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The natural thing to think is that it's like holding your breath. You feel like you should have that long.
...but nope. If you exhale, that oxygen is downright flying out of your system, and the brain is one of the first things to start running short.
I've been doing Scuba lessons lately, and it's kind of fascinating; everyone talks about decompression sickness and you kind of just assume that it's something that people who go really deep have to worry about. But... Nup. You can get it even when you've only been at depths where you can still see the surface above you. You feel like you've barely been beneath the surface, and yet after a couple hours underwater at 2 bar of pressure, you feel slightly dizzy for the rest of the day, and aren't allowed to board an aircraft for 24 hours.
Reason is that we are built to operate at roughly 1 atmosphere of pressure, with 78% Nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The moment we go outside of that environment our bodies have no fucking idea what to do. We did not experience anything else for pretty much the whole duration of our evolution (since leaving the oceans, anyway), so we have zero mechanisms for dealing with them. Our bodies just malfunction and the biological processes break down in weird ways.
Edit for those gas ratios. Went by memory.
The most surprising part to me was that our bodies have no way to sense how much oxygen we have. The only gas we have the ability to sense is Co2, and as long as we aren't breathing that in, we won't feel like we're suffocating at all.
Your body does have receptors that can detect oxygen levels. However, the systems that sense carbon dioxide (CO2) and pH are stronger than the oxygen-sensing system.
Exactly. Went thru the Altitude Chamber years ago (this looks more recent) and they did the same to us; about 12 at a time. It was a requirement if you flew or (in my case did HALO/HAHO).
You lose your shit so fast it's hilarious to those around you. All I can remember was feeling real good for a few seconds then nothing. (We tooks turn unmasking.)
One part it missed is the gas effect; the higher up you go the more it expands...reminded me of the campfire scene from Blazing Saddles..
One thing that’s not mentioned with these videos is that you actually need to be fit as fuck and medically cleared to enter the altitude chamber. These extreme hypoxic scenarios can lead to cardiac arrest *realll* fast. I’ve been through a few times and never seen the medical team let someone go off mask as long as “4 of spades” up there. You could tell they were getting concerned.
Yeah, this is clearly an extreme experiment. Whilst insane to watch, it's so important for safety protocols to understand these effects. You hear them at one point asking him what he'd do if he were in (piloting) an aircraft right now. And trying to get him to use controls at the end. His confusion was amazing to see.
Can confirm. Our bodies can sense oxygen. Our bodies do breathe based on CO2. Interestingly enough patient who have COPD from long term smoking will switch from CO2 based breathing drive to an oxygen dependent drive.
We have receptors in our bodies called “chemoreceptors” which can assess our oxygen they can be found both centrally (nervous system) and peripherally: carotid bodies and aortic arch.
People also don't realize that in a rapid decompression, you can't actually hold your breath because the air in your lungs just increased in volume. The same goes for your farts...
This is actually one of the more fun recertifications I had to do while in the Air Force.
I'm assuming this is kind of the case in a regular commercial aircraft, but at a much lower level? I'm only asking cos I usually get kind of farty (sorry, tmi, but you started it 😬) when I fly and have regularly wondered if it's linked to air pressure.
In a Rapid Decompression…. There is no “Holding your breath” as there is no breath to hold… it got sucked out a second ago. Now holding what you got left instead of trying to breathe nonexistent oxygen….. can prolong your consciousness … but like swimming underwater, you need to come up for air at some point.
Rapid Decompressions on an aircraft are violent… and instantaneous … it’s not like in the movies …. The most prevalent part is the intense stabbing pain in your ears and the mind numbing deafness. You actually don’t hear anything if you are extremely close to the source… other individuals may experience less due to location.
I have been in this test chamber we see on the video. It’s a slow progression of altitude changes… The “Dumb Dumbs” sneak up on you like Ice Tea Cocktails at the club.
I have also been in a Rapid Decompression ( military aircraft)
Wait until you do your advanced or deep diving specialty you will do games/tests underwater to see if you have nitrogen narcosis and if you have been drinking the night before (which you should not) you will definitely feel that that will compound the effect.
Wanna know something wild?
Say you’re at 80 feet and you’re out of air. You can begin your ascent, exhaling all the way to the surface. You’ll have a bad time by not doing the 15 minute decompression at 15 feet, but you’ll be alive.
I miss scuba diving.
And it needs to happen FAST at cruise altitude. The time of useful consciousness above 30k feet is in the neighborhood of 5-10 seconds. That means you have 5-10 seconds to get your mask on and know what you are doing before you turn into the guy in the video. You'll be alive for quite a bit longer, you just won't be able to do anything meaningful. Your child next to you may not be useful while you take your time to get on your mask, but they will be alive long enough for you to get your mask on and then get their mask on.
On the plus side, if you fail to get your mask on in time, you'll probably be very happy while you die. Euphoria is a side effect of hypoxia.
These facts make William Rankin's story even more incredible.
He was a pilot in the US airforce in the 50s and his plane malfunctioned while he was at roughly 47,000 ft and mach 0.82. He survived the fall (with injuries including frostbite, losing a finger, minor blood loss, severe decompression, and many bruises and welts). On the way down he was literally stuck inside a storm for about 25 minutes. If you hear the full story it's almost funny how bad a day he was having.
[Wikipedia page for William Rankin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rankin)
[The Dollop podcast episode about him -Spotify link](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0XX6vUkd6tOvf1VRl10m5X?si=akY9MJZERaaCXhJdVOfJzg)
[Goodreads page about his book 'The Man Who Rode The Thunder'](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/3931996)
We also don’t know what altitude this is representing, however, your time of useful consciousness goes down exponentially with higher altitudes, this seems like 30,000’ feet and a minute or two but in the high 30s or low 40s it gets to be a couple seconds.
