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On Fri, 3 Feb 2006 23:23:13 -0600, "JJS" jschneider@remove socks
cebridge.net wrote: "Roger" wrote in message news ![]() Then he committed a sin for which job termination is usually proscribed at most companies now days. You never, ever enter a vessel that has been N2 purged unless bringing your own breathing air by tank or hose. He entered without checking the O2 level and almost suffocated. Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com Roger, did you miss my post and just reply to the response that was snipped by Bryan Martin without him indicating he did so? Yup. Never saw it and I *tried" to cover the whole thread. It was I who filled out and signed the safe work and confined space entry permits. One of my direct reports took the gas samples with a handheld gas meter. The confined space entry was done correctly per OSHA 1910.146 confined space procedures. At my place of employment we have to make confined space entries on a routine basis. As did I, even though at the time I was an Instrument tech. They put instruments in some strange places. :-)) An attendant was present. An Emergency Response Team was on standby. One thing though, there was no forced air ventilation. He was using a supplied air respirator (air line mask) with a backup egress system. This was a professional contract company that does IDLH confined space entries for catalyst work as their sole source of income. Forced air ventilation will not make a "confined space" a "non-confined space" per OSHA. Ability to egress is a consideration unto itself. There are permit required and non-permit required confined spaces. (I never liked that terminology as they both require permits). IDLH atmospheres are permit required. Roger, I've been reading your posts here for years and you have my respect. It seems as we both have some job related experience with confined space entries. I've been doing it for 28 years and I sure don't consider myself an expert on the subject. But please help educate me. Why did the victim go into convulsions instantly if he was suffocating and why did it take months for him to recover? Like I said, I am not an expert on this, I'm only relating my experiences. And in my experience nitrogen can be deadly even without being pressurize and without "suffocating" you. And yes I know that air is 78% nitrogen. Nor am I an expert on the subject either, but with similar time in the field (26 years) before going back to college, but I stress that was nearly 20 years ago. "My Guess" which is all I can do from here, is there may have been some traces of something other than N2 there. BUT as has been mentioned, loss of consciousness is quite rapid in a pure N2 atmosphere. It's not usually instantaneous but quick. More like 5 to10 seconds which is about the time it takes for the process of "removing" O2 from the blood in the lungs and the oxygen depleted blood reaching the brain. However from my training (which was a long time ago) the convulsions appear very soon, or almost as soon as the loss of consciousness. "My understanding" which could be flawed both by time and changes in industry understanding since I left: Our lungs work based on the "partial pressure" of O2 in the air. When the partial pressure of O2 in the air is normal the lungs pass O2 into the blood where the red blood cells bind the molecules of Oxygen and carry it to where it is needed. Just about the first location being the brain. When the partial pressure drops below a given value (I've forgotten the actual value) the lungs cease to pass the O2 into the blood stream. Only a slight decrease from that point will cause the process to reverse. Two things will cause this. remove the O2 from the atmosphere and/or reduce the atmospheric pressure. This is the reason why breathing pure O2 at high altitudes using a canula doesn't work. You need the pressure of a mask. OTOH blood that has had the O2 removed has an effect on the brain that is quite different than Oxygen starved blood. It really messes with the brain and does so quickly which accounts for the rapid onset of convulsions. It's my understanding that the onset of brain damage is also much faster as the blood is actually scavenging Oxygen from those cells. The whole system has been thrown into reverse. The drop in O2 in the brain causes the neurons to start firing randomly which of course results in convulsions. That makes getting not just fresh air, but pure O2, to the patient as quickly as possible, *essential* as you only have a small fraction of the time normally available that you would have in the case of asphyxiation. Even when pure O2 is applied you not only have to get the amount of O2 in the blood up to normal, but it has to re oxygenate areas that have less than normal amounts of O2, maybe way less. That means the lungs themselves are going to be using up the O2 for a short time before there is enough to supply the brain and the lungs are going to be dealing with Oxygen starved blood for some time. The brain is supposed to be capable of lasting up to 3 minutes or possibly more without fresh air, the time available in this case may be less than a minute. So, it is possible that this was a case of inhaling pure N2 which would have given him just about time enough to put the mask back in place before going down. The convulsions would have probably started about the time he hit the floor. Again, though, I stress it has been a long time since I had to deal with this stuff on a day-to-day basis and I have not kept up with it since then. "I think" which means I don't really know for sure, but the treatment is pure O2 as quickly as possible and then like CO poisoning, you keep the patient still as movement can make the situation worse if done before the blood has been completely re oxygenate. Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com I think this thread has drifted way to far off topic. For anyone else still interested go here Go here if you'd like to read up on confined space requirements. http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owad...able=STANDARDS Joe Schneider 8437R ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
