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> Unconscious is either hyperbole or gross exaggeration. No it isn't. > you can survive and be conscious for minutes in this state No you can't. You are not

> Unconscious is either hyperbole or gross exaggeration. No it isn't. > you can survive and be conscious for minutes in this state No you can't. You are not going to remain conscious for more than a few seconds at 35000 or 40000 feet. You could potentially be between 15000 to 20000 feet but there's a reason oxygen supplementation is required above 10k feet in unpressurized cabins.

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dragontamer 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_useful_consciousness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_useful_consciousness > It is the period of time from the interruption of the oxygen supply or exposure to an oxygen-poor environment to the time when useful function is lost, and the individual is no longer capable of taking proper corrective and protective action. > It is not the time to total unconsciousness 35,000 feet is 30-seconds to 1-minute of total useful consciousness, half that for rapid decompression situations. I stand by my estimate for "Dozens of seconds before you're an idiot". Most people will remain conscious after this time is up: they just will have become such idiots that its unlikely they will ever be able to fix their Hypoxia condition. (Slurred speech, unable to dexterously control your limbs, etc. etc. You're conscious, but no longer capable of putting on a mask even if it is dangling in front of you) Wikipedia takes the table from an FAA document: https://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/airman_education/media/AC%2061-107A.pdf https://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/airman_education/media/A... There's pretty much no reason to measure "time to unconsciousness", because you're incapable of helping yourself long before you're unconscious.
- slavak 6y ago
  There's also this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IqWal_EmBg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IqWal_EmBg) famous recording of a Learjet 25 crew suffering hypoxia at 32,000 feet. I think it demonstrates quite well that you're _not_ going to lost consciousness within a few seconds at that altitude, although the danger is not to be understated.

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dragontamer 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_useful_consciousness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_useful_consciousness > It is the period of time from the interruption of the oxygen supply or exposure to an oxygen-poor environment to the time when useful function is lost, and the individual is no longer capable of taking proper corrective and protective action. > It is not the time to total unconsciousness 35,000 feet is 30-seconds to 1-minute of total useful consciousness, half that for rapid decompression situations. I stand by my estimate for "Dozens of seconds before you're an idiot". Most people will remain conscious after this time is up: they just will have become such idiots that its unlikely they will ever be able to fix their Hypoxia condition. (Slurred speech, unable to dexterously control your limbs, etc. etc. You're conscious, but no longer capable of putting on a mask even if it is dangling in front of you) Wikipedia takes the table from an FAA document: https://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/airman_education/media/AC%2061-107A.pdf https://www.faa.gov/pilots/training/airman_education/media/A... There's pretty much no reason to measure "time to unconsciousness", because you're incapable of helping yourself long before you're unconscious.

slavak 6y ago
There's also this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IqWal_EmBg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IqWal_EmBg) famous recording of a Learjet 25 crew suffering hypoxia at 32,000 feet. I think it demonstrates quite well that you're _not_ going to lost consciousness within a few seconds at that altitude, although the danger is not to be understated.