Jet Setter Health and Safety: How to Improve Your

Performance While on the Go

Fred Etheridge, SMS Sr. Manager

Davana Pilczuk PhD, Corporate Ergonomics Manager

What is Human Performance?

1. What the body is capable of doing

2. How efficient the body is at doing it

Aviation Human Performance

Performance and Stress

* Yerkes-Dodson Human Performance Curve

Biggest Threats to Performance While Traveling:

1. Jet lag

2. Diet & alcohol

3. Physical aches and pains

4. Too many stressors

AUDIENCE RESPONSE QUESTION

Performance Factors:

1. Physical2. Psychological3. Environmental

How do we optimize your performance and reduce your chance of performance error?

Human Anatomy & Physiology

Engine:

Heart

Lungs

Blood vessels

Structural System:

Muscles

Bones

Tendons

Ligaments

Driver Fuel

Stress and The Brain

Prefrontal Cortex: DecisionsJudgementPlanningMoral reasoning

CEO Fightor

Flight Primitive brainActivates stressresponse

Crossing More Than Two Time Zones

• It only takes a few hours of lost sleep combined with business travel to significantly reduce your performance

• Business travelers perceive themselves as performing much higher than they actually did

• Travelers performed best at mid-day and not early morning

• On average, travelers slept only five hours the night before the trip

• Those who exercised during their trip performed 61% better than non-exercisers

• Travelers tend to lose almost eight hours of sleep by the time they return home

Pre-Flight

• Plan ahead

• Sleep kit: ear plugs, eye covers

• Exercise: the day before and eat healthy

• Try and get sound sleep the night before

• Clothing: comfortable, layered and loose fitting

• Stress: be prepared for travel delays

In-Flight

• Get comfortable

• Drink plenty of water

• Avoid alcohol and caffeine: one drink in the air can act like two on the ground

• Naps: short naps on short flights, longer naps on longer flights

How Lack of Sleep Affects Us

3 Distinct Areas Are Affected

Reaction Time

Cognition: how we think, retain memories, process information and make decisions

Emotions: anger, sadness, and frustration are greatly heightened by lack of quality sleep

AUDIENCE RESPONSE QUESTION

Obesity Rates in USA

*Source: Behavorial Risk Factor Surveillance System, CDC.

AUDIENCE RESPONSE QUESTION

Alcohol Affects Your Deep Sleep

1:1 Ratio

5 ounces

=

8-16 ounces

On the Rocks and With Food

(ice will dilute it) (slows the absorption of alcohol)

Skip the Bubbles

Cranberry on the rocks

What to Eat to Help Sleep

AUDIENCE RESPONSE QUESTION

Blood Sugar and the Brain

Low blood sugar

=

cranky, anxious, can’t focus, and prone to fights

Activity and Light

Exercise:

• Reduces cortisol

• Reduces adrenaline

• Produces endorphins

• Levels blood sugar

• Helps with blood pressure

• Helps you sleep!!!Light:• Increases serotonin

• Improves your mood

• Helps regulate sleep

AUDIENCE RESPONSE QUESTION

Why Does My Back Hurt?

Your New Best friend

Trigger Points

Reduce Soreness

1. Hot shower 2. Stretch in shower or after

Reduce Inflammation and Pain

1. Get ice from vending 2. Ice in hotel room

Directions: Complete each individual column

1 I A aDo this column

first.Then this column 2nd.

Then this column 3rd.

Then this column last.

1 I A a2 II B b3 III C c4 IV D d5 V E e

Directions: Complete each row

1 I A aDo this row first. 1 I A a

Then this row 2nd 2 II B A

Then this row 3rd. 3 III C B

Etc… 4 IV D C

Pace the Stressors

+ +Give briefing AC maintenance Difficult conversation

Inte

rnal

Str

ess

Exte

rnal

Str

ess

Performance and Stress

The Effects of Cortisol

• Alters immune system responses

• Suppresses the digestive system and growth processes.

• Alters all most all body processes

• Speeds up aging

Memory limitations

General health not what it was

Reduced vision

Reduced hearing

Fatigued

Size/agilityEffects of over the counter medication

Substance abuse

Limited skills Physical

Under-motivated

StressLimited awarenessComplacency

Clouded perception

Deficient communication

Concentration lapse

Badattitude

Mental Self –induced time pressure

Workload/multi-tasking

Distractionor

interruption

Adverse climatic conditions

Deficient teamwork

Commercial pressure

Organizational

Deficient access/ equipment

Confusing maintenance

data

Bad lighting

Unavailable or inaccurateprocedures

Complex aircraft & systems

Limited education/training

Excessive maintenance system

induced time pressure

Assembly / Installation

ExcessiveNoise

Mental / Physical / Organizational

Thank you!(please fill out survey)