Stephen Geri relays information about a recent Medical News Daily article concerning medical care in space.

1. M E D I C A L S TA N D A R D S I N S PA C E
S T E P H E N G E R I :

2. As the spaceflight
industry continues to
develop, many civilians
are wondering how we
can secure the safety
and health of space
passengers who will
witness both
physiological and
environmental
challenges that we do
not see here on Earth.

3. Because this is an ever-growing field, medical
care standards need to be considered for
various types of spaceflight.

4. According to an article recently published by Medical News Today,
Professor in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford University, Scott
Hubbard, says “‘Medical constraints are the most important
discriminators in determining who in the general population can be a
spaceflight participant,” (Experts Consider Medical Care Standards for
Civilians in Space).

5. • In addition, the article
comments on how various
types of space flight requires
different medical standards.
• Thus, it is difficult to allocate
a general standard of
medical care for a wide
variety of space vehicles.

6. Both suborbital and orbital flights should be considered as
offering a wide variety of risks and challenges to humans who
travel in space.

7. According to the Medical News
Today article, “Among the factors to
be considered in developing
medical care standards for civilian
space flights are that suborbital and
orbital flights pose different risks
and challenges to the human body
and will likely require different
codes of medical practice, skills,
equipment and materials,” (Experts
Consider Medical Care Standards
for Civilians in Space).

8. This means that
motion sickness,
pressure suits, and
oxygen masks must all
be considered in
terms of equipment
needed for these
flights.

9. Furthermore,
professional,
medically-trained staff
will likely be a factor
in determining health
precautions when it
comes to orbital
tourists flights,
especially since a
majority of the
passengers will not be
trained in emergency
equipment and
treatment.

10. • Medical News Today states
that, “The authors point to
the factors that the NASA
medical standards address
in order to provide the
proper level of care for
different space missions.
They suggest that these
should also be considered
when establishing medical
standards for commercial
spaceflight,” (Experts
Consider Medical Care
Standards for Civilians in
Space).

11. • These factors include the type and duration of the mission, the
objectives of the mission, providers of health and medical care and
what level of training they have received, the pre-flight health status of
those on board, medical risk of illness or injury, time required to return
back to Earth to receive medical treatment, and the level of accepted
medical risk.
• For more information on the anticipated medical care standards for
space travel, please read Medical News Today's article here.