Reporting a fainting event

[Anon]

I’m looking to get my pilot’s license but have an event in my medical history that I want to know how to tackle beforehand.

In 2017, I fainted at home. I immediately came to and knew exactly where I was. I did not hit my head. I also had nausea and vomiting and a fever of over 103 degrees, so I visited my PCP who told me to go to the ER. I went and was not admitted. After having blood work done and receiving IV fluids, I was released from the ER with a “viral infection” diagnosis and felt much better.

I have the charts from my PCP and the ER. If I bring these to my AME, which (in my uneducated opinion) shows clear medical explanation for a one-off event, will he be able to issue this, or is this a mandatory deferral? Anything else I should bring to make things easier?

 

[bflynn]

Your most reliable course of action is to engage with your AME as a consult, not a medical exam. If they don't want to do a consult, find another AME.

A consult is a paid engagement where you talk with them about your conditions and they inform you of the FAA rules around it. Dr Fowler (user @lbfjrmd ) and Dr Chien (user @bbchien) are both senior AMEs and frequent this forum. Either would be excellent places to start.

 

[Lindberg]

If the AME believes the fainting has a satisfactory medical explanation that's not disqualifying he doesn't have to defer. So I'd follow bflynn's advice to consult with your particular AME in advance so you'll know whether he finds your documentation and explanation sufficient. You'll also want him to thoroughly document his decision in notes in case of any curiosity by FAA.

 

[AggieMike88]