Institute of Aerospace Medicine Indian Air Force, Bangaluru

INSTITUTE OF AEROSPACE MEDICINE (IAM) INSTITUTE OF AEROSPACE MEDICINE

Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM) is a premiere Institute of the IAF and can boast of a glorious past, a very promising future and is at present the hub of aerospace medicine activities in the country. It’s origin dates back to 29 May 1957, when the School of Aviation Medicine was started with Wg Cdr R Arunachalam as the first Commanding Officer. The school was established with the aim of imparting training in Aerospace Medicine to medical officers of the Armed Forces and Civilian Doctors, indoctrination of aircrew in Aerospace Medicine, carrying out research on aeromedical problems and to assist Aerospace industry in the aeromedical aspects of design and development of aircrafts. In view of the forays of the Institute in the realm of Space, it was rechristened as the Institute of Aerospace Medicine in 1989. In 1997, the Institute was affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore. In recognition of the various achievements, the Presidential Colours was awarded to this prestigious Institute on 21 Nov 2005. The Institute has the distinctive honour of being the first independent medical unit of the Armed Forces to be awarded the Presidential Colours. It has also been accorded with ‘Centre of Excellence’ status on 08 Sep 2015 by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. The Institute has been graded by NAAC as A in 08 Mar 2011 and A+ on 28 Mar 2017.The work ethos of the personnel of this Institute exemplifies the inscription on the statue of Francis Trudeaue “To cure sometimes, to relieve often, and to comfort always”. The Institute’s role at present revolves around three broad areas:(a) Training(b) Medical Evaluation of Aircrew(c) Aeromedical Research and Development TrainingIt is the nodal agency providing human engineering and human factors support in the design, development and evaluation of indigenous aircraft development. It is also widely recognized for the high quality of training imparted at the Institute and the cutting edge research being carried out by researchers at the unit.The Institute can boast of dedicated and qualified faculty that is involved in high quality education in aerospace medicine to aircrew, medical officers and paramedical personnel. Training is also offered to personnel from friendly foreign countries. The Institute is affiliated to the Rajiv Gandhi University for Health Sciences, Bangalore for the three year residency program in Aerospace Medicine. With the indigenous development of the NVG laboratory, highly realistic NVG training is being imparted to aircrew. In addition, acquisition of a full motion SD simulator has resulted in more realistic training of our aircrew. The Dynamic Flight Simulator allows the fighter pilots to experience high sustained G and learn Anti-G Straining Manoeuvre in controlled and safe high-G atmosphere. It can also simulate sustained multi-axial acceleration which is mostly used for research and evaluation. The Air Fox DISO or the Disorientation Simulator with 6 degree of freedom (DoF), can be flown like F-16 fighter aircraft as well as light and heavy helicopter in day-night conditions.Medical evaluation of military and civil aircrew is one of the major roles of this Institute. Evaluation of aircrew for certain disabilities like barotrauma, musculoskeletal injuries, head injury, and post ejection evaluation is vested entirely with IAM due to the availability of specialized departments and simulators. The Institute has carved a niche for itself as a highly professional and efficient aeromedical evaluation center. This is largely due to the application of evidence-based aeromedical decision-making paradigms in the assessment of aircrew.

Aeromedical research has been one of the core areas of expertise of this Institute. Aeromedical research is directed primarily at providing solutions to operational problems. The high quality of research has been recognized both nationally and internationally. Right from the early days, the Institute has also provided comprehensive human engineering and human factors support to the aviation industry in the design, development and evaluation of indigenous aircraft development. This is unique because such expertise in our country exists only at this Institute.The thrust of aeromedical activities in the Institute has all along been towards ensuring that the IAF continues to achieve its motto, ‘Nabham Sparsham Deeptam’. Improving human performance and promoting aerospace safety has been at the core of research activities at the Institute. Activities of IAM have always kept pace with the growth and developments in the fields of aviation and space medicine. The Institute is ready to face the challenges confronting the present day aviator. The personnel of IAM have strived and always lived up to their motto of “Nabhase Arogyam” i.e., ensuring freedom from disease in the sky.