ALPA Hosts HIMS Seminar More than 150 line pilots and representatives
of government, the airline industry, and the health-care community came together
April 15-16 at ALPA’s Herndon, Va., Conference Center for a comprehensive
symposium on helping flightcrew members deal with alcoholism and other substance
abuse.
HIMS (Human Intervention and Motivation Study) is the FAA-funded substance
abuse treatment program for airline pilots, which, according to the HIMS website
(www.himsprogram.com),
“coordinates the identification, treatment, and return to the cockpit of
impaired aviators. It is an industry-wide effort in which companies, pilot
unions, and the FAA work together to preserve careers and further aviation
safety.” ALPA administers the HIMS program under a contract from the FAA.
The HIMS Advanced Topics Seminar held this week was
specifically tailored for attendees with several years of experience in
well-established HIMS programs in the airline industry. In addition to ALPA HIMS
pilot peer volunteers, attendees included FAA and airline management
representatives, addiction counselors, and substance abuse evaluation
professionals. Presentations dealt with the current state of HIMS (both
nationally and at specific airlines), and issues and difficulties regarding
diagnosis, treatment, case management, relapse prevention, legal issues, release
from monitoring, and the effects of FAA policy.
One of the intents of the seminar was to gather best practices that could be
incorporated into a more standardized HIMS model to be used throughout the
airline industry. |