Medicals

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Spandau
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Medicals

Post by Spandau »

Any news on whether there will be another round of extensions, or does Transport anticipate being able to do medicals again in Aug?
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7ECA
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Re: Medicals

Post by 7ECA »

I don't have the document in front of me, but didn't it say something along the lines of no medicals until May 1st at the earliest?

Might be worth calling your CAME and seeing if they've been given the go-ahead by TC.
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twa22
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Re: Medicals

Post by twa22 »

https://www.tc.gc.ca/en/services/aviati ... cates.html

So any medical before June 1st is extended until August 1st. Mine expires in July though, so I called around to a few places to see what the status is and for now, still no testing allowed. Apparently there is another extension coming that will go until August 31st... Was told they should be getting an update within the next week

My guess is if TC isn't allowing CAME to do tests, they have no choice but to keep extending, even with the amount of pilots being layed off, those still flying either need to renew or get exempted
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twa22
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Re: Medicals

Post by twa22 »

So that page I posted seems to have expired

This is the latest advisory that's available, dated May 26th

https://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/regs ... n/3300.htm
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Kejidog
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Re: Medicals

Post by Kejidog »

Ya gotta love the goberment and their so called safety standards. It was a violation to fly without a valid medical and a safety violation where ”lives were at risk” 6 months ago. But today a stroke of a pen and presto we’re all just ok to do what we did. Oh my god the hypocrisy. And we all just go along. Makes anyone wonder why we have a standard at all if it can just be superseded at the whim of some “official” hope nobody crashes and kills anyone. Liability is a two way street
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switchflicker
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Re: Medicals

Post by switchflicker »

Kejidog,
Would you rather that all pilot medicals were to allow to be expired and then those pilots grounded until the dangers of the COVID-19 pass?
That will be months. Pilots would lose pay, air service would fail and passengers would be stranded.
Is that a better option?
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"I'd rather have it and not need than to need it and not have it" Capt. Augustus McCrae.
photofly
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Re: Medicals

Post by photofly »

Whether someone is safe to fly isn’t about what anyone wants or doesn’t want, or the state of the industry, or the world. It’s supposed to be an unbiased determination of fact.

If someone was unsafe outside their validity period before the pandemic situation, the unavailability of a medical exam doesn’t make them suddenly safe now. On the other hand, if it is held that they are safe after their medical has expired on the say-so of an official, then that drives a coach and horses through any kind of enforcement of medical validity periods on the grounds of safety both retrospectively and going forward.
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RedAndWhiteBaron
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Re: Medicals

Post by RedAndWhiteBaron »

"Determination of fact" is nonexistent anyway. It's an opinion, albeit a medically informed one, but nothing more.

This "stroke of a pen" is certainly better than grounding every pilot for hire in the country, and TC needs to work with the restrictions put in place. These are what we call emergency measures, and they do not apply to normal times. May I remind you, we are living through a plague of biblical proportions. Because we can do this now does not mean that whole process is bunk and we can therefore do it always. I reject that argument.

Besides, I just got my first class 1 in the mail, I drink and smoke too much, and I didn't hide anything from my CAME. Plenty of less-than-prefect pilots flying besides me, I assume.
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photofly
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Re: Medicals

Post by photofly »

RedAndWhiteBaron wrote: Sun May 31, 2020 8:29 pm TC needs to work with the restrictions put in place. These are what we call emergency measures, and they do not apply to normal times.
Note TC's words, from their own website:
"Our mandate: We work to make our transportation system safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible."

It is, as the OP points out, hypocrisy to say we put safety first, and then not put safety first. "We put safety first except when it's inconvenient to industry and the public" is what their actions say. Or, alternatively, that medical licensing is not a matter of safety after all.

I pass no judgement about whether medical exemptions are a correct and appropriate course of action: but it is undeniable that either medicals are not a matter of safety or TC is not obeying its own mandate.

Furthermore: the only restrictions in place are the one TC itself imposed. There's no impediment to seeing a family doctor or seeking any kind of primary care anywhere in the country, nor has there ever been. In fact primary care is massively under-utilized at the moment because everyone has got the idea that medical services are somehow reserved for COVID-19 patients. That is not the case:
https://globalnews.ca/news/6842023/medi ... -manitoba/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-sco ... -1.5560143
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-doctors-fear- ... -1.4906450

The emergency continues, but the period during which "crisis" measures were appropriate is long gone, now. Business, individuals, and government too have had several weeks to implement new methods and work out how to continue to provide important services, like medicals for pilots. Nothing is going to change for the next several months. Are we going to provide blanket medical exemptions for years on end? What then of "safety"?
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ayseven
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Re: Medicals

