I had asthma but it cleared up completely when I was a teenager. It recurred about 3 years ago (at age 26) and was fairly mild, I used a bricanyl inhaler as necessary, but no preventitive inhaler. One evening, about 3 years ago, I had quite a bad attack and after 3 puffs of the bricynal it wasn't really helping so I went to casualty and had a dose of ventalin on a nebuliser. Since then I've been regularly taking becotide and haven't had another attack like it.
On the CAA webpage it says:
There is a minimum period of 5 years since the last acute attack, and no significant hospital admissions.
Would this count as a significant hospital admission and disqualify me from getting a medical?
Thanks!
I'm hoping to start the PPL soon and eventually the ATPL. I have a question about the class 1 and 2 medicals.
As a kid I had asthma but it cleared up completely when I was a teenager. It recurred about 3 years ago (at age 26) and was fairly mild, I used a bricanyl inhaler as necessary, but no preventitive inhaler. One evening, about 3 years ago, I had quite a bad attack and after 3 puffs of the bricynal it wasn't really helping so I went to casualty and had a dose of ventalin on a nebuliser. Since then I've been regularly taking becotide and haven't had another attack like it.
On the CAA webpage it says:
There is a minimum period of 5 years since the last acute attack, and no significant hospital admissions.
Would this count as a significant hospital admission and disqualify me from getting a medical?
Thanks!
Yachtsman,
My medical circumstances sound somewhat similar to yours.
Like you, I had quite a severe attack out of the blue one hot Summers evening a few years ago, and had to go to hospital for an hour on the nebuliser (after which i was fine).
The nurse told me that the steriod inhalers (Ventolin, Salbutamol) can actually make the attack worse if they are overused. I imagine that is why the label you get with the prescription says "2 puffs at a time".
I have a Class 2 and have been totally honest about my very occasional asthma.
My medical circumstances sound somewhat similar to yours.
Like you, I had quite a severe attack out of the blue one hot Summers evening a few years ago, and had to go to hospital for an hour on the nebuliser (after which i was fine).
The nurse told me that the steriod inhalers (Ventolin, Salbutamol) can actually make the attack worse if they are overused. I imagine that is why the label you get with the prescription says "2 puffs at a time".
I have a Class 2 and have been totally honest about my very occasional asthma.
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Phone the CAA and speak to one of the aeromedical advisors. They answered all my questions and were very helpful, offering advice and suggestions on things to do before taking the medical. This was for the class 1. Explain to them, as you have done here, your circumstances and they will tell you whether it is considered as a significant admission or not.
It would be worth your while going straight for the class 1 if you intend to go onto the CPL/IR as without this you won't be going anywhere in a commercial sense. If you did fail the class 1 (hopefully not) then a class 2 may still be issued if you meet those requirements.
It would be worth your while going straight for the class 1 if you intend to go onto the CPL/IR as without this you won't be going anywhere in a commercial sense. If you did fail the class 1 (hopefully not) then a class 2 may still be issued if you meet those requirements.
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As a slight aside, my wife has asthma and was on steroids for much of her childhood. She carried out the Buteyko breathing method (a course) and has been drug free for 5 years. Better for long term. Tends to be frowned upon by docs as they don't like alternative medicine. Technique involves breathing through the nose to regulate amount of CO2 expelled. Reduces overbreathing.
Hope this helps somebody....
Hope this helps somebody....
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Hello Yachtsman,
I recently went to Gatwick for my class 1 initial after having suffered a history of asthma. I'll try to impart what I have learnt from the many exchanges I have had with SRG over the matter.
Basically, having asthma will not immediately disqualify you from obtaining a Class 1 medical certificate. It is all about how well your condition is managed. You need to be completely honest with the doctors at SRG about your condition and its history. The first thing I would suggest is to go to your GP. Have him/her write a report on your asthma and all significant events related to it (there is usually a charge for this - it cost me £15). Before you do this make sure you visit the asthma clinic at your practice to have your latest peak flow readings measured.
Send the report down to the SRG at Gatwick and wait to hear back from them. Unfortunately this can take a while as they are a busy group of people. I waited about a month to hear back from them.
