List of Offworld Medical Risks

This is a list of articles covering dangers to our people and mission.

The lists of hazards and categories below is similar to those used by NASA and the DOD in Systems Safety Analysis.

Physchological

• Agoraphobia
• Claustrophobia
• Depression
• Circadian Rhythm Dysfunction
• Fatigue fatigue can result in operator error
• Training operators need to be well trained in dangerous tasks

Physiological

Zero or Low Gravity

• Bone Loss
• Muscular Atrophy
• Immune Deficiency

Physical Environments

• Acoustic damage
• G Force - broken bones, blackout, high speed projectiles
• Confined Space a person trapped in a confined space can run out of air
• Meteor Hazard -- Will a meteor puncture (decompress) your pressurized living space?
• Industrial Accident (the list is endless)
• Roof Support -- Consider the problem of roof collapse.
• Collision vehicles, spacecraft
• Suspended Load -- e.g. cables fail resulting in large falling objects
• Construction activity -- falling cranes, bulldozers crushing workers

Medical Treatment

• Medical Emergencies
• Telemedecine
• Lack of medical equipment
• Lack of drug e.g vaccines, antibiotics, treatments for various conditions
• Lack of medical expertise

Fire/Explosion

• Flammable Atmosphere - a stoichiometric mix of oxygen/air with a flammable vapor can result in large explosion
• Flammable Material
• Ignition Source
• Flammable Gas
• Flammable Liquid
• Oxygen
• Oxidizer

Toxins

• Toxic materials - e.g. Hydrazine and other propellants
• Toxic gasses
• Liquid Toxins
• Solid Toxins

Corrosives

• Chemical burns

Temperature Problems

• Cold Burns
• Hot Burns
• Hypothermia
• Frostbite
• Heatstroke

Non-Ionizing Radiation

• Lasers
• RF
• Infrared
• Concentrated Sunlight

Ionizing Radiation

• Radiation Sickness - e.g. cosmic rays, solar radiation, nuclear piles, RTGs
• Radiation Problem -- A discussion of radiation shielding requirements.
• Cancer induced by radiation or carcinogens

Lack of Breathable Atmosphere

• Inhaling Lunar Dust
• Dust -- Probably the greatest hazard to a lunar settlement
• Silicosis is a disease of the lungs caused by breathing very fine silica dust particles, such as lunar dust
• Smoke inhalation
• Asphyxiation - e.g. from Nitrogen, Helium or other inert gases
• Carbon Dioxide
• Hypoxia

Inadequate Food/Water

• Food poisoning
• Poor Sanitation
• Dehydration
• Vitamin Deficit

Pressure Problems

• Burst eardrums
• Throat irritation - from breathing pure low pressure O2
• Exposure to Vacuum or Decompression
• The Bends
• Nitrogen Narcosis