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.

This field can be difficult and confusing, and it helps to have some clear definitions.

e.g.

Mishap: an unintended condition or event which can result in illness, death, partial or total disability, and/or injury. An accident is an example of a mishap, so are infections, or chronic exposure to toxic agents.

Hazard: the finite possibility (non-zero probability) of a Mishap

Risk: there are a couple of different definitions of risk. A colloquial definition is the probability of a hazard, which is not quite the same thing as a hazard by itself

Risk level: in NASA/military parlance, a "risk Level" is a combination of the Severity of a mishap/hazard, combined with the Probability of mishap/hazard.

Typical usage of "Risk Level" can be as follows:

• Probability Severity Comment
• High High Unacceptable situation needing immediate attention
• High Low Perhaps acceptable to deal with via protective equipment
• Low High Possibly acceptable provided safety measure taken
• Low Low Probably acceptable, probably do not need protective equipment

Psychological/Human Factors

• Agoraphobia
• Claustrophobia
• Depression
• Circadian Rhythm Dysfunction
• Fatigue fatigue can result in operator error
• Training operators need to be well trained in dangerous tasks
• Information accurate and useful information must be displayed to operators in a timely manner to permit correct decisions
• Procedures - checklists, operating manuals, help docs and procedures must be correct, complete, readable, comprehensible and anticipate unusual scenarios

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
• Carcinogens

Corrosives

• Chemical burns

Temperature Extremes

• 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
• Radioactive Materials
• Radioactive Particles - ions (ionized atoms), protons, neutrons, electrons and other high speed subatomic particles
• Ionizing Photons - X-ray, Gamma-ray, Ultra-violet

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

Improper Pressure

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

Hazards
Physiological/Psychological/Human Factors  Zero or Low Gravity  Physical Environments  Medical Treatment  Fire/Explosion  Toxins  Corrosives  Temperature Extremes  Non-Ionizing Radiation  Ionizing Radiation  Lack of Breathable Atmosphere  Inadequate Food/Water  Improper Pressure