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A man who ran out of air at the bottom of the ocean

bbc.com

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Re: A man who ran out of air at the bottom of the ocean

#4
>If you lower the brain temperature down to 30C (86F), it can increase the survival time from 10 to 20 minutes. If you cool the brain to 20C (68F), you can get an hour.

Wow, I actually didn't know this until now. Is this method used anywhere in medical procedures to resuscitate or prolong life?

Re: A man who ran out of air at the bottom of the ocean

#5
Reminds me of the fantastic movie The Abyss (1)...vaguely recall a similar scene where there's N tanks of oxygen for N+1 people, so they submerge 1 of the crew to lower her (i think) metabolic rate.

Curious why they don't have emergency unmanned drones with the crew or why they don't have emergency tanks at their work site (which he was able to get back to)

(1) - Not sure how well it has aged (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Abyss)

Re: A man who ran out of air at the bottom of the ocean

#6

This article is quite fascinating, but the title is a bit misleading. The diver was about 100m deep. He was on the sea floor but arguably not "on the bottom of the ocean" (though maybe, by some interpretation)

what is the sea floor if not the bottom of the ocean?

Re: A man who ran out of air at the bottom of the ocean

#7
post #4

>If you lower the brain temperature down to 30C (86F), it can increase the survival time from 10 to 20 minutes. If you cool the brain to 20C (68F), you can get an hour. Wow, I actually didn't know this until now. Is this method used anywhere in medical procedures to resuscitate or prolong life?

I believe that this is a common trope in medical dramas. While I'm unaware of how often it is actually done, I know that I have seen it done in multiple episodes of House, or ER, etc, etc.

Re: A man who ran out of air at the bottom of the ocean

#8
post #4

>If you lower the brain temperature down to 30C (86F), it can increase the survival time from 10 to 20 minutes. If you cool the brain to 20C (68F), you can get an hour. Wow, I actually didn't know this until now. Is this method used anywhere in medical procedures to resuscitate or prolong life?

It absolutely is. There's been considerable research on the use of therapeutic hypothermia during surgery, or after a traumatic injury.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeted_temperature_managemen...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_hypothermic_circulatory_a...

Re: A man who ran out of air at the bottom of the ocean

#9
post #4

>If you lower the brain temperature down to 30C (86F), it can increase the survival time from 10 to 20 minutes. If you cool the brain to 20C (68F), you can get an hour. Wow, I actually didn't know this until now. Is this method used anywhere in medical procedures to resuscitate or prolong life?

I believe that this is a common trope in medical dramas. While I'm unaware of how often it is actually done, I know that I have seen it done in multiple episodes of House, or ER, etc, etc.

At least it's an accurate medical trope :)

Re: A man who ran out of air at the bottom of the ocean

#10
post #5

Reminds me of the fantastic movie The Abyss (1)...vaguely recall a similar scene where there's N tanks of oxygen for N+1 people, so they submerge 1 of the crew to lower her (i think) metabolic rate. Curious why they don't have emergency unmanned drones with the crew or why they don't have emergency tanks at their work site (which he was able to get back to) (1) - Not sure how well it has aged ( https://en.wikipedia.o…

Yeah even if the unmanned drones are too hard, having spare tanks at the work site sounds like an easy way to at least supply oxygen... however without the umbilical cord he loses the heat supply. Maybe its more pleasant to pass out while your body freezes.
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