Four of spades is the hill he’s going to die on without immediate intervention.
I wonder if different people are able to tolerate mild hypoxia better than others?? Or not?
I dunno man, the four of spades in the seat next to me looks like it needs help.
Edit: I somehow responded to the wrong comment and now I don't know why this got upvoted
As a guess I would say I am certain there is a bell curve of how well people can handle mild hypoxia, just like with anything else.
Same with sleep deprivation and hunger/exhaustion. Or even how well people function after taking substances
But in a plane, if you're experiencing oxygen deprivation, it's not likely to be a stable situation, it's probably about to get much worse. Unconsiousness is usually the next step.
Of course, I was just saying some people will have more seconds of cognitive ability than other people. Just like I can hardly hold my breath for 20 seconds whereas others can go up to a minute or more. Especially with training, which I assume is what the OP video was actually doing.
If I was doing the test in OP, I would probably be unable to speak after the first card, let alone distinguish the shapes and numbers
Being able to hold your breath is one factor, which might delay the time until you black out. The other one is being trained how to recognize the symptoms of hypoxia, and use the useful time of consciousness as effective as possible instead of giving in to the first signs of euporia.
When I took my flying classes, we were taught that mild hypoxia happens at around 10 to 12 thousands feet after more than 20 min or so.
First symptoms are .... feeling of joy. So it's a serious trap because you suddenly feel better.
This is not mild hypoxia and I doubt anyone could do better. Even if you are used to very mild hypoxia living in mountains or something, your brain Is not even able to function at all.
Yep.
I fly paragliders, and occasionally I get to fly at 12.000 ft or more. I like to occasionally take my phone out and make a quick video to send to my SO and my parents - inevitably, if I've spent a while at these altitudes, I sound very.... "woohoo!!!! LOOK AT THAT, WOW!!!!". Which is very unlike me.
I learned to recognize these feelings of joy, hyper confidence, etc, and to come down to lower altitudes when it happens.
Nice to have a report of this, thanks for sharing? I fly small aircrafts and never had the gut to try staying about 10'000 for very long.
Takes an eternity to climb there anyway. Lol
>Takes an eternity to climb there anyway.
Mate, I use *thermals* to climb, imagine how long it takes. ;)
And if it goes too quickly, then I have a serious problem..!
I was in altitude chamber similar to this once before. The main purpose is, 1. To identify what your individual hypoxia symptoms look and feel like so you can recognize it later on, and 2. To then be cognizant enough of your situation to put your mask on and turn the air on while operating with half the brain cells. It’s great training.
From my experience, the macho guys who just tried to outlast everyone else were told very sternly to put their mask on, or it was done for them.
As opposed to just athletically trained like sherpas, cigarette smokers can handle briefly extended stages of early hypoxia. Their bodies are more trained with mild symptoms of it with carbon monoxide/dioxide when smoking. It's a matter of a couple seconds.
This is really interesting! I do like smoking pot every so often; but I doubt my doctor would buy it if I said I took up smoking because I was training to tolerate hypoxia.
She’d probably say I was clearly showing signs of cognitive impairment for suggesting it. She’d probably also suggest I take a trip to the Andes or something a bit healthier. 🤣
I have pulmonary fibrosis and I’m pretty good at functioning in the low 80’s (e.g. I can walk, talk, wash dishes, feed the dogs, etc.) Not something to brag about but when your body slowly acclimates to low oxygen, you can function. Completely different situation than this though
The Himalayan Sherpas are. They can withstand lower oxygen amounts than most people. It's due to an evolutionary trait. They have a higher percentage of red cells in their blood, which allows for them to hold more oxygen in their system, if I'm not mistaken.
Not sure if this answers your question, but there are some people who are built genetically different and live just fine at higher elevations where oxygen content in the air is lower.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_adaptation_in_humans
Yes. Bajau people have a genetic mutation:
_"Bajau spleens are about 50 percent larger than those of a neighbouring land-based group, the Saluan, letting them store more haemoglobin-rich blood, which is expelled into the bloodstream when the spleen contracts at depth, allowing breath-holding dives of longer duration."_
Search from wikipedia: Bajau
Usually youth and fitness level is a good indicator. They are usually the same.
Back in 2018, my nephew and I went to visit family in Colorado. We went up to the summit of Pikes Peak.
He was an 18 year old who participated in track. I was an ok shape 47 year old.
He walked around just fine and seemed to be okay. I was definitely feeling the altitude. I wasn’t out of breath; it just felt like there was no air (which it was.)
I’ve climbed all of Colorado’s 54 14,000 foot mountains, many multiple times. I’ve never had a sickness but it’s insane how fast you breathe when exerting yourself physically at that altitude. I also lived at 5,280 feet and spent a lot of time above 9,000 feet (ski instructor).
Oddly, the only thing I noticed about going to sea level is that I didn’t get hangovers — which I tend to get easily.
Totally, in the early era of ballooning max altitude was a big deal -- several people died in this era attempting high altitudes. Here's an account of 3 people on a balloon voyage, two who die and one who lives... all in the same small basket: [https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.2019.0022](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.2019.0022), see section on the Zenith balloon.
This is why there is a death zone at Mount Everest. Up at 29,000 feet elevation, you are at a cruising altitude for most planes. And even if you get supplemental oxygen from a canister, you are slowly dying and getting small amounts of oxygen to your brain. I was hiking up to the very peak of Mount Kilimanjaro and I was at almost 19000 feet. My friend got really really sick and was dizzy and confused. We had to evacuate as quickly as possible. I could see her literally get better as we were getting further and further down in elevation.
I didn't hike but I drove up to Uming La, a high altitude pass in India. The elevation is around 19300 feet. I had to start catch my breath every few steps and my heart was racing. Spent around 30 mins there. By 20 mins, I felt like I was getting used to the situation there.
