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Maritime industry medical standards enforcement needs more work, Part 2

Physicians are also instructed to ensure that mariners 1) are in sound health, 2) do not have any physical limitation hindering job performance, 3) can stay physically and mentally alert for 4 to 6 hour shifts and, 4) are not at risk of “sudden incapacitation, which would affect operating, or working on vessels.”

Among the list of physical requirements for merchant mariners stated on the Coast Guard exam form are:

-Stepping over doorsills of 24 inches in height.
-Pulling heavy objects, up to 50 lbs. in weight, distances of up to 400 feet.
-Climbing steep stairs or vertical ladders without assistance.

Yet, according to many mariners, physicians rarely if ever ask them to perform basic tests of physical exertion.

“I’ve never been told to lift any weights or exert myself in any way during any of my Coast Guard physicals,” said Alex, an able bodied seaman from Missouri who did not want to give his last name.

In fact, of 12 mariners polled for this article, nine of them said they had never had to perform any physical exertion tests of any kind, two stated that they were asked to run in place for 30 seconds, and one said he was put on a treadmill at a slow pace for 30 seconds.

The San Francisco Bay Area pilots are not the only associations coming under scrutiny. However, despite assurances by several other pilot associations to strengthen safety policies, little or nothing has been implemented to crack down on pilots physically unfit for the demands of their jobs.

According to Paul Kirchner of the American Pilots' Association (APA), pilots know the physical demands of their career and need no outside supervision to enforce compliance.

Apparently, Mr. Kircher does not feel that the late Lynn Deibert and other pilots of questionable fitness pose a threat to their own safety.

Deibert was listed at 5-10 and 302 pounds in his physical exam taken six weeks before his death. The Coast Guard report cited him as having cardiovascular issues and regularly taking several prescription medications with side effects “causing dizziness, low blood pressure, fainting, slow heartbeat and drowsiness."

Boston pilot Robert Cordes was listed at 5-11 and 264 pounds with several medical issues, according to a Coast Guard report. In 2006, he was killed after falling off a Jacob’s ladder and onto a barge.

A 63-year-old chief cook who ships out of the San Francisco area, not wishing to be identified for obvious reasons, told an interesting story that highlights some of the more egregious examples of physician dereliction of duty in enforcing the rules during a recent company physical.

“When the doctor told me to take deep breaths, I could not do so without coughing and gasping for air, because of my serious asthma. The doctor did not want to pass me. But I pleaded with him that I badly needed the money to take care of my family. I was in tears. Reluctantly, he passed me.”

Three months later, he was sent home from the ship with a medical unfit for duty because of severe asthma attacks.

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