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![]() "Roger" wrote in message ... snip "My Guess" which is all I can do from here, is there may have been some traces of something other than N2 there. BUT as has been mentioned, loss of consciousness is quite rapid in a pure N2 atmosphere. It's not usually instantaneous but quick. More like 5 to10 seconds which is about the time it takes for the process of "removing" O2 from the blood in the lungs and the oxygen depleted blood reaching the brain. However from my training (which was a long time ago) the convulsions appear very soon, or almost as soon as the loss of consciousness. snip Our lungs work based on the "partial pressure" of O2 in the air. When the partial pressure of O2 in the air is normal the lungs pass O2 into the blood where the red blood cells bind the molecules of Oxygen and carry it to where it is needed. Just about the first location being the brain. When the partial pressure drops below a given value (I've forgotten the actual value) the lungs cease to pass the O2 into the blood stream. Only a slight decrease from that point will cause the process to reverse. Two things will cause this. remove the O2 from the atmosphere and/or reduce the atmospheric pressure. This is the reason why breathing pure O2 at high altitudes using a canula doesn't work. You need the pressure of a mask. OTOH blood that has had the O2 removed has an effect on the brain that is quite different than Oxygen starved blood. It really messes with the brain and does so quickly which accounts for the rapid onset of convulsions. It's my understanding that the onset of brain damage is also much faster as the blood is actually scavenging Oxygen from those cells. The whole system has been thrown into reverse. The drop in O2 in the brain causes the neurons to start firing randomly which of course results in convulsions. That makes getting not just fresh air, but pure O2, to the patient as quickly as possible, *essential* as you only have a small fraction of the time normally available that you would have in the case of asphyxiation. Even when pure O2 is applied you not only have to get the amount of O2 in the blood up to normal, but it has to re oxygenate areas that have less than normal amounts of O2, maybe way less. That means the lungs themselves are going to be using up the O2 for a short time before there is enough to supply the brain and the lungs are going to be dealing with Oxygen starved blood for some time. The brain is supposed to be capable of lasting up to 3 minutes or possibly more without fresh air, the time available in this case may be less than a minute. So, it is possible that this was a case of inhaling pure N2 which would have given him just about time enough to put the mask back in place before going down. The convulsions would have probably started about the time he hit the floor. Again, though, I stress it has been a long time since I had to deal with this stuff on a day-to-day basis and I have not kept up with it since then. "I think" which means I don't really know for sure, but the treatment is pure O2 as quickly as possible and then like CO poisoning, you keep the patient still as movement can make the situation worse if done before the blood has been completely re oxygenate. Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com Thanks Roger. I believe this "disagreement" turned into a relevant discussion and good learning experience, (at least for me). I wish all newsgroup threads would follow this example. The ERT did try and start high flow oxygen on the victim as the first priority, however he was so combative that he kept knocking the nasal canula/mask, off. (I can't remember which was used, perhaps both. This incident happened circa 1999). He was physically restrained and tied down in a stokes basket on a back board while one guy held the mask in place as best he could. From what I've gleaned from the discussion I still wouldn't consider nitrogen poisoning a true "poisoning". I can't really say I'd consider it suffocation either, at least as I previously viewed suffocation. And if you type "definition of toxic" in Google and peruse what comes up you can argue all day long whether nitrogen is toxic and both sides could be considered correct. There is much more to this oxygen, carbon dioxide exchange than I was aware of. And it amazes me that the exchange works fine when breathing in air that contains 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen... but in atmospheres containing less than 19% O2 we start starving for oxygen and at some point the exchange actually reverses and O2 is stripped from the body? The older I get the less I know! And how in the heck we went from medal winners: ATC tapes to this! I'm headed to the airport. It's pretty outside! Joe Schneider 8437R ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
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![]() JJS wrote: ... From what I've gleaned from the discussion I still wouldn't consider nitrogen poisoning a true "poisoning". I can't really say I'd consider it suffocation either, at least as I previously viewed suffocation. I think the proper term is asphyxiation. -- FF |
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wrote in message oups.com...