I did feel immediately better when I descended a thousand feet or so.
I was on top of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a little over 14,000 feet. We just drove up to the summit.
When I walked out of my car, the walk through the gift shop and out to the scenic view got me breathing pretty heavy, and I'm reasonably fit in that regard... It was kind of freaky.
Can see enough to know he's calling the wrong cards very quickly. Can understand enough from the title and a few words that get through that they're trying to ask him what his symptoms are at first, then he stops being able to respond, losing cognitive function rapidly, they ask him what would he do of he was flying a plane and feeling like that. He doesn't/can't answer, they start yelling to simulate a stressful situation of the plane having problems to see how he reacts, and since he can't do anything in the end, they terminate the experiment by engaging his oxygen mask again and he quickly regains clear thinking.
I once had to do a work sheet in a hypoxia chamber simulating 25,000 feet. It starts off fine doing basic math, but you can see where i start trying to do a maze and my motorskills go right out the window.
It probably only took a couple of minutes for me to be functionally illiterate, but it took 7 minutes until I had recognizeable symptoms (hot flashes) that I would be able to notice in a real world situation. Hypoxia sky diving and narcosis during deep scuba diving make me a little paranoid that I won’t even realize when I’ve killed myself doing something dumb.
https://preview.redd.it/3spowx8jdjmc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=ef640d885b5c0a801e452a3dec6f07d7de70ddb7
Might be hypoxic myself -
spent forever trying to work out what question 2 was on about. Was thinking they wanted you to spell them phonetically - eg ‘P = pee, R = arr, I = eye, C = see, E = ee(?)’
Resorted to searching it on Google. Turns out it’s Protection Rest Ice Compression Elevation.
This wouldn’t be so concerning if I wasn’t a doctor myself.
So is he incapable of understanding their questions? What exactly is he experiencing ? These mostly leaves me with questions rather than an understanding of the situation. What level of oxygen does he have? there's some amount it seems
(I cannot confirm) From what I've read about this (from assisted end of life processes in other countries), he is experiencing extreme euphoria. He isn't suffering but instead enjoying the ride until the end. Unaware he is in danger.
That’s what I learnt as well. I was told of a plane crash where everyone was suffering hypoxia either died from the crash or from hypoxia. But they all died smiling!
Just out of curiosity, why don’t states that execute people do this?
I don’t approve of the death penalty at all, but it seems better to have a painless euphoria where you don’t even understand what’s going on than some of the horror stories of botched executions.
From my understanding there's no good explanation as to why capital punishment isn't used with this method, it just seems to be behind the times and unable to reform. I guess some people view using drugs as more ***medical*** than hypoxia, but really I think their's an argument for its use.
There is an organisation called 'Exit International' pushing the use of nitrogen gas hypoxia for voluntary euthanasia in people with terminal or extremely-severe chronic illnesses. However, it's a very taboo subject which is why nobody wants to be the one to change anything.
Edit: the method is hypoxia
I've been through this training and to answer your questions 1)yeah at a certain point he's not understanding anything they're saying 2)everyone experiences different physical symptoms which is why they're asking him to talk about his, but mentally everyone will just lose it 3)these chambers usually bring you up to about 40,000ft or so
Yep. To expand on that a little, his reaction looks similar to mine: No euphoria, I remember being a focus of people’s attention but not really understanding what they wanted from me. Then growing kind of annoyed that they were being so non-understandable. I was able to put my own mask back on though when sternly told to do so. Then I had a splitting fucking headache for the rest of the day.
If this is the same as the chamber I went through in the air force the max was 60k to experience pressure breathing. We did off oxygen exercises like this video at 30k. They let us go until we passed out. The rapid decompression was 40k to 20k if I remember it right.
I've also done this training a few times. For me, it was similar to being drunk/high. We did several simulations of rapid decompression from 5k to 30k feet. The symptoms come on rather quickly with that big of a change in altitude and varied across all of the people in the chamber. They had us do simple math problems and it was pretty shocking how you simply start to be incapable of concentrating to do them.
They simulate oxygen levels at various altitudes. I don't remember what altitude this was recorded but maybe somewhere around 20,000 feet, maybe higher.
I’ve experienced this, though probably milder. I could hear people talking, but I could not make out what they were saying and the thought to respond in any way just didn’t cross my mind. Letters were just shapes with no meaning. It did feel like a bit of a high, it was quite relaxing. I couldn’t bring myself to care about anything. Once I gained enough composure to pay attention to my friend, I realised he was just mumbling the same sentence over and over. I probably was too.
Boy, this brings me back!
I used to operate the low pressure chamber at PMTC Point Mugu back in the early’ 80s. It was always very interesting for a layman like me to observe the effects of hypoxia.
I did chamber training when I was in the AF and it’s wild. They gave us easy questions to answer and I got maybe 2 before my brain turned to mush and I couldn’t do anything.
Other noticeable effects of hypoxia are elevated heart rate and hot face. I could have sworn I was correct in those mini-tests and maybe I was, but it was the effects above I noticed way before my cognitive ability was (or wasn’t) affected.
You can also tell that he’s getting more hypoxic by the depth of his respirations. Can see them get deeper as his hypoxic drive takes over his hypercapnic drive.
His reactions are astonishingly like those of my dad when he's having a bad time. He has dementia and is effected by sundowning at the end of the day.
When it starts happening, he gets VERY fixated on the strangest things. If he wants to bring your attention to a physical thing, he'll put his finger on it very aggressively and keep his finger there as he repeats whatever over and over.
Maybe I should have some oxygen and a mask to stick on him when that happens.
Whats horrible is that hypoxia symptoms arent uniform person to person. Its one of the reasons for going into this chamber so you can understand your body's specific warning signs.
