It is already known how low environmental pressure affects the human body. But how many people know what danger explosive decompression is at its height? In a few seconds, the lungs are completely destroyed, the blood pressure drops to the lower limit, which causes inevitable death.
What is decompression
Decompression is a condition in which atmospheric pressure drops sharply. This happens if the airtightness of the flying apparatus is suddenly broken, or when the swimmer quickly ascends to the water surface. When people work in conditions where the pressure is several times higher than atmospheric , when inhaled, the gases are in a compressed state, which is the reason for their dissolution in tissues and blood in unacceptably large quantities. If it suddenly falls, foaming of gases occurs, as a result of which the movement of blood through the vessels stops.
When an airplane or spaceship collides with a meteorite or as a result of an accident some important systems fail, explosive decompression occurs. This phenomenon occurs when flying at an altitude of more than nine thousand meters.
Decompression sickness
With decompression sickness, there is a violation not only of conduction in small vessels, but also of the rheological properties of blood, since thrombotic masses, called aero thrombosis, form on the surface of the bubbles.
The ratio of the final atmospheric pressure to the initial one decreases by more than two times in one second. Equalization of the sum of water vapor pressure with barometric and carbon dioxide is observed. This becomes the reason that the oxygen content in the tissues approaches zero, and the person’s breathing becomes not oxygen, but nitrogen.
The clinical picture determines decompression sickness with a gas embolism of the vascular system, which has three types:
- Circulatory disorders in the form of angina attacks and myocardial infarction, a tendency to form blood clots.
- Severe itching, muscle and joint pain of a boring nature, subcutaneous emphysema.
- Failure of the functions of the central nervous system: nausea, vomiting, speech disorder, cramps, paralysis.
- Acute heart failure as a result of the accumulation of gases in the cavities of the heart.
The effect of decompression on the body
Explosive decompression, like decompression in general, has a great effect on the human body. It should be noted some of its features. Too much action belongs to the pressure drop in the aircraft, as well as to excessively high nervous tension due to an emergency. Explosive decompression is considered a powerful irritant that can greatly affect a person.
In the event of such conditions, the pilot for some time feels fright and confusion, as a result, makes irreparable errors, endangering the lives of passengers and his own.
Important pathogenetic factors in explosive decompression
At an altitude of more than sixteen kilometers, the body is exposed to a whole complex of pathogenetic factors. These include: oxygen deficiency, strong ultraviolet radiation, lowering atmospheric pressure and cold.
The victims of catastrophes are affected simultaneously or in sequence by the following factors: shock and dynamic overloads, lightning headwinds and blast waves, thermal and atmospheric electricity, injuries from loose objects, shaking, vibration.
Impact effects: if a person is close to the cabin with a large hole, he will be able to get injured or, even worse, be thrown overboard. In fact, pushing a person through a hole is a rare case.
Hypoxia: As we know, air consists of 79.02% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen and only 0.03% others, most of which are carbon dioxide. Water vapor makes up to 5%. With increasing humidity, the amount of nitrogen and oxygen by 1-2% becomes smaller.
A significant decrease in them in the atmosphere often leads to hypoxia. Even being at a low altitude (about one and a half thousand meters), a person will certainly experience a slight decrease in sensitivity to light. A vivid example of this when moving from a bright room to a dark dimly lit object is considered with difficulty.
The most important