They will come back to you and advise you whether or not you may attend the Class 1 initial examination. If they tell you that you can attend, you will have to undergo an examination by a specialist in respiratory medicine on the same day as your class 1. Unfortunately this costs an additional £80. Be sure to book the consultation at the same time as you book your class 1 medical to ensure they are on the same day! They have limited availability and most people don't want to have to make two seperate trips. (They like you to have the consultation first and then if all turns out well you continue on to do the full medical in the afternoon).
If/when you get to Gatwick, as part of the asthma consultation you will almost certainly be asked to do an exercise test. This involes blowing in to a very clever machine that assesses your lung capacity. You then put on your gym kit and run around the car park for 6 minutes, before coming in and blowing in to the same machine again. Then you go sit down for 10 minutes before blowing in to the machine again. Its fairly knackering stuff.
At the time I went down to do mine (several weeks ago) for an unrestricted class 1, your spirometry results (the evil blowing machine) after exercise had to be within 10% of your resting result. This is the way in which SRG assess your likely reaction to certain stressful events which may occur in the cockpit environment (such as depressurization or smoke/fumes).
If you come out of that unscathed then you can look forward to another 3 or 4 hours of being poked and prodded. In fact, the only redeeming part of the process (apart from the lovely people who run the show) was the eye examination. Those who have been recently will know exactly what I am talking about. Yeesh!
V2
P.S
I passed the Class 1 (as long as the chest X-Ray is OK). The two medications described to me by the specialist at Gatwick as preferable and "extremely safe" were beclathomesone and salbutamol (these must be inhaled as oral drugs are disqualifying). I also got the impression that use of the preventative inhaler is viewed rather positively by SRG (as opposed to someone who uses the reliever only).
I recently went to Gatwick for my class 1 initial after having suffered a history of asthma. I'll try to impart what I have learnt from the many exchanges I have had with SRG over the matter.
Basically, having asthma will not immediately disqualify you from obtaining a Class 1 medical certificate. It is all about how well your condition is managed. You need to be completely honest with the doctors at SRG about your condition and its history. The first thing I would suggest is to go to your GP. Have him/her write a report on your asthma and all significant events related to it (there is usually a charge for this - it cost me £15). Before you do this make sure you visit the asthma clinic at your practice to have your latest peak flow readings measured.
Send the report down to the SRG at Gatwick and wait to hear back from them. Unfortunately this can take a while as they are a busy group of people. I waited about a month to hear back from them.
They will come back to you and advise you whether or not you may attend the Class 1 initial examination. If they tell you that you can attend, you will have to undergo an examination by a specialist in respiratory medicine on the same day as your class 1. Unfortunately this costs an additional £80. Be sure to book the consultation at the same time as you book your class 1 medical to ensure they are on the same day! They have limited availability and most people don't want to have to make two seperate trips. (They like you to have the consultation first and then if all turns out well you continue on to do the full medical in the afternoon).
If/when you get to Gatwick, as part of the asthma consultation you will almost certainly be asked to do an exercise test. This involes blowing in to a very clever machine that assesses your lung capacity. You then put on your gym kit and run around the car park for 6 minutes, before coming in and blowing in to the same machine again. Then you go sit down for 10 minutes before blowing in to the machine again. Its fairly knackering stuff.
At the time I went down to do mine (several weeks ago) for an unrestricted class 1, your spirometry results (the evil blowing machine) after exercise had to be within 10% of your resting result. This is the way in which SRG assess your likely reaction to certain stressful events which may occur in the cockpit environment (such as depressurization or smoke/fumes).
If you come out of that unscathed then you can look forward to another 3 or 4 hours of being poked and prodded. In fact, the only redeeming part of the process (apart from the lovely people who run the show) was the eye examination. Those who have been recently will know exactly what I am talking about. Yeesh!
V2
P.S
I passed the Class 1 (as long as the chest X-Ray is OK). The two medications described to me by the specialist at Gatwick as preferable and "extremely safe" were beclathomesone and salbutamol (these must be inhaled as oral drugs are disqualifying). I also got the impression that use of the preventative inhaler is viewed rather positively by SRG (as opposed to someone who uses the reliever only).
Last edited by veetwo; 5th Sep 2005 at 12:35.