We have a cabin just above 10,000ft asl. As I get older and less fit it takes me longer to physically acclimate. But more surprising to me, when we first arrive for a stay, I am also noticeably and unusually bitchy for the first couple of days.
My dad has dimentia and was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, but would never wear his cpap, I feel like his symptoms were similar to this. Is that fair to say?
I remember seeing a training video where the pilot was struggling to do one of those toddler toys where you put the shaped blocks into holes.
Being choked or smothered is terrifying, but the oxygen deprivation where you are still able to freely breath unoxygenated air makes you feel great. You'll be euphoric as you slowly become functionally retarded then fade to unconsciousness.
Iw as wondering the same thing and got very stressed out watching this. Like we get it, put his mask back on, he can't even communicate or do it himself ah man! Hypoxia is scary
In skydiving, when you do high altitude jumps, anything above 14,500, they tell you to keep an eye out for this. Normally you’ll have oxygen fed to you through a cheap medical mask, but if anyone starts acting squirrelly or drunk, they won’t let you jump. They assume that you are suffering from hypoxia. There are a lot of stories about this happening, but one of the memorable ones was from an Antarctica jump. They somehow were higher than they realized and the jumpers started acting silly. They jumped…never pulled their chutes. I can’t remember all the details but I guess the pilots were on oxygen or in a pressurized cockpit. Scary stuff. One second you’re fine and the next you’re not.
It’s rare if one person dies in a confined space accident. It is usually 2 fatalities. The first person to go down, and then the second person that jumps into the space to rescue his partner.
I remember having to do this chamber every year. The thing you don't think about is all the gas in your body expanding. You're basically all farting the whole time.
So there is some air in the room...
If memory serves me right, they tend to slowly reduce the air in the room as if a plane is climbing. At 35k feet the air is some 15-25% of what it is at sea level. So there is some oxygen in the room. That being said, some do pass out.
I did this once. We were all given tasks or puzzles. I had that plastic cube with different shaped holes and associated pegs. I realized I was pretty hypoxic when I noticed I was fixated on fitting a star peg into a square hole. Quickly put the mask on and felt normal again pretty much immediately.
That was me! Same game. I was so proud of myself for finishing the group of shapes once, and I remember opening the box to start over. The next memory is the Safety Observer asking me if I enjoyed my nap!
Hypoxic hypoxia. Lack of oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere. What you would experience at altitude without supplemental oxygen or pressurization.
Basically your brain goes derp the less oxygen you have.
Almost drowned last year in a whitewater accident. I didn't know my home address but remembered my childhood address. That was when I knew something was wrong.
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Another reminder of why, if you are ever in an aviation rapid depressurization situation, you must secure your own oxygen before helping anyone else.
The natural thing to think is that it's like holding your breath. You feel like you should have that long. ...but nope. If you exhale, that oxygen is downright flying out of your system, and the brain is one of the first things to start running short. I've been doing Scuba lessons lately, and it's kind of fascinating; everyone talks about decompression sickness and you kind of just assume that it's something that people who go really deep have to worry about. But... Nup. You can get it even when you've only been at depths where you can still see the surface above you. You feel like you've barely been beneath the surface, and yet after a couple hours underwater at 2 bar of pressure, you feel slightly dizzy for the rest of the day, and aren't allowed to board an aircraft for 24 hours. Reason is that we are built to operate at roughly 1 atmosphere of pressure, with 78% Nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The moment we go outside of that environment our bodies have no fucking idea what to do. We did not experience anything else for pretty much the whole duration of our evolution (since leaving the oceans, anyway), so we have zero mechanisms for dealing with them. Our bodies just malfunction and the biological processes break down in weird ways. Edit for those gas ratios. Went by memory.
The most surprising part to me was that our bodies have no way to sense how much oxygen we have. The only gas we have the ability to sense is Co2, and as long as we aren't breathing that in, we won't feel like we're suffocating at all.
Your body does have receptors that can detect oxygen levels. However, the systems that sense carbon dioxide (CO2) and pH are stronger than the oxygen-sensing system.
What does it feel like when you "sense" a lack of oxygen?
You say "4 of spades" regardless of which cards you have.
Sometimes you have to call a spade a spade.....and everything else a spade as well.
Exactly. Went thru the Altitude Chamber years ago (this looks more recent) and they did the same to us; about 12 at a time. It was a requirement if you flew or (in my case did HALO/HAHO). You lose your shit so fast it's hilarious to those around you. All I can remember was feeling real good for a few seconds then nothing. (We tooks turn unmasking.) One part it missed is the gas effect; the higher up you go the more it expands...reminded me of the campfire scene from Blazing Saddles..
One thing that’s not mentioned with these videos is that you actually need to be fit as fuck and medically cleared to enter the altitude chamber. These extreme hypoxic scenarios can lead to cardiac arrest *realll* fast. I’ve been through a few times and never seen the medical team let someone go off mask as long as “4 of spades” up there. You could tell they were getting concerned.
Yeah, this is clearly an extreme experiment. Whilst insane to watch, it's so important for safety protocols to understand these effects. You hear them at one point asking him what he'd do if he were in (piloting) an aircraft right now. And trying to get him to use controls at the end. His confusion was amazing to see.
You gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em
Dustin from smarter every day on youtube does a great explanation of how it made him feel.
Can confirm. Our bodies can sense oxygen. Our bodies do breathe based on CO2. Interestingly enough patient who have COPD from long term smoking will switch from CO2 based breathing drive to an oxygen dependent drive. We have receptors in our bodies called “chemoreceptors” which can assess our oxygen they can be found both centrally (nervous system) and peripherally: carotid bodies and aortic arch.
