Medical evaluations on the KC-135 1990 flight report summary

This document representsthe medical investigations completed on the KC-135during Fiscal Year 1991 in support of the development of the Health Maintenance Facility and Medical Operations. The experiments, consisting of medical and engineering evaluations of medical hardware and medical procedures,were conductedby both medicalandengineering personnel. The hardware evaluatedduring this time period included prototypes of a crew medical restraint system and advanced life support pack, shuttle Orbiter medical system, airway medical accessory kit, supplementary Extended Duration Orbitermedical kit, and a surgical overhead canopy. The results of these engineering evaluations will be used to design flight hardware and to identify hardware-specific training requirements. In addition, the following procedures were evaluated: transport of an ill or injured crewmember at ManTended Capability, surgical technique in microgravity, transfer of liquids in microgravity, Advanced Cardiac Life Support using Man-Tended Capability Health Maintenance Facility hardware, medical transport using a model of theAssured Crew ReturnVehicle, andevaluationof delivery mechanisms for aerosolized medications in microgravity. The results of these medical procedure evaluation flights allow for a better understanding of the types of procedures that can be performed in a microgravity environment. These efforts estimate the time required to complete specific medical tasks, identify microgravity-specific problems which will need to be resolved, identify medical operational problems with instrument configuration, and provide a better understanding of what will need to be included in the training programs.