So I do the new physical, it wasn’t painless but ended up being less of hassle than first thought. My new MMC has been duly issued with just a hiccup.
My question stems from the ‘waiver’ letter provided by NMC, ‘waiving’ my medical conditions. It’s a hit list. Kidney Stones are included with no follow up. Nasal allergies is another with an added caution on the use of antihistamines 24 hours before working on the credential. These are easy to deal with. The stickler for me is sleep apnea. The deal breaker being 'Waiver becomes invalid for non-compliance with CPAP use, [U][B]OR IF DAYTIME SLEEPINESS DEVELOPS[/B][/U] (caps/underscore are mine)
It ain’t like ANY medical condition is static and in a vacuum - shit happens. Words mean things though and should SOMETHING change, the language doesn’t leave me a lot of sea room TO FIX IT. I feel like I’m being set up for failure. I’m mean, why even SEE a doctor if NMC is gonna jam me up, you know?
I will be corresponding with the Death Star in the hopes of finding a NAME I can put on the record as a reference of how to deal with this WITHOUT some summary MMC invalidation occurring. I’ll post with my results.
Anyone had any experience with this?
[QUOTE=Jolly Tar;47798] [U][B]OR IF DAYTIME SLEEPINESS DEVELOPS[/B][/U] (caps/underscore are mine)
[/QUOTE]
Stop talking to your Port Captain during the day…
But seriously, all of the Medical stuff relies on the Mariner being honest. Just remember, if nothing happens, life is good. If something happens and it comes out that the cause was an undisclosed condition, that is where the new criminal punishments come in. Before, you would just lose your license. NOW, you lose your license, can end up in jail, pay fines up the ying yang, AND after those things occur it makes it much easier to sue in civil court. On top of that, if your doctor has records of that undisclosed condition, he goes down too.
Personally, I would weigh the risk versus gain and act accordingly. If it started getting bad, I would probably start looking for one of those civilian USCG Inspector jobs out there or teaching. They inspector job do not require a license but they sure move someone with that type experience to the top of the list and I do not think they can fire you for sleeping during the day on a government job…
The shame of all this is it will encourage people to avoid seeking medical help for conditions they may have (or suspect they have). This can turn a easy to manage condition into an untreated condition that could cause the very accidents the disclosure was intended to prevent.
My concern is; I don’t even get a chance to get to deal with it. If it’s simple fix let me make it happen. But the language IMO doesn’t give me the opportunity.
And I agree 1) it WILL discourage anyone from checking out issues 2) MORE of the good guys finishing LAST