NAVSAFECEN award for PE efforts

NORFOLK, Va. - Naval Safety Center (NAVSAFECEN) and members of the Navy and Marine Corps Physiological Event Rapid Response Teams (PERRT) were recognized Oct. 14 with a team achievement award from the SAFE Association for their collaborative efforts to decrease physiological events (PEs). SAFE Association, a non-profit organization that facilitates a common ground for safety-minded professionals. The award highlights the front-line efforts by PERRT to identify potential contributory and causal factors to help determine the root causes of unexplained PEs. NAVSAFECEN supports the team’s efforts by providing feedback to the fleet in its role as the Navy/Marine Corps’ safety advocate in providing evidence to frontline combatants against future PEs, according to Cmdr. Corey Littel, NAVSAFECEN Aeromedical Division. The teams’ efforts contributed “significantly to a decrease in PEs by 25 percent between 2018 and 2019,” he said. PEs happen when pilots and aircrew experience loss in performance due to an aircraft or aircrew systems’ malfunction during flight. Physiological events are the No. 1 safety concern for Commander Naval Air Forces, according to the award nomination. (Source: CNAF 10/28/19) Gulf Coast Note: Pilot-trainees at NAS Meridian, Miss., and NAS Pensacola, Fla., also experienced PEs with the T-45C jet trainer.