JJS wrote:
"Ian Stirling" wrote in message ...

Totally different situations.

In one, you've got lungs full of stale air.
There is a reasonable amount of O2 in it, even after you pass out
(IIRC).

Hemeoglobin is very clever, but it's not magic.
It releases the molecule it's bound to (O2 or CO2) when it reaches somewhere
there isn't much of that gas.

Normally this is a good thing, but when the lungs are full of N2, not
only do you get the normal release of CO2, but the lungs now actively
strip oxygen from the blood, something which normally never happens.

And, any further breaths simply make this worse, as they get rid of any
oxygen that may have been in the lungs as a remenant, or stripped from
the blood flowing through them.

Much the same thing (though slightly more severe, with the additional
possible complication of burst lungs) happens when you breath vacuum.


Ding! The light bulb is flickering. Thanks Ian, for being patient enough with me and taking the time to educate. I
was aware that hemoglobin exchanges CO2 and O2. I wasn't aware that it did so in the manner you describe releasing
either in a low presence of the gas in question. That is very interesting. I still do not understand why it took
the victim so long to recover from a lack of oxygen unless there really was some brain damage that he recovered from
over time?? Do you have any links to the CO2/O2 exchange mechanism for further reading?

Joe Schneider
N8437R


I have to offer my thanks too, Ian.

Pretty Scary Stuff.


Richard