Promoting Flight Crew Mental Health Requires International Guidance for Down-Route Quarantine Circumstances

Peer reviewe

Commercial Aircraft-Assisted Suicide Accident Investigations Re-Visited—Agreeing to Disagree?

Background: The number of aircraft-assisted suicides can only be considered a rough estimate because it is difficult and, at times, impossible to identify all cases of suicide. Methods: Four recent reports of accidents occurring in 1997 in Indonesia, 1999 in Massachusetts in the United States, 2013 in Namibia, and 2015 in France related to commercial aircraft-assisted suicides were analyzed. This analysis relied on data extracted from the accident reports that supported aircraft-assisted suicide from the: (a) cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR), (b) medical history, (c) psychosocial history, (d) toxicology, (e) autopsy, and (f) any methodology that utilized aviation medicine. There are some limitations in this study. Although all analyzed accident investigations followed ICAO Annex 13 guidelines, there is variability in their accident investigations and reporting. In addition, accident investigation reports represent accidents from 1997 to 2015, and during this time, there has been a change in the way accidents are reported. The nature of this analysis is explorative. The aim was to identify how the various aircraft accident investigators concluded that the accidents were due to suicidal acts. Results: In all four accident reports, FDR data were available. CVR data were also available, except for one accident where CVR data were only partially available. Comprehensive medical and psychosocial histories were available in only one of four of the accident reports. Conclusion: To prevent accidents involving commercial aircraft, it is necessary to identify the causes of these accidents to be able to provide meaningful safety recommendations. A detailed psychological autopsy of pilots can and likely will assist in investigations, as well as generate recommendations that will substantially contribute to mitigating accidents due to pilot suicide. Airborne image recording may be a useful tool to provide additional information about events leading up to a crash and thus assist in accident investigations

Upper Respiratory Tract Colonization by Gram-Negative Rods in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Analysis of Risk Factors

The aim of the study was to assess the frequency and predisposing factors of colonization of upper respiratory tract by Gram-negative rods (GNRs) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolated strains was determined. A significantly higher frequency of GNR colonization in CLL patients was observed (36.7%) in comparison to healthy volunteers (8.3%). GNR isolates mainly belonged to the Enterobacteriaceae family. Three isolates of GNR demonstrating presence of AmpC β-lactamases and one ESBL-producing strain were obtained from CLL patients. GNR colonization rate was higher among CLL patients with lower level of IgG in serum (P = 0.017), with higher number of neutrophils (P = 0.039) or higher number of lymphocytes in serum (P = 0.053). The longer the time elapsed since diagnosis, the higher the frequency of GNR colonization observed. Multivariate analysis showed importance of the Rai stage, number, and type of infections as independent predictors of GNR colonization in CLL patients

Socjodemograficzne uwarunkowania sposobów radzenia sobie w sytuacjach trudnych przez personel pielęgniarski

The results of coping with problematic situations can be assessed by analyzing physiological responses, motor activities and emotional symptoms. The more effectively a person copes in a problematic situation, the better his/her psychosocial functioning. The adequacy of the selected coping profile affects the state of somatic and mental health. The most important feature of coping should be flexibility – adaptation to changing conditions. The aim of the study was to assess the sociodemographic factors conditioning coping with difficult situations by nursing staff. The study included an 81-member group of nurses. The original “certificate of origin” was used for the sociodemographic characteristics of the subjects studied and the Questionnaire for coping with problems (WCQ Lazarus and Folkman) was provided. The study showed that there is a relationship between dealing with difficult situations by nursing staff and the place of residence, age and professional experience. Individual strategies of coping with difficult situations by respondents do not correlate with gender and education. The respondents most often choose the coping profile described as a positive attitude. Concentration on the problem and a positive attitude have the greatest impact on the psychosocial functioning of the respondents. The skills of coping with problems in difficult situations by nursing staff are partially conditioned by sociodemographic analysis. Interpersonal skills in the field of social communication and immune resources are of great importance. It is necessary to extend the research with the determinants of personality dispositions of nursing staff in order to determine their intra-personal resources, psychosocial – sense of coherence, self-esteem and social support. Obtained information on occupational predispositions may be useful in vocational education and training of nursing staff.Rezultaty radzenia sobie w sytuacjach problemowych można ocenić, analizując reakcje fizjologiczne, czynności motoryczne i objawy emocjonalne. Im efektywniej człowiek radzi sobie w sytuacji problemowej, tym lepsze jest jego funkcjonowanie psychospołeczne. Adekwatność wybranego profilu radzenia sobie wpływa na stan zdrowia somatycznego i psychicznego. Najistotniejszą cechą radzenia sobie powinna być elastyczność – dopasowanie do zmieniających się warunków. Celem badań była ocena socjodemograficznych czynników warunkujących radzenie sobie w sytuacjach trudnych przez personel pielęgniarski. Badaniami objęto 81‒osobową grupę pielęgniarek i pielęgniarzy. Wykorzystano autorską metryczkę dotyczącą socjodemograficznej charakterystyki badanych osób oraz Kwestionariusz radzenia sobie z problemami (WCQ Lazarus i Folkman). Na podstawie wyników badań stwierdzono, że istnieje zależność pomiędzy radzeniem sobie w sytuacjach trudnych przez personel pielęgniarski a miejscem zamieszkania, wiekiem i stażem pracy w zawodzie. Poszczególne strategie radzenia sobie w sytuacjach trudnych badanych osób nie korelują z płcią i wykształceniem

Informationsosäkerhet i en komplex miljö

Syftet med uppsatsen är att skapa förståelse för hur svenska medelstora företag i en föränderlig omgivning hanterar situationer där det krävs information, direktiv och beslut från kinesiska myndigheter. Studien grundar sig på en kvalitativ metod. Vi har genomfört intervjuer med valt fallföretag och utvalda experter. Vidare har litteraturstudier givit oss en teoretisk referensram. Uppsatsen har resulterat i ett praktiskt och ett teoretiskt bidrag. Det praktiska bidraget består av en manual rörande tillvägagångssätt för att erhålla information och direktiv från kinesiska myndigheter. Det teoretiska bidraget gestaltar en ”metodbrygga” mellan två teorier