Personal protective equipment

 

Having the right personal protective equipment is important  but it is only part of good risk management



• “Concern for man himself and his safety must always for the chief interest of all technical endeavors.” -Albert Einstein
• “Anyone who believes that they have common sense has simply forgotten who taught them what they know.” – Alan Quilley
• “A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.” Proverbs 22:3
• “What is now proven was once only imagined.” Hindsight is a wonderful thing but foresight is better, especially when it comes to saving life, or some pain! – William Blake

Personal Minimums

Your Safety Reserve

Developing Your Personal Minimums

Susan Parson

In formal terms, personal minimums refer to an individual pilot’s set of

procedures, rules, criteria, and guidelines for deciding whether and under what

conditions to operate (or continue operating) in the National Airspace System.

While this definition is accurate, it tends to describe the product rather than

explain the process. Also, the formal definition does not really convey one of the

core concepts: personal minimums as a “safety buffer” between the demands of

the situation and the extent of your skills. I like to think of personal minimums as

the human factors equivalent of reserve fuel, which is intended to provide a safety

buffer between fuel required for normal flight and the fuel available. In the same

way, personal minimums should be set so as to provide a solid safety buffer

between the pilot skills and aircraft capability required for the specific flight you

want to make, and the pilot skills and aircraft capability available to you through

training, experience, currency, proficiency and, in the case of the airplane,

performance characteristics. Just as in making fuel calculations, you shouldn’t

consider making a flight that requires use of skills at the “reserve” or worse,

“unusable fuel” level of your piloting skill and aircraft capability.

Here’s one systematic approach to developing your own personal minimums.

Step 1 – Review Weather Minimums. The regulations define weather flight

conditions for visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR) in terms

of specific values for ceiling and visibility. IFR means a ceiling less than 1,000

feet AGL and/or visibility less than three miles. Low IFR (LIFR) is a sub-category

of IFR. VFR means a ceiling greater than 3,000 feet AGL and visibility greater

than five miles. Marginal VFR (MVFR) is a sub-category of VFR.

Step 2 – Assess Your Experience and Comfort

Level. Think through your recent flying experiences and make a note of the lowest

weather conditions that you have comfortably experienced in VFR and, if applicable,

IFR flying in the last six to twelve months. This exercise helps establish

your personal “comfort level” for VFR, MVFR, IFR, and LIFR weather

conditions.

Step 3 – Consider Other Conditions. It is also a good idea to have personal

minimums for wind, turbulence, and operating conditions that involve things like

high density altitude, challenging terrain, or short runways. Record the most

challenging conditions you have com- fortably experienced in the last six to

twelve months. You can note these values for category and class, for specific

make and model, or both.

Step 4 – Assemble and Evaluate. Next, combine these numbers to develop a set

of baseline personal minimums.

Step 5 – Adjust for Specific Conditions. Any flight involves almost infinite

combinations of pilot skill, experience, condition, and proficiency; aircraft

equipment and performance; environmental conditions; and external influences.

These factors can compress the baseline safety buffer, so you need a structured

way to adjust for changing conditions. Consider developing a chart of adjustment

factors based on changes in the PAVE checklist factors - Pilot, Aircraft,

enVironment, and External Pressures. When you have comfortably flown to your

baseline personal minimums for several months, you can con- sider adjusting to

lower values. Two important cautions:

• Never adjust personal minimums to a lower value for a specific flight. The time

to consider changes is when you are not under any pressure to fly, and when you

have the time and objectivity to think honestly about your skill, performance, and

comfort level.

• Keep all other variables constant. If your goal is to lower your baseline personal

minimums for visibility, don’t try to lower the ceiling, wind, or other values at the

same time.

Step 6 – Stick to the Plan! Once you have established baseline personal

minimums, “all” you need to do next is stick to the plan. That task is a lot harder

than it sounds, especially when the flight is for a trip that you really want to make,

or when you are staring into the faces of disappointed passengers. Here’s where

personal minimums can be an especially valuable tool. Professional pilots live by

the numbers, and so should you. Pre-established numbers can make it a lot easier

to make a smart no-go or divert decision. In addition, a written set of personal

minimums can also make it easier to explain tough decisions

to passengers who are entrusting their lives to your aeronautical skill and

judgment.

 Susan Parson (susan.parson@faa.gov, or @avi8rix for Twitter fans) is editor of FAA Safety

Briefing. She is an active general aviation pilot and flight instructor

January 2015

FYI

The Squadron Meeting on Friday February 6, 2015 is devoted to Safety

Please try to make this meeting!!