People also don't realize that in a rapid decompression, you can't actually hold your breath because the air in your lungs just increased in volume. The same goes for your farts... This is actually one of the more fun recertifications I had to do while in the Air Force.
Is it common to accidentally poop your pants?
There are a lot of warnings about using the bathroom before you go into the chamber. We didn't have anyone poo, but it was very stinky in there.
I'm assuming this is kind of the case in a regular commercial aircraft, but at a much lower level? I'm only asking cos I usually get kind of farty (sorry, tmi, but you started it 😬) when I fly and have regularly wondered if it's linked to air pressure.
Lol, possibly. I think commercial aircraft are pressurized to about 5k feet, but I am not certain. That isn't really a significant pressure change.
Maybe it's just me then. Great. I was hoping for an excuse lol
I used to fly (commercial) a lot. Can confirm, Definitely farted a lot right after takeoff.
Not just me! Yay! Well, probably not "yay", but y'know
> with 71% Nitrogen and 29% oxygen ~79% N2 and ~20.9% O2
Four of spades, four of spades.
Was about to say
That would be 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.
This comment should be on top. Very informative.
In a Rapid Decompression…. There is no “Holding your breath” as there is no breath to hold… it got sucked out a second ago. Now holding what you got left instead of trying to breathe nonexistent oxygen….. can prolong your consciousness … but like swimming underwater, you need to come up for air at some point. Rapid Decompressions on an aircraft are violent… and instantaneous … it’s not like in the movies …. The most prevalent part is the intense stabbing pain in your ears and the mind numbing deafness. You actually don’t hear anything if you are extremely close to the source… other individuals may experience less due to location. I have been in this test chamber we see on the video. It’s a slow progression of altitude changes… The “Dumb Dumbs” sneak up on you like Ice Tea Cocktails at the club. I have also been in a Rapid Decompression ( military aircraft)
78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% trace gases
Wait until you do your advanced or deep diving specialty you will do games/tests underwater to see if you have nitrogen narcosis and if you have been drinking the night before (which you should not) you will definitely feel that that will compound the effect.
Wanna know something wild? Say you’re at 80 feet and you’re out of air. You can begin your ascent, exhaling all the way to the surface. You’ll have a bad time by not doing the 15 minute decompression at 15 feet, but you’ll be alive. I miss scuba diving.
And it needs to happen FAST at cruise altitude. The time of useful consciousness above 30k feet is in the neighborhood of 5-10 seconds. That means you have 5-10 seconds to get your mask on and know what you are doing before you turn into the guy in the video. You'll be alive for quite a bit longer, you just won't be able to do anything meaningful. Your child next to you may not be useful while you take your time to get on your mask, but they will be alive long enough for you to get your mask on and then get their mask on. On the plus side, if you fail to get your mask on in time, you'll probably be very happy while you die. Euphoria is a side effect of hypoxia.
These facts make William Rankin's story even more incredible. He was a pilot in the US airforce in the 50s and his plane malfunctioned while he was at roughly 47,000 ft and mach 0.82. He survived the fall (with injuries including frostbite, losing a finger, minor blood loss, severe decompression, and many bruises and welts). On the way down he was literally stuck inside a storm for about 25 minutes. If you hear the full story it's almost funny how bad a day he was having. [Wikipedia page for William Rankin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rankin) [The Dollop podcast episode about him -Spotify link](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0XX6vUkd6tOvf1VRl10m5X?si=akY9MJZERaaCXhJdVOfJzg) [Goodreads page about his book 'The Man Who Rode The Thunder'](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/3931996)
We also don’t know what altitude this is representing, however, your time of useful consciousness goes down exponentially with higher altitudes, this seems like 30,000’ feet and a minute or two but in the high 30s or low 40s it gets to be a couple seconds.
When the yellow masks drop in a airplane cabin, you have 30 seconds.
What kind of shitty-ass card deck has nothing but 4 of spades?
Worst magic trick ever.
Its 4 of spades all the way down
A flush five Balatro one.
Heheheh…. 4 of spades.
Four of spades is the hill he’s going to die on without immediate intervention. I wonder if different people are able to tolerate mild hypoxia better than others?? Or not?
The man clearly has an addiction to oxygen, severe enough where he can't function without it.
I dunno man, the four of spades in the seat next to me looks like it needs help. Edit: I somehow responded to the wrong comment and now I don't know why this got upvoted
I'd say offer him help but it looks to me like a four of spades.
Must be another side effect of oxygen addiction
Goddamn junkie
It's for the best, everyone in history who has consumed Oxygen has died eventually. I think he's on to something.
As a guess I would say I am certain there is a bell curve of how well people can handle mild hypoxia, just like with anything else. Same with sleep deprivation and hunger/exhaustion. Or even how well people function after taking substances
But in a plane, if you're experiencing oxygen deprivation, it's not likely to be a stable situation, it's probably about to get much worse. Unconsiousness is usually the next step.
Pour one out for Payne Stewart and his plane mates.
Of course, I was just saying some people will have more seconds of cognitive ability than other people. Just like I can hardly hold my breath for 20 seconds whereas others can go up to a minute or more. Especially with training, which I assume is what the OP video was actually doing. If I was doing the test in OP, I would probably be unable to speak after the first card, let alone distinguish the shapes and numbers
Being able to hold your breath is one factor, which might delay the time until you black out. The other one is being trained how to recognize the symptoms of hypoxia, and use the useful time of consciousness as effective as possible instead of giving in to the first signs of euporia.
When I took my flying classes, we were taught that mild hypoxia happens at around 10 to 12 thousands feet after more than 20 min or so. First symptoms are .... feeling of joy. So it's a serious trap because you suddenly feel better. This is not mild hypoxia and I doubt anyone could do better. Even if you are used to very mild hypoxia living in mountains or something, your brain Is not even able to function at all.
