Ishihara color blindness test- anyone else have a problem?

I was reading some old posts around here on gCaptain and I found some mariners talking about how they had an outside physician administer the vision tests, while the CG-approved physician conducted the rest of the physical. Is this really the case?

[QUOTE=TheShipCantSink;141026]I was reading some old posts around here on gCaptain and I found some mariners talking about how they had an outside physician administer the vision tests, while the CG-approved physician conducted the rest of the physical. Is this really the case?[/QUOTE]

There is no such thing as “CG-approved physicians”.

[QUOTE=Robert;141044]There is no such thing as “CG-approved physicians”.[/QUOTE]

But doesn’t the company you are applying for or the union have their own place where they send applicants to get examined?

[QUOTE=TheShipCantSink;141023]So I guess just find some place that offers the Farnsworth Lantern Test and go from there?[/QUOTE]

Yes. See my previous where I gave a link to find who gives that test.

      • Updated - - -

[QUOTE=TheShipCantSink;141069]But doesn’t the company you are applying for or the union have their own place where they send applicants to get examined?[/QUOTE]
Any licensed physician can do the medical exams. Companies or unions can have you go to their doctors, but the CG will accept it from any licensed physician or NP.

[QUOTE=jdcavo;141081]
Any licensed physician can do the medical exams. Companies or unions can have you go to their doctors, but the CG will accept it from any licensed physician or NP.[/QUOTE]

Copy. That clears it up.

[QUOTE=TheShipCantSink;141023]So I guess just find some place that offers the Farnsworth Lantern Test and go from there?[/QUOTE]

Doesn’t your opthalmologist have the ability to test you using one of the other methods listed on the 719k? Or refer you to one who does?

      • Updated - - -

[QUOTE=jdcavo;141081]Yes. See my previous where I gave a link to find who gives that test.

      • Updated - - -

Any licensed physician can do the medical exams. Companies or unions can have you go to their doctors, but the CG will accept it from any licensed physician or NP.[/QUOTE]

Ah, but not all licensed physicians WILL do the exams. Case in point- me. My primary care doc is a internal medicine specialist, board certified etc, but he won’t do a CG physical, forcing me to use an occumed doctor across town who does do them. It’s a pain.

That’s true, probably because most doctors don’t run into this sort of thing and are uncomfortable doing it since they’re not familiar with it. A close comparison is the DOT and FAA physicals which require certified doctors.

[QUOTE=LI_Domer;141109]That’s true, probably because most doctors don’t run into this sort of thing and are uncomfortable doing it since they’re not familiar with it. A close comparison is the DOT and FAA physicals which require certified doctors.[/QUOTE]

Good point.

Hello everyone . i was searching for discussions about color blindness and i came across this topic. have you ever tried the gene therapy thing ? color blind test is good source to learn more about the treatments available today

Way back when I got my first driver’s license the examiner says hey sarge this guys color blind!
He came over and opened a drawer and took out two ink pens and a pad of paper. He says what color are the pens and I said red & green. Then he asked about the legal pad and I said yellow. The sarge said pass him.
I have had this problem all my professional life, I cannot for the life of me pass the numbers in the dots test.
When I had about ten years in the CG the CO of my patrol boat in Alaska didn’t like me and really wanted to get rid of me. When he somehow found out that I was technically color blind he had me transferred to base Ketchikan for further evaluation. There was a LT there that used to be a medical corpsman and was assigned the job of evaluating me. One day he called me into a room and there were several portable blackboards with colored Christmas lights strung all around the frame. He began asking me the colors when he pointed them out and I got every one correct, He then wrote a letter to someone back east at HQ and I was re-instated to full duty, When asked if I wanted to go back to my ship I said hell yes. That CO had to suffer my indignity the rest of his tour!
I went on to command an ice breaking tug in Maine and a buoy tender in Seattle. Not bad for being color blind. When I received my Master’s license I always asked for the lantern test at physical time and no problem.

1 Like

I heard someone say that people who were heavy pipe smokers could go a bit color blind, the smoke would damage there eyes, now that hardly anyone smokes pipes anymore it probably does’t happen much.

Never had a problem with Ishihara tests. My civilian optometrist gives me one every year. Cataracts and night driving, a whole different subject. Addressing that as I am a new “Medicare member”. LOL

1 Like

Ishihara is shit. What it’s really testing is how well your brain can find a signal in a bunch of visual noise. The occipital lobe, where you process visual information, contains specialized neurons that have specific tasks such as edge-detection, horizontal- or vertical-orientation, etc. When you look at a “noisy” Ishihara plate, your brain is not just trying to differentiate colors, but also trying to “connect the dots” with edge-detection and line-orientation neurons, amongst others. Insufficient stimulation of the proper neurons, due to a particularly avant-garde depiction of a numeral, can make you fail the Ishihara, even when you can perfectly distinguish the different colors. I have a lot of trouble with the Ishihara, but pass it every time by simply tracing the number with my finger, which proves that I can distinguish the different colors, but perhaps am not the greatest at seeing Magic-Eye artwork. A flawed test, to say the least.