Medical support of Air Force flights during the years of the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)

Abstract

Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a harmony of dynamic medical monitoring of flight crews broke. Intense combat activities of flying personnel in difficult combat conditions required a new approach to the organization of medical monitoring of the health of flight crews. Annual examination of aircrews by medical-flight commissions was canceled. The main form of medical monitoring of the health and fighting capacity of flight crews during 1941–1943 were periodic medical examinations carried out by physicians of combat units. Combat flights contributed to the rapid development of depletion of physiological reserves of the organism, and therefore an organized rest period of 5–10 days became available to fighter aircrews after 100 hours of combat raids and bomber aircrews after 200 hours of combat raids, with subsequent return to their units. Flight technical personnel with compromised health status after ensuring 200 sorties had to be referred to holiday homes for up to 15 days. In addition, a day-off was provided to flying and technical personnel of the army for every 10 days of flight operations. In August 1944, army aviation hospitals were organized and medical-flight commissions started to conduct medical-flight examinations. Since January 1945, doctors of aviation units had to conduct special cards for persons with compromised health. Individual cards helped to study pilots’ health depending on the flight load and combat activities over time.