Image copyright NASA SPL On board the International Space Station has not yet happened is nothing wrong from a medical point of view. But what if you still one of the crew members of the ISS is seriously ill? And whether there is an episode useful for terrestrial medicine, get any doctors in the world an invaluable new experience?
When the British astronaut Tim Peak went in December to orbit, he knew that he received medical training lasting 40 hours giving it is enough knowledge to cope with the most common diseases in the course of his six-month stay at the station.
In addition to the skills of immediate relief, he had been taught and sew small wounds, injections and even to pull teeth.
Believe in NASA, this course is sufficient to prepare the members of the station crew to the most frequently occurring on board the ISS health problems – how to overcome nausea at zero gravity, to cope with a headache, back pain, dry skin, burns and tooth pain.
But what happens if, God forbid, at the station someone gets sick more seriously?
The choice is small
First aid kit on board the ISS – a rather modest scale. It contains a set of emergency aid, a large book with a description of major diseases and some useful devices and equipment, including a defibrillator, portable device ultrasound, two liters of saline solution and a special optical device for eye research.
Although the product ultrasound is capable of producing very sharp images of internal organs and send them to Earth for diagnostic on board the ISS there are no conditions for the surgery.
Dr David Green, who teaches space medicine at the University of Kings College in London, points out that in the case of serious illness of his crew members will need urgent evacuation to Earth with the help of the Russian “Soyuz”, which is docked to the station. It will take about three and a half hours. But it may have its own problems.
“At the ISS there are limited conditions for treatment, but” Union “such conditions and do not have. When entering into the atmosphere during landing overload can reach 4-5 units . Even a healthy person it is not easy to make, and the patient in serious condition will have very bad “, – he says.
A few months before lifting into orbit the health of crew members and future members of his family begins to follow a special doctor with specialized surgeon. This observation goes on during the flight, and in the months after.
At the center of the control group of physicians constantly monitors the status of the crew, collecting data on their physical activity and nutrition aboard the station.
According to Dr. Green, resulting in the risk of seriously ill during the flight is very insignificant, but nevertheless it is 1-2%.
Contact Earth
Doctors interested in what will happen in this case, also because the experience will be valuable not only to the inhabitants of the ISS, but also in many similar circumstances.
Dr. Fred Pope of the University of Maryland in the United States spent a lot of time in emergency departments in hospitals of Haiti and South Sudan. According to him, received on board the ISS lessons will prove valuable to many health professionals working in remote rural areas in the world.
According to him, the conditions on the ISS and in many poor countries, which are not developed health services are a lot in common.
He was witnessed in hospitals where there was no running water and electricity, doctors saved the patients, placing them quick diagnosis using ultrasound scanners.
“This is a simple method of investigation that revolutionized medicine, – he said. – It allows you to look inside the body “.
According to Dr. Pope, the use of telemedicine or distance methods of treatment when the doctor talks to the patient via video or just by phone , should be extended to countries that do not have enough doctors.
Medical instruments and devices that are available on board the ISS, as required compact, economical and easy to handle. These requirements also apply in remote areas in the world.
That is why NASA and the European Space Agency offered its medical development physicians and scientists working in the world.
It is also about new methods education and training of medical personnel. 40 hours of training, which was held by Tim Rush, may be useful in the preparation of the people who will work in the conditions, for example, sub-Saharan Africa, where there are no qualified doctors.
Medicine deep space
The problem will become even more relevant in future deep-space missions – to the Moon, Mars and asteroids.
Of course, the crew in these missions can include medical professionals. But even their presence in outer space does not guarantee success in the delivery of emergency assistance.
The fact that the holding of a major surgical operation in microgravity conditions is that it is impossible. The human body is three-quarters of the water. Blood and other fluids released during operation will fly inside the ship or the station in the form of globules, infecting other members of the crew and the ship.
Scientists in the US are experiencing a new device that looks like a clear plastic bubble, which is attached patient’s body at the site of injury and is filled with saline. This device can be used to stop bleeding.
NASA also plans to use the space as a robotic surgeons. Such a device – Robonaut-2 – is already on board the ISS. It has the ability to perform under the ground control basic medical procedures. In the future, they hope the engineers, this work can carry out and complicated surgery.
Long-term space missions will require a new generation of “smart” medical devices and instruments, pharmaceuticals with a long shelf life, as well as more intensive medical training crew members.
With these flights will have to take into account the huge distance from the spacecraft to Earth, making it difficult to remote diagnosis and treatment because of the delay in the passage of the radio signals.
So, before space medicine there are new and interesting challenges, and their solutions may be useful to the whole of mankind.
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