11 December 2014 blog

I have just returned from attending the congress of the Slovenian Society of Aerospace Medicine in Ljubljana, held at the Josef-Stefan Institute.

The meeting was organised by Tomaz Kozelj, President of the Society. I gave two presentations. The first about the history and future direction of ESAM. The second, an AMEs view of the implementation of the new EASA rules in the United Kingdom, and their implications for the future.This provoked a lively debate amongst the delegates.

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11 December 2014 blog

I vividly recall my first meeting with Roland, at Eurocontrol, at a time when my Association was, how shall I put this, rather ambivalent about joining the club. Appearances can be deceptive, and I soon came to recognise a consummate diplomat, who is passionate and energetic about promoting European Aerospace Harmony.

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11 December 2014 blog

Time to write what is likely to be my last blog as Vice President, but don’t worry I plan to continue blogging as President. I say time because that has been rather limited recently, as I have just returned from three weeks in Australia following attending the ICASM in Melbourne, followed very shortly after by a weekend in Dublin attending the last meeting of the current Executive Committee.

The conference was excellent, well organised with good scientific sessions and matched by truly memorable social events. The dinners in the Australian Club and at the Melbourne cricket ground were true ‘fine dining’ and being mistaken for James Bond at the former was the ‘icing on the cake’. Is this not every man’s fantasy?

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11 December 2014 blog

We have received several requests to submit papers for presentation at the 3rd European Conference of Aerospace Medicine, after the deadline of 31st August.
We are aware that the date fell during the vacation period for many authors. To be fair to all, we have decided to extend the deadline until the end of September. ESAM is pleased to be able to offer financial support with expenses in attending the meeting, to succesful authors, of a maximum of 300 euros.
We look forward to receiving your paper, and seeing you at the meeting.

Kevin

11 December 2014 blog
The new EC (except the President) will be elected this year, by electronic voting, and announced at the General Assembly on 11th November. The present EC thought it would be a good idea to outline the roles of the different officers of the EC, for potential candidates, along with some competencies (not all of which are serious!!) Vice-Presidents. Provide support to the President and deputise on official duties when the President not available. May take on specific tasks or responsibilities as decided by the EC. Sombre clothing choice to avoid clash with President essential. Read more ...

11 December 2014 blog
I have just returned from the EC meeting in Budapest. Whatever the guide books say about the origins of the city’s name (Buda and Pest etc.) I believe the true origin must be ‘Hot Oven’ as the temperature was in the 40s during our stay! I decided this was outside my functional temperature zone, as I wilted during supper on Saturday night. It was a relief to return to 17 degrees in Luton airport.
If only it would stop raining………………….I am seriously thinking I should build an ark. Read more ...

11 December 2014 blog
The unusual spell of exceptionally warm weather (for the UK !) seems to have come to an end, and a rainy day gives me a chance to blog about the AsMA meeting, held in Atlanta,Georgia, in mid- May. Read more ...

11 December 2014 blog
The Executive Committee held a very successful meeting in Naples over the weekend of 18-19th February. We are grateful to the inimitable Paulo Tosco for his impeccable organisation of the weekend, not least for the sizeable discounts at the various restaurants we used.

We were joined at the meeting by Patricia Jung, standing in for Andreas Adrian, and Lars Tjensvoll and Anthony Wagstaff, who presented their work on EASA safety groups. Read more ...

11 December 2014 blog
A new year has dawned.....so it is time for the first blog of 2012.

And what a year it promises to be. Olympics in the UK in the summer (I have tickets!), the third European Conference of Aerospace Medicine in November, the wedding of my daughter in June.......and I become President of ESAM. It is difficult to know which of the latter three events is the most scary!! Read more ...

11 December 2014 blog
I have just returned from a fascinating visit to the Interstate Aviation Committee medical meeting in Moscow. A delegation from ESAM of Elena Cataman, Ries Simons, Uwe Stuben and myself attended from 24th to 28th of October. The warmth of the welcome, and generous hospitality, of our Russian hosts more than compensated for the cold Moscow climate.

During the meeting I gave a presentation on the history of ESAM and its future strategy, with a translation into Russian by Elena, who did the same for all our presentations. Uwe gave a presentation on the use of hair analysis in the detection and monitoring of substance abuse in Lufthansa cadet pilots, and the Lufthansa medical services. Both generated much interest and many questions. Ries’s presentation was on pilot fatigue and fatigue risk management. This again was well received and prompted many questions. Read more ...

11 December 2014 blog
As the UK enjoys weather only matched by that experienced in Bucharest at the ICASM conference, it is time to write a blog. Sorry that this blog is a little overdue, not helped by a short stay in hospital, in fact it's written from my bed. I am on the mend!

The ICASM conference was informative and enjoyable, and I must congratulate our Romanian hosts for their excellent hospitality and organisation. Read more ...

11 December 2014 blog
I am returning to the UK from Seville, on a Ryanair flight, as I write this blog. The Executive Committee (EC) had a very productive meeting on Saturday 18th.

Many of us took the opportunity for a couple of extra days in the beautiful and sunny city of Seville, where the temperature touched 38degC at times. We were joined by representatives of Soframas (Patrick Rodrigues) and SEMA (Maria-Jose Martin Utset), as observers, for parts of the meeting. They were able to witness at first hand, the hard work we are doing on your behalf. If you would like a representative of your Society to attend a future meeting, particularly if we are meeting in your area, please make contact with Roland Vermeiren to arrange an invitation. Read more ...

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