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Dehydration will ruin a mission
Approach, March-April, 2007 by Jasmine Gough
I just had arrived for the first time at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, from USS Enterprise (CVN-65), in support of an Operation-Iraqi-Freedom (OIF) detachment. The transit was a 4.5-hour flight from the carrier to the desert. In the past, I would dehydrate myself for these long flights for two reasons. First, I'm a female in a mostly male squadron. Second, I haven't had to use the piddle pack and relieve myself yet. I didn't feel I needed to drink as much because the weather was not very hot, and I wasn't sweating.
Upon my arrival in Iraq, I got my bearings with a quick tour of the base. The second day was a turnover day, so there was no flying. When the schedule came out on the third day, I was scheduled for my first OIF flight, a 6.7-hour flight.
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"OK, it'll be all right", I thought. I can learn to relieve myself in the jet. I'm in the backseat alone, which is as good a time as any to practice. I had all the required paraphernalia, and I even had gotten a brief from a senior female aviator before I left on deployment. I've also had multiple conversations with other female aviators on this subject--I felt ready. But, I underestimated the effects of a dry-heat location.
Being on the ship in the Gulf, I got used to the sweaty humidity and quickly forgot about dry heat. I drank plenty of water on the boat, because after a day launch in the middle of summer, I would return drenched and obviously needed fluids. However, Iraq is so hot and dry, you don't realize you're still sweating.
Looking back, I had not realized how dehydrated I was before my first flight. The first night I arrived, I had a headache. I just figured it was a random headache that would go away by morning. The second day, I had a little more of a headache, but I guessed that exercising would help loosen some tension or stress. The third day, the day of my flight, I started with a short run on the treadmill and tried to drink more water. By midafternoon, my headache was much worse. I thought lying down and taking a short nap would help, but it didn't.
By dinnertime, the pain was excruciating. I thought if I had something in my stomach, I'd feel better, and the headache would go away. Then nausea set in, which was horrible, because I had nothing in my system. My head hurt so bad; it was the worst I've felt in a long time. I found a JO to take me to medical. I was embarrassed because I would have to tell the doc what I already knew: I didn't drink enough water, and I was going to be removed from the flight schedule.
They took some vitals, asked me some questions, and started the IV. After taking on one liter of saline solution, I was good to go. The flight doc prescribed antinausea medication, which downed me for an additional day, because of the possible drowsy effects that follow. I was instructed to drink two 1.5-liter bottles of water and one 1.5-liter bottle of Gatorade a day. I don't even like Gatorade, but I didn't want to miss any more flights.
The next morning I felt great. I downed plenty of water, completed my first OIF flight, and used the relief tube twice in one flight, another 6.7-hour mission. I even drank 1.5 liters of Gatorade later that day, after I found a flavor I liked.
Looking back, I intentionally was dehydrating myself for that first flight, and I know a lot of female aviators who do the same. Also, I am not in the habit of regularly drinking enough water, let alone drinking enough while in the desert in the middle of summer. I now drink an average of four to five liters of water a day, and I don't worry about using a piddle pack in the jet anymore. If the boys can do it, so can the girls.
Lt. Gough flies with VAQ-137.
For a related Approach article on this topic, visit: http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/media/approach/issues/ mar03/ToPeeOrNot.htm--Ed.
COPYRIGHT 2007 U.S. Naval Safety Center
COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group
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