December

HOLIDAY SAFETY

Water Christmas trees daily 

Water fresh trees daily . Place trees away from heaters, fireplaces and candles, and keep pathways to exits clear.  More Tips .

Turn Off Lights

Consider switching to new LED lights that are cooler and use less electricity.  Turn off lights when you leave the house or go to bed.

Blow out candles

Always blow out candles before leaving the room or going to sleep.  Burn candlesinside a one-foot circle of safety, free of anything that can catch fire.

Stand by your pan; put a lid on it 

Cooking is the #1 cause of fires during the holidays, and most commonly occur when cooking is left unattended.  so Stand by Your Pan and always stay in the kitchen when cooking.  Take a timer with you when baking.  If a pan catches fire, Put a Lid On It to smother the flames and then turn off the heat.

Space heaters need space 

Keep space heaters at least 3 feet away from anything that can burn like curtains, upholstery, or holiday decorations.  Keep warm, keep safe this winter.

Keep matches and lighters out of sight and reach of children 

Children may imitate adults lighting candles and using matches and lighters.   Keep them out of reach of children and preferably on your person.

Know how to get out

Develop and practice a home fire escape plan  with 2 ways out and a meeting place outdoors.  In a fire, get out and stay out of the house and call 911 from a cell phone or neighbor's house.

Have working smoke alarms

You need working smoke alarms  on every level of your home and outside all sleeping areas.  Replace smoke alarms if they are over 10 years old.

Have working carbon monoxide alarms 

Carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless gas that can quickly kill you.  Replace any carbon monoxide alarms over seven years old.

Use extension cords wisely

Extension cords should only be used as a temporary connection.  Don't overload them and match the cord to the appliance.  Never put cords under rugs as this can damage the cord and cause a fire.  More electrical fire safety tips.

Smoke outside

Encourage smokers to do so outside, and provide them with a proper ashtray such as a can with sand in it.  Many fires are started by the improper disposal of smoking materials both indoors and out.

Drink responsibly

Keep a close eye on anyone cooking or smoking while under the influence of alcohol .  Alcohol is often a factor in fatal fires.

November

July

Automated External Defibrillators (AED) Introduction

Although advances in emergency cardiac care continue to improve the chances of surviving cardiac arrest, cardiac arrest remains a leading cause of death in many parts of the world.

Each year, almost 350,000 Americans die from heart disease. Half of these will die suddenly, outside of the hospital, because their heart stops beating. Most of these deaths occur with little or no warning, from a syndrome called sudden cardiac arrest. The most common cause of sudden cardiac arrest is a disturbance in the heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation.

Ventricular fibrillation is dangerous because it cuts off blood supply to the brain and other vital organs.

The ventricles are the chambers that pump blood out of the heart and into the blood vessels. This blood supplies oxygen and other nutrients to organs, cells, and other structures.

If these structures do not receive enough blood, they start to shut down, or fail.

If blood flow is not restored immediately, permanent brain damage or death is the result.

Ventricular fibrillation often can be treated successfully by applying an electric shock to the chest with a procedure called defibrillation.

In coronary care units, most people who experience ventricular fibrillation survive, because defibrillation is performed almost immediately.

The situation is just the opposite when cardiac arrest occurs outside a hospital setting. Unless defibrillation can be performed within the first few minutes after the onset of ventricular fibrillation, the chances for reviving the person (resuscitation) are very poor.

For every minute that goes by that a person remains in ventricular fibrillation and defibrillation is not provided, the chances of resuscitation drop by almost 10 percent. After 10 minutes, the chances of resuscitating a victim of cardiac arrest are near zero.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, usually known as CPR, provides temporary artificial breathing and circulation.

It can deliver a limited amount of blood and oxygen to the brain until a defibrillator becomes available.

However, defibrillation is the only effective way to resuscitate a victim of ventricular fibrillation.

Chain of Survival

CPR is one link in what the American Heart Association calls the "chain of survival." The chain of survival is a series of actions that, when performed in sequence, will give a person having a heart attack the greatest chance of survival.

The first link in the chain of survival is immediate recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system by calling 911 (check your community plan, some communities require dialing a different number).

The next link in the chain of survival is to perform early CPR, with an emphasis on chest compressions until a defibrillator becomes available.

Following early CPR, the next link is to provide rapid defibrillation. In many areas of the country, simple, computerized defibrillators, known as automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, may be available for use by the lay public or first person on the scene.

Once the EMS unit arrives, the next link in the chain of survival is effective advanced life support care. This involves administering medications, using special breathing devices, and providing additional defibrillation shocks if needed.

Medical Author: Joseph Sciammarella, MD, FACP, FACEP

Medical Editor: Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

June 2014