Post by ayseven »

As with most things, they are not black and white right now. Otherwise you would never have lawyers.
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RedAndWhiteBaron
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Re: Medicals

Post by RedAndWhiteBaron »

photofly wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 8:17 am Furthermore: the only restrictions in place are the one TC itself imposed. There's no impediment to seeing a family doctor or seeking any kind of primary care anywhere in the country, nor has there ever been. In fact primary care is massively under-utilized at the moment because everyone has got the idea that medical services are somehow reserved for COVID-19 patients.
Well, that's a good point. Even if I'm right on every other point, that one observation basically trumps it all. It should really have never been shut down in the first place.
photofly wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 8:17 am it is undeniable that either medicals are not a matter of safety or TC is not obeying its own mandate.
I don't agree that it's that black and white; safety is a matter of degree. Medicals have been postponed, not cancelled. We can be less safe, but still quite safe, or we'd never have aerobatics, or scudrunning, or departures in inclement weather, or pilots who wear glasses. It's not a binary proposition. The expiration periods are simply arbitrary limitations anyway. Sensible limitations based on sound advice and judgement, but arbitrary nonetheless.

But yes, agreed that we're still in an emergency, but no longer a crisis, and aviation medicals should probably never have been shut down in the first place.
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Pilotdaddy
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Re: Medicals

Post by Pilotdaddy »

It looks like most medicals may be extended to March 2021 simply by phoning in an attestation...

https://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/regs ... FSAzlx2QBI
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dhc#
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Re: Medicals

Post by dhc# »

Anyone having issues trying to open the pdf's in Appendix A ?

I have the latest pdf reader installed but I still get the message below.

Please wait...

If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF
viewer may not be able to display this type of document.

You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by
visiting http://www.adobe.com/go/reader_download.

For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/go/acrreader.
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Pilotdaddy
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Re: Medicals

Post by Pilotdaddy »

dhc# wrote: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:00 am Anyone having issues trying to open the pdf's in Appendix A ?

I have the latest pdf reader installed but I still get the message below.

Please wait...

If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF
viewer may not be able to display this type of document.

You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by
visiting http://www.adobe.com/go/reader_download.

For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/go/acrreader.
It only worked after I installed the reader from your link... make sure it's actually opening the Adobe app, versus whatever default PDF reader it's using (as it was still trying to open with Chrome on my PC... had to force it to open with Adobe Reader, which worked).
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Aviatard
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Re: Medicals

Post by Aviatard »

It says you have to submit the document to the Minister but doesn’t say how that would be accomplished.
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dhc#
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Re: Medicals

Post by dhc# »

From the "instructions" on the ATTESTATION OF FITNESS FOR CIVIL AVIATION
FOR EXEMPTION NCR-062-2020 ...PDF form located in Appendix A.

• One copy of this completed Attestation must be retained by the MC holder with the original MC or ADB.

• A second copy of the completed Attestation must be submitted to the applicable Transport Canada Civil Aviation Medicine (CAM) Regional Aviation Medical Officer

Hope this helps.
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RedAndWhiteBaron
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Re: Medicals

Post by RedAndWhiteBaron »

dhc# wrote: Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:00 am Anyone having issues trying to open the pdf's in Appendix A ?

I have the latest pdf reader installed but I still get the message below.

Please wait...

If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF
viewer may not be able to display this type of document.

You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by
visiting http://www.adobe.com/go/reader_download.

For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/go/acrreader.
Grumble, grumble. The PDFs in question were produced using obsolete software released during a period in which fillable PDF forms used proprietary Adobe extensions, extensions which were deprecated in 2017.

This is a result of a slow moving bureaucracy using proprietary and obsolete software from a shitty company trying to bait and switch you into installing their product.

Long story short, you cannot view this on any iOS device that I am aware of (iPhones and iPads), or any web browser. You need to download it first, and open it with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Grumble, grumble...
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awdriver
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Re: Medicals

Post by awdriver »

Hi guys. My medical expired in February. I am a bit confused with the application of the new rules. Does that mean I cannot do my medical yet? Any ideas? Thanks.
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photofly
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Re: Medicals

Post by photofly »

I’ve always wondered why some PDFs have that problem.
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Scuderia
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Re: Medicals

Post by Scuderia »

Note that the website with e-mail addresses to use for submission has some typos.

The address for Pacific Region bounced. Resent fixing the misspelling of "civil" in the English portion of the abominably long e-mail and it seems to have worked.

https://www.tc.gc.ca/en/services/aviati ... n_medicine
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