From: Nosegear
The lung-damage part is true, but couldn't happen in an explosive
decompression situation in an aircraft. The first 10 meters descend in
water will cause an increase of pressure of 1 bar, in the air this
difference is of course just a small factor.
When I took the altitude chamber ride in the Air Force we were told to NOT LOCK
ones throat and try to hold our breath during the decompression. The
instructor said ( of all people to try it) that a flight surgeon had tried to
do so once and it had blown his lungs out of his diaphram. Also in safety
classes we were told that compressed air above 3 PSI could cause ruptures once
inside the body.
As to this aspect and SCUBA. In that training we were told to not even
try to stand up from 3 feet depth holding ones breath. Also gas will excape
from "both" ends during a rapid decompression. Just depends on what you've
been eating and "conditions". The women Air Force members were told to not be
shy and to let'r rip as needed. mac
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