Wouldn’t that be nice…
My take-away is that the company isn’t concerned if you’re simply “fit for duty” as much as it has certain standards for their employees (control expenses etc). If it was merely a fit for duty thing then the medical cert should be plenty especially since they can shed some responsibility on the gum-mint for making that determination.
And since we’re there, since some of those mudboats are over 1,600 GRT (theoretically at least with ITC) aren’t y’all supposed to submit a physical to the CG annually because you act as pilot?
I have to take a full physical every year in order to work here in Brazil, ECO/BRAM do it in house. It consists of EKG, eye test, blood test, dental exam, back and chest x-rays, pulmonary function, hearing, triglycerides, cholesterol, BP, BMI, urine and drug screen and a few more tests, and now, psychological evaluation. The hearing, you have to put the head phones on and signal when you hear the tone, The eye exam, they will test up close and at a distance, the test changes with each eye, I work on a Vanuatu flag boat, so when license renewal comes up I will have to do a physical for my US renewal, one for my Vanuatu renewal and one for working in Brazil. Vanuatu and Brazil require a drug screen, Vanuatu also requires an alcohol screen. It’s not a big deal to know you are healthy, and at 58 years old, it’s good to know.
[QUOTE=chefedemaquina;134168]I have to take a full physical every year in order to work here in Brazil, ECO/BRAM do it in house. It consists of EKG, eye test, blood test, dental exam, back and chest x-rays, pulmonary function, hearing, triglycerides, cholesterol, BP, BMI, urine and drug screen and a few more tests, and now, psychological evaluation. The hearing, you have to put the head phones on and signal when you hear the tone, The eye exam, they will test up close and at a distance, the test changes with each eye, I work on a Vanuatu flag boat, so when license renewal comes up I will have to do a physical for my US renewal, one for my Vanuatu renewal and one for working in Brazil. Vanuatu and Brazil require a drug screen, Vanuatu also requires an alcohol screen. It’s not a big deal to know you are healthy, and at 58 years old, it’s good to know.[/QUOTE]
I prefer to hire my own doctors to conduct the tests and examinations that in their expert opinion are medically indicated for my well being. (I pay for more tests that my insurance company will not pay for).
The last thing that I would want to do is rely upon quack company occupational doctors (who are only looking out for the company’s desire to minimize expenses) to tell me whether I am healthy or not. In my experience most of these quack company occupational doctors will not share test results with my own doctors.
good living! Pretty work old man!
Was offered a job with one of the top tier GOM companies, equal time and good money to start and even better once signed off. Then the physical, I have two anomalies in my lumbar spine witch showed up after the MRI. So this ended my chance with this company. Every time I ride my mountain bike, cut and split fire wood etc etc it just galls me to no end. I now have to agree with those people who have posted in the past “They are NOT tying up boats for lack of Chief limited licenses etc.” apparently there are enough licensed people to go around still. I’m still employed with a good West coast company but want to make more money and go into an other marine industry field. It gets expensive flying to the GOM and be rejected. Any advice would be appreciated.
[QUOTE=Left Coast;136984]Was offered a job with one of the top tier GOM companies, equal time and good money to start and even better once signed off. Then the physical, I have two anomalies in my lumbar spine witch showed up after the MRI. So this ended my chance with this company. Every time I ride my mountain bike, cut and split fire wood etc etc it just galls me to no end. I now have to agree with those people who have posted in the past “They are NOT tying up boats for lack of Chief limited licenses etc.” apparently there are enough licensed people to go around still. I’m still employed with a good West coast company but want to make more money and go into an other marine industry field. It gets expensive flying to the GOM and be rejected. Any advice would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]
This is way we need the same rule as the rest of the world. As long as one has a USCG medical certificate, no company physical is allowed.
[QUOTE=Left Coast;136984]Was offered a job with one of the top tier GOM companies, equal time and good money to start and even better once signed off. Then the physical, I have two anomalies in my lumbar spine witch showed up after the MRI. So this ended my chance with this company. Every time I ride my mountain bike, cut and split fire wood etc etc it just galls me to no end. I now have to agree with those people who have posted in the past “They are NOT tying up boats for lack of Chief limited licenses etc.” apparently there are enough licensed people to go around still. I’m still employed with a good West coast company but want to make more money and go into an other marine industry field. It gets expensive flying to the GOM and be rejected. Any advice would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]
Were these related to any old injuries or anything you experienced in the past? I would definitely go to your own physician (especially if this is something you never knew about)… to see what is going on. I have known a lot of people that have been able to have issues resolved then go back and with more thorough documentation by a doctor be passed through. You could always try to find out if there is any documentation… strength testing etc… that you could do and provide the results to show that you have full use of your back etc… If this is something you never knew…or had reason to know existed… I would definitely go to your doctor to get a read… there is always the chance that the doctor on their end misread the results… if that’s the case, you might have a chance of appealing it? As others suggested… there are always 2nd tier companies… that may be easier to get into with their physicals.
[QUOTE=Saltgrain;137035]Were these related to any old injuries or anything you experienced in the past? I would definitely go to your own physician (especially if this is something you never knew about)… to see what is going on. I have known a lot of people that have been able to have issues resolved then go back and with more thorough documentation by a doctor be passed through. You could always try to find out if there is any documentation… strength testing etc… that you could do and provide the results to show that you have full use of your back etc… If this is something you never knew…or had reason to know existed… I would definitely go to your doctor to get a read… there is always the chance that the doctor on their end misread the results… if that’s the case, you might have a chance of appealing it? As others suggested… there are always 2nd tier companies… that may be easier to get into with their physicals.[/QUOTE]
These quack company doctors are not qualified to read an MRI. Definitely go to an orthopedic specialist and get a good diagnosis. I have heard of some people that got the quack to change his opinion this way, others where the quack simply did not care.
Too bad its not practical to sue these quack company doctors for malpractice when they are wrong.