by Alex Keilty

Can you imagine how eager a sports fan would be to hang out with their favorite team for the weekend? That’s how Dan Canlas, MD, retired Lt. Col. of the U.S. Air Force, describes his volunteer role for the American Red Cross. He is keen to spend his free time hanging out with his team of aircrew and operational personnel!

His role as a volunteer flight surgeon is part of a partnership the Red Cross has with the David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base in California. Dr. Canlas and his fellow Red Cross colleagues volunteer their time and medical expertise at the flight medicine clinic, treating the aircrew and other military members involved in the flying mission.

“We offer our services because we enjoy the job so much. It’s such an experience to take care of elite professionals,” says Dr. Canlas, who began volunteering for the Red Cross about two years ago.

So, what is the job of a flight surgeon?

“A lot of people think, ‘How do you operate in the air?’” says Dr. Canlas. But he explains the job title comes from the olden days when military physicians operated on their patients on the battlefield. These days, flight surgeons don’t do surgery but are responsible for the healthcare of personnel whose job is on a plane or involves the aerospace environment. When caring for pilots and other aircrew, they conduct regular sick calls, physicals and medical clearances for people to go on deployments or change jobs. They participate in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) program to ensure the base is compliant with workplace standards. They are also responsible for the public health of the base, addressing potential issues like water quality and food safety.

Dr. Canlas used to do this role before he retired from the Air Force, where he did 13 years of active duty, 13 years of reserve duty and then he was a contractor. Once he left the Air Force he missed the job.

“I was looking for a way to keep doing what I loved to do,” he says.

What he loved to do in the Air Force took him around the world and on some very unusual assignments. One of the missions he participated in when he was active duty was supporting space shuttle launches. During the launch, flight surgeons and other medical personnel were stationed at many sites around the world where the space shuttle could go in the event of an aborted (disrupted) launch. If there was an emergency onboard the space shuttle, astronauts could fly to one of the landing sites where flight surgeons and rescue personnel were ready to respond. The medical personnel there were specially trained on issues particular to astronauts such as how to get them out of their space suits to give first aid.

There were many other high-flying times when he was an active-duty flight surgeon in the Air Force. Dr. Canlas explains that just as a professional sports team takes their physician with them when they travel, a squadron of jets sent on an overseas deployment takes the flight surgeon with them on the mission.

“You would be sitting in the back seat of a fighter jet,” he recalls. And then, when the flight has landed, the flight surgeon is responsible for the healthcare of the team in a potentially harsh location.