Sunday, May 27, 2018

The Heliox Bridge

     When saturation divers die valiantly, are they welcomed to the Halls of Valsalva?
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N.B.: in saturation diving, panic can be deadly, as you will begin to breathe faster than your equipment can supply fresh and take away the bad.  Divers call this "breathing past your hat," the "hat" being their helmet.  Some of us can do much the same in free air at sea level -- don't.  Be like the deep-sea saturation diver.  Slow yourself, and live to come back up to the light.

4 comments:

B said...

vaLsalva.

And man, what a bad pun.

Keep up the good work

Roberta X said...

Fixed, thank you!

John in Philly said...

Indeed a good one.

Gewehr98 said...

Standard procedure for USAF aircrew. In the event one couldn't valsalva on descent prior to landing, we also kept a bottle of Afrin or Neosynephrine in our sleeve pockets to clear the Eustachian Tube blockage. Failure to do so would result in excruciating pain and even a ruptured eardrum. I made the mistake of flying with a head cold one day, and I was so glad that Afrin did the trick!