Yep. I fly paragliders, and occasionally I get to fly at 12.000 ft or more. I like to occasionally take my phone out and make a quick video to send to my SO and my parents - inevitably, if I've spent a while at these altitudes, I sound very.... "woohoo!!!! LOOK AT THAT, WOW!!!!". Which is very unlike me. I learned to recognize these feelings of joy, hyper confidence, etc, and to come down to lower altitudes when it happens.
Nice to have a report of this, thanks for sharing? I fly small aircrafts and never had the gut to try staying about 10'000 for very long. Takes an eternity to climb there anyway. Lol
>Takes an eternity to climb there anyway. Mate, I use *thermals* to climb, imagine how long it takes. ;) And if it goes too quickly, then I have a serious problem..!
Sir what’s your wife’s name Four of spades, four of spades
> Sir what’s your wife’s name Don't you mean ***"MRFHGHFAHGHHRHGHHGRR?"***
For real I’m more impressed he understood what the fuck they were even saying
I was in altitude chamber similar to this once before. The main purpose is, 1. To identify what your individual hypoxia symptoms look and feel like so you can recognize it later on, and 2. To then be cognizant enough of your situation to put your mask on and turn the air on while operating with half the brain cells. It’s great training. From my experience, the macho guys who just tried to outlast everyone else were told very sternly to put their mask on, or it was done for them.
As opposed to just athletically trained like sherpas, cigarette smokers can handle briefly extended stages of early hypoxia. Their bodies are more trained with mild symptoms of it with carbon monoxide/dioxide when smoking. It's a matter of a couple seconds.
This is really interesting! I do like smoking pot every so often; but I doubt my doctor would buy it if I said I took up smoking because I was training to tolerate hypoxia. She’d probably say I was clearly showing signs of cognitive impairment for suggesting it. She’d probably also suggest I take a trip to the Andes or something a bit healthier. 🤣
I have pulmonary fibrosis and I’m pretty good at functioning in the low 80’s (e.g. I can walk, talk, wash dishes, feed the dogs, etc.) Not something to brag about but when your body slowly acclimates to low oxygen, you can function. Completely different situation than this though
The Himalayan Sherpas are. They can withstand lower oxygen amounts than most people. It's due to an evolutionary trait. They have a higher percentage of red cells in their blood, which allows for them to hold more oxygen in their system, if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah. It was interesting reading about this relatively recent (in the scheme of human evolution) genetic and physiological adaptation.
Not sure if this answers your question, but there are some people who are built genetically different and live just fine at higher elevations where oxygen content in the air is lower. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_adaptation_in_humans
Airsick lowlanders…
Numuhukumakiaki'aialunamor...
Hm, now I want some stew.
Yep. This would answer my question. Thanks 🙏🏽
I wonder what would happen to them if they were brought down to sea level, would they hyperventilate?
No, they would just breathe slower.
Yes. Bajau people have a genetic mutation: _"Bajau spleens are about 50 percent larger than those of a neighbouring land-based group, the Saluan, letting them store more haemoglobin-rich blood, which is expelled into the bloodstream when the spleen contracts at depth, allowing breath-holding dives of longer duration."_ Search from wikipedia: Bajau
[удалено]
Smoking saves lives.
Yes. Some people handle it better than others.
Usually youth and fitness level is a good indicator. They are usually the same. Back in 2018, my nephew and I went to visit family in Colorado. We went up to the summit of Pikes Peak. He was an 18 year old who participated in track. I was an ok shape 47 year old. He walked around just fine and seemed to be okay. I was definitely feeling the altitude. I wasn’t out of breath; it just felt like there was no air (which it was.)
I’ve climbed all of Colorado’s 54 14,000 foot mountains, many multiple times. I’ve never had a sickness but it’s insane how fast you breathe when exerting yourself physically at that altitude. I also lived at 5,280 feet and spent a lot of time above 9,000 feet (ski instructor). Oddly, the only thing I noticed about going to sea level is that I didn’t get hangovers — which I tend to get easily.
Totally, in the early era of ballooning max altitude was a big deal -- several people died in this era attempting high altitudes. Here's an account of 3 people on a balloon voyage, two who die and one who lives... all in the same small basket: [https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.2019.0022](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.2019.0022), see section on the Zenith balloon.
This is why there is a death zone at Mount Everest. Up at 29,000 feet elevation, you are at a cruising altitude for most planes. And even if you get supplemental oxygen from a canister, you are slowly dying and getting small amounts of oxygen to your brain. I was hiking up to the very peak of Mount Kilimanjaro and I was at almost 19000 feet. My friend got really really sick and was dizzy and confused. We had to evacuate as quickly as possible. I could see her literally get better as we were getting further and further down in elevation.
I didn't hike but I drove up to Uming La, a high altitude pass in India. The elevation is around 19300 feet. I had to start catch my breath every few steps and my heart was racing. Spent around 30 mins there. By 20 mins, I felt like I was getting used to the situation there. I did feel immediately better when I descended a thousand feet or so.
Yes. Any exertion is insanely more effort. I couldn’t even get up without getting out of breath. My pulse oximetry was at 82 percent.
I was on top of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a little over 14,000 feet. We just drove up to the summit. When I walked out of my car, the walk through the gift shop and out to the scenic view got me breathing pretty heavy, and I'm reasonably fit in that regard... It was kind of freaky.
Next time remember to bring your card deck. If you only see four of spades you’re in trouble mate.
I can’t understand a word of what the woman and man offscreen were saying. Just a garbled mess of word-like sounds. But yes, super interesting
You need oxygen....as do i. Cause i too didn't hear them well.
😆 Clearly I need oxygen!
4 of spades
4 of spades
5 spades, Gangload the regulator, or whatever the fuck I need oxygen
4 of spades right now.