JJS wrote: ... From what I've gleaned from the discussion I still wouldn't consider nitrogen poisoning a true "poisoning". I can't really say I'd consider it suffocation either, at least as I previously viewed suffocation. I think the proper term is asphyxiation. -- FF You may be right but most of the on line dictionaries I looked at said something similar to: Noun 1. asphyxiation - the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped) Synonyms: suffocation I'm thinking that a reverse oxygen - carbon dioxide exchange is more insidious than ordinary suffocation. Perhaps there is a medical term for this or maybe we need to invent a new one? Joe Schneider N8437R ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
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![]() JJS wrote: wrote in message oups.com... JJS wrote: ... From what I've gleaned from the discussion I still wouldn't consider nitrogen poisoning a true "poisoning". I can't really say I'd consider it suffocation either, at least as I previously viewed suffocation. I think the proper term is asphyxiation. -- FF You may be right but most of the on line dictionaries I looked at said something similar to: Noun 1. asphyxiation - the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped) Synonyms: suffocation That is basicly what we are talking about, being deprived of oxygen. I'm thinking that a reverse oxygen - carbon dioxide exchange is more insidious than ordinary suffocation. Perhaps there is a medical term for this or maybe we need to invent a new one? I think divers have a term for a similar phenomenum, _shallow water blackout_. http://www.freedive.net/chapters/SWB3.html -- FF |
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![]() wrote in message oups.com... I think divers have a term for a similar phenomenum, _shallow water blackout_. http://www.freedive.net/chapters/SWB3.html -- FF Very interesting! Thanks Fredfighter. ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
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![]() " I think divers have a term for a similar phenomenum, _shallow water blackout_. Very interesting! Thanks Fredfighter. Yes, thanks, I think. I sometimes think that it is a miracle that I didn't manage to kill myself, one way or the other, while growing up. I spent a lot of time in pools and lakes as a kid, and was quite good at spending large periods of time underwater, holding my breath. Sometimes it was competing for swiming the greatest distance underwater. Sometimes it was working on building stuff, like weighing down a plastic barrel upside down, so we could swim under it, and hang out in the pocket of trapped air. I was appauled to read about the symptoms I oftened experienced, and how close I (and my buddies) came to doing serious harm. Wow! -- Jim in NC |
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Might we go a bit farther?
The reason I ask is that I've seen people take big lungfuls of Helium, which (obviously) doesn't produce the same effect. Can someone explain why N is such a disaster but He doesn't? (Should have paid more attention in chemistry classes!) Richard |
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On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 17:50:04 GMT, Richard Lamb
wrote: Might we go a bit farther? The reason I ask is that I've seen people take big lungfuls of Helium, which (obviously) doesn't produce the same effect. A really big lung full can make you light headed in a hurry, but beyond that? Can someone explain why N is such a disaster but He doesn't? "I think" it has to do with the partial pressure of He compared to N, but I really don't know. There are warnings about inhaling He, but I've not heard of any reactions like those of N2. Still, He is used as an N2 replacement in diving air at times to reduce the likely hood of getting the bends on deep dives. There *must* be some one who reads this group who knows. (Should have paid more attention in chemistry classes!) I should have gotten better grades! Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com Richard |
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![]() Roger wrote: On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 17:50:04 GMT, Richard Lamb wrote: Might we go a bit farther? The reason I ask is that I've seen people take big lungfuls of Helium, which (obviously) doesn't produce the same effect. A really big lung full can make you light headed in a hurry, but beyond that? Can someone explain why N is such a disaster but He doesn't? "I think" it has to do with the partial pressure of He compared to N, but I really don't know. Partial Pressure of a gas is what the pressure would be if all the other gasses were removed without changing the volume. Equal volumes of gas at the same temperature and pressure have equal numbers of molecules (Avogadro's law). So no, that isn't the explanation. There are warnings about inhaling He, but I've not heard of any reactions like those of N2. The warnings I have heard regard hydrocarbon contaminants like compressor oils, putting the huffer at risk for chemical pneumonia. Still, He is used as an N2 replacement in diving air at times to reduce the likely hood of getting the bends on deep dives. One presumes contaminants like compressor oils are filtered out when the Helium is intended for that purpose, something one might not bother to do for balloons. -- FF |
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