Okay, I’m just trying to plan things out here. If I go to a USCG approved school, which fulfills my requirements & assessments (90days seatime included), for a QMED with oiler, Jr engineer, electrician, reefer, pumpman ratings as well as RFPEW…when I go to test at the REC for all this would I have to get a new physical done?
I just received my MMC (wiper/os/steward) in June 2009, so my physical would only be about 18months old.
My only concern is I wear contact lenses and am worried about the vision requirements. The USCG approved Dr who gave me my initial physical said they weren’t worried about uncorrected vision, only corrected. Any thoughts?
I have some very poor, uncorrected vision, way past the limits …I wear contacts to correct this and the CG just issued me a vision waiver, no big deal…I just have to have an extra pair on board or a back up pair of glasses…
Correct me if I am wrong here, from what I read they are saying as long as your eyes can be corrected to 20/50 or better, aren’t worse than 20/800, and you carry spare contact lenses you can get a vision waiver listed on your MMC.
As long as the vision waiver isn’t a pain in the ass to get, this really puts me at ease.
Correct me if I am wrong here, from what I read they are saying as long as your eyes can be corrected to 20/50 or better, aren’t worse than 20/800, and you carry spare contact lenses you can get a vision waiver listed on your MMC.
As long as the vision waiver isn’t a pain in the ass to get, this really puts me at ease.[/quote]
I’m having trouble accessing the page for some reason,but that sounds right…
The NMC deals with a lot of vision waivers, they have to…Out of the 14 guys on my boat at least 11 of them have vision waivers…
There are no “USCG approved” doctors. You can use any doctor you wish. None are approved, all are acceptable. Also, depending on the credential you’re going for, uncorrected vision does matter.
For what it’s worth, my vision is somewhere around 20/600. When I sent in my application I had an optometrist write out my corrected and uncorrected vision on letterhead, had the doctor write “see enclosed exam by Dr. so and so” on the vision part of the exam and sent it in. Never heard another thing about it and got my approval to test letter the other day.
I found this info if you want to have the USCG issue a vision waiver.
“2. The following items are required by this office in order to properly evaluate your request for a waiver:
a. A letter from yourself requesting a vision waiver.
b. A letter from an opthalmologist or optometrist stating your uncorrected and corrected vision in both eyes. This letter should describe the medical condition(s) responsible for the reduced visual acuity and provide a diagnosis and prognosis concerning any ocular or other degenerative or deteriorating condition present. The letter must also address whether you have 100 degrees horizontal field of view.
c. Letters from three employers or tradesmen whom you have worked for or operated with who can attest to your ability to perform appropriate duties assigned without impairment due to vision.
3. Your waiver may be evaluated locally or forwarded to Coast Guard Headquarters for review depending on your corrected and/or uncorrected visual acuity.”
[QUOTE=Kingrobby;25251]I found this info if you want to have the USCG issue a vision waiver.
“2. The following items are required by this office in order to properly evaluate your request for a waiver:
a. A letter from yourself requesting a vision waiver.
b. A letter from an opthalmologist or optometrist stating your uncorrected and corrected vision in both eyes. This letter should describe the medical condition(s) responsible for the reduced visual acuity and provide a diagnosis and prognosis concerning any ocular or other degenerative or deteriorating condition present. The letter must also address whether you have 100 degrees horizontal field of view.
c. Letters from three employers or tradesmen whom you have worked for or operated with who can attest to your ability to perform appropriate duties assigned without impairment due to vision.
3. Your waiver may be evaluated locally or forwarded to Coast Guard Headquarters for review depending on your corrected and/or uncorrected visual acuity.”[/QUOTE]
I think #3 is probably somewhat out of date. As far as I know, all medical evaluation decisions including waivers are now done at NMC. Just curious, what is the source of the above information?
[QUOTE=Kingrobby;25251]I found this info if you want to have the USCG issue a vision waiver.
"2. The following items are required by this office in order to properly evaluate your request for a waiver:
a. A letter from yourself requesting a vision waiver.
[/QUOTE]
This is interesting, I never once asked for a waiver, it just showed up when my MMC was issued…I never had it on my MMD prior to that…
Are you sure? The language you cited originally isn’t in this link, and the link is an excerpt from NVIC 4-08, created after NMC was doing all evaluations.
Okay, I screwed up and put the wrong link, here is the link where I found that info and again it appears to be way out of date, which I didn’t notice before. http://www.boatwise.com/pdf/disclaimers_boundary.pdf
Are there any current standards for meeting vision waiver requirments?
[QUOTE=Kingrobby;25322]Okay, I screwed up and put the wrong link, here is the link where I found that info and again it appears to be way out of date, which I didn’t notice before. http://www.boatwise.com/pdf/disclaimers_boundary.pdf
Are there any current standards for meeting vision waiver requirments?[/QUOTE]
NVIC 04-08 is the current standard. Waivers are granted (or not) at NMC now. Your doctor is merely a pencil pusher for the medical evaluators at NMC.
shellback
I notice you guys are talking CG requirement- SIU has different vision requirements that restricts positions one can work and MSC a statement about ‘single eye vision’. I talked to those folks at MSCFSC but they couldnt really say. It might be hard for me to start a career if my eyes wont let me select work type(limited) I mean. Is the CG test what most employers use?