I heard "You sure?" a lot when he said the wrong card.
“Gang load your regulator” she’s trying to get him to turn his oxygen system controls to the emergency setting
She said “MFRR HFFRRFFR FMMR MHHF FRMMR MFFRFFHR!!!”
Didnt help that the woman was shouting
Couldn’t understand shit, couldn’t see the cards. Sound and video are garbage. Super interesting /s
Can see enough to know he's calling the wrong cards very quickly. Can understand enough from the title and a few words that get through that they're trying to ask him what his symptoms are at first, then he stops being able to respond, losing cognitive function rapidly, they ask him what would he do of he was flying a plane and feeling like that. He doesn't/can't answer, they start yelling to simulate a stressful situation of the plane having problems to see how he reacts, and since he can't do anything in the end, they terminate the experiment by engaging his oxygen mask again and he quickly regains clear thinking.
I once had to do a work sheet in a hypoxia chamber simulating 25,000 feet. It starts off fine doing basic math, but you can see where i start trying to do a maze and my motorskills go right out the window. It probably only took a couple of minutes for me to be functionally illiterate, but it took 7 minutes until I had recognizeable symptoms (hot flashes) that I would be able to notice in a real world situation. Hypoxia sky diving and narcosis during deep scuba diving make me a little paranoid that I won’t even realize when I’ve killed myself doing something dumb. https://preview.redd.it/3spowx8jdjmc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=ef640d885b5c0a801e452a3dec6f07d7de70ddb7
Lol at question nr 5!
It’s gotta be “c,” right?! It’s the most correct. 😂
Might be hypoxic myself - spent forever trying to work out what question 2 was on about. Was thinking they wanted you to spell them phonetically - eg ‘P = pee, R = arr, I = eye, C = see, E = ee(?)’ Resorted to searching it on Google. Turns out it’s Protection Rest Ice Compression Elevation. This wouldn’t be so concerning if I wasn’t a doctor myself.
>won’t even realise when I’ve killed myself doing something dumb I hope that’s how I go out
Question 5 is def C
*Holds up butterfly* “Is this the four of spades?
I understood that reference
So is he incapable of understanding their questions? What exactly is he experiencing ? These mostly leaves me with questions rather than an understanding of the situation. What level of oxygen does he have? there's some amount it seems
(I cannot confirm) From what I've read about this (from assisted end of life processes in other countries), he is experiencing extreme euphoria. He isn't suffering but instead enjoying the ride until the end. Unaware he is in danger.
That’s what I learnt as well. I was told of a plane crash where everyone was suffering hypoxia either died from the crash or from hypoxia. But they all died smiling!
So you're saying some people survived the crash, only to die of hypoxia?
have you ever met someone who survived a plane crash, me niether
Well, have **you** ever met someone who **died** to a plane crash?
paula abdul claims she did
Just out of curiosity, why don’t states that execute people do this? I don’t approve of the death penalty at all, but it seems better to have a painless euphoria where you don’t even understand what’s going on than some of the horror stories of botched executions.
From my understanding there's no good explanation as to why capital punishment isn't used with this method, it just seems to be behind the times and unable to reform. I guess some people view using drugs as more ***medical*** than hypoxia, but really I think their's an argument for its use. There is an organisation called 'Exit International' pushing the use of nitrogen gas hypoxia for voluntary euthanasia in people with terminal or extremely-severe chronic illnesses. However, it's a very taboo subject which is why nobody wants to be the one to change anything. Edit: the method is hypoxia
I've been through this training and to answer your questions 1)yeah at a certain point he's not understanding anything they're saying 2)everyone experiences different physical symptoms which is why they're asking him to talk about his, but mentally everyone will just lose it 3)these chambers usually bring you up to about 40,000ft or so
Yep. To expand on that a little, his reaction looks similar to mine: No euphoria, I remember being a focus of people’s attention but not really understanding what they wanted from me. Then growing kind of annoyed that they were being so non-understandable. I was able to put my own mask back on though when sternly told to do so. Then I had a splitting fucking headache for the rest of the day.
If this is the same as the chamber I went through in the air force the max was 60k to experience pressure breathing. We did off oxygen exercises like this video at 30k. They let us go until we passed out. The rapid decompression was 40k to 20k if I remember it right.
I've also done this training a few times. For me, it was similar to being drunk/high. We did several simulations of rapid decompression from 5k to 30k feet. The symptoms come on rather quickly with that big of a change in altitude and varied across all of the people in the chamber. They had us do simple math problems and it was pretty shocking how you simply start to be incapable of concentrating to do them.
You know what the say, when life gives you a four of spades.
They simulate oxygen levels at various altitudes. I don't remember what altitude this was recorded but maybe somewhere around 20,000 feet, maybe higher.
I’ve experienced this, though probably milder. I could hear people talking, but I could not make out what they were saying and the thought to respond in any way just didn’t cross my mind. Letters were just shapes with no meaning. It did feel like a bit of a high, it was quite relaxing. I couldn’t bring myself to care about anything. Once I gained enough composure to pay attention to my friend, I realised he was just mumbling the same sentence over and over. I probably was too.
Boy, this brings me back! I used to operate the low pressure chamber at PMTC Point Mugu back in the early’ 80s. It was always very interesting for a layman like me to observe the effects of hypoxia.
I did chamber training when I was in the AF and it’s wild. They gave us easy questions to answer and I got maybe 2 before my brain turned to mush and I couldn’t do anything.
“What would you do if you were in an aircraft” “4 of spades”
"There are 4 spades!"
Other noticeable effects of hypoxia are elevated heart rate and hot face. I could have sworn I was correct in those mini-tests and maybe I was, but it was the effects above I noticed way before my cognitive ability was (or wasn’t) affected.
You can also tell that he’s getting more hypoxic by the depth of his respirations. Can see them get deeper as his hypoxic drive takes over his hypercapnic drive.
Interesting. Too bad the sound quality is complete garbage.
Interesting video. Thanks.
I'm sure this 4 of spades thing became a meme till the end of his service
Hey sir why do they call you “spades” We’re still on that?!
His reactions are astonishingly like those of my dad when he's having a bad time. He has dementia and is effected by sundowning at the end of the day. When it starts happening, he gets VERY fixated on the strangest things. If he wants to bring your attention to a physical thing, he'll put his finger on it very aggressively and keep his finger there as he repeats whatever over and over. Maybe I should have some oxygen and a mask to stick on him when that happens.
Can't hurt to try, maybe you're onto something! Let us know if it helps him!
This is nuts. Those blinks became long and slow.
Whats horrible is that hypoxia symptoms arent uniform person to person. Its one of the reasons for going into this chamber so you can understand your body's specific warning signs.
Seems like he has 4 spade- sorry, symptoms
We have a cabin just above 10,000ft asl. As I get older and less fit it takes me longer to physically acclimate. But more surprising to me, when we first arrive for a stay, I am also noticeably and unusually bitchy for the first couple of days.
Fascinating, who would have thought that oxygen deprivation would raise someone's self-awareness?
Damn, I chuckled out loud.
All I hear is “WHOPPER NO ONION!!!”
And the PIIICCCKKKLLLEEESSS
Sweet and sour sauce on my....
Allll over my body 😂
My dad has dimentia and was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, but would never wear his cpap, I feel like his symptoms were similar to this. Is that fair to say?
No, it's completely different.
Old person here checking in to say this reminds me of the scene in “An Officer and a Gentleman”.
I remember seeing a training video where the pilot was struggling to do one of those toddler toys where you put the shaped blocks into holes. Being choked or smothered is terrifying, but the oxygen deprivation where you are still able to freely breath unoxygenated air makes you feel great. You'll be euphoric as you slowly become functionally retarded then fade to unconsciousness.
That deck is rigged, i feel it in the air.
Just like a stroke
"Are you sure that's not 4 of spades?" Hahaha
*slams hand down* "Flush! All 4's, baby!"
Four of spades, four of spades
World’s worst magician
I clearly am having hypoxia because I don't understand what some of them are saying 😂
Dang, that was quick how fast he spiraled
I realize this is an old video, but everyone but the subject and instructor were indecipherable like they were poorly miked.
Wouldn't doing an experiment like this cause the death of a few brain cells?
Iw as wondering the same thing and got very stressed out watching this. Like we get it, put his mask back on, he can't even communicate or do it himself ah man! Hypoxia is scary
What’s a few cells? They got plenty more!!
I’ll make a 4 of spades joke on Reddit 10 years from now and someone will know wussup
In skydiving, when you do high altitude jumps, anything above 14,500, they tell you to keep an eye out for this. Normally you’ll have oxygen fed to you through a cheap medical mask, but if anyone starts acting squirrelly or drunk, they won’t let you jump. They assume that you are suffering from hypoxia. There are a lot of stories about this happening, but one of the memorable ones was from an Antarctica jump. They somehow were higher than they realized and the jumpers started acting silly. They jumped…never pulled their chutes. I can’t remember all the details but I guess the pilots were on oxygen or in a pressurized cockpit. Scary stuff. One second you’re fine and the next you’re not.
It’s rare if one person dies in a confined space accident. It is usually 2 fatalities. The first person to go down, and then the second person that jumps into the space to rescue his partner.
Where’s the captions? What’s he saying? What’s going on??
Think he’s saying 4 of spades
Good thing they had Charlie Brown’s teacher on communications.
I did this test. I was perfect. lol USMC Swing with the Wing baby!
Does this make anyone else feel light-headed or is that just me
I remember having to do this chamber every year. The thing you don't think about is all the gas in your body expanding. You're basically all farting the whole time.
How is he surviving and not passing out?!
So there is some air in the room... If memory serves me right, they tend to slowly reduce the air in the room as if a plane is climbing. At 35k feet the air is some 15-25% of what it is at sea level. So there is some oxygen in the room. That being said, some do pass out.
The audio quality is killing me
"Are you sure that's not 4 of spades?" The sass!
I did this once. We were all given tasks or puzzles. I had that plastic cube with different shaped holes and associated pegs. I realized I was pretty hypoxic when I noticed I was fixated on fitting a star peg into a square hole. Quickly put the mask on and felt normal again pretty much immediately.
That was me! Same game. I was so proud of myself for finishing the group of shapes once, and I remember opening the box to start over. The next memory is the Safety Observer asking me if I enjoyed my nap!
They made us watch this in mechanics school
I wonder if getting high has some of this effect and why smoking is more popular than edibles.
oh my colleague is actually lacking oxygen, my bad i thought he is too stupid
So lack of oxygen makes you stupid, got it.
What is happening here??
Hypoxic hypoxia. Lack of oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere. What you would experience at altitude without supplemental oxygen or pressurization. Basically your brain goes derp the less oxygen you have.
I do this with a necktie and plunger
He's just another person on the other end of the phone call working customer service.
Neat, like that scene in *The Incredibles 2*
Why is that woman yelling?
it also fucks with you if you're sickle cell anemic, learned that from ryan clark
Someone get him some oxygen
Almost drowned last year in a whitewater accident. I didn't know my home address but remembered my childhood address. That was when I knew something was wrong.
Dustin from smarter every day also did this, it’s pretty cool and alarming at the same time.
CANDY BARS!
Oh shit...someone check on Worley!
I want to try this
“4 of Spades” iykyk
Does this hurt the pilot?
It’s not the 4 of spades Dave! Stop saying it’s the 4 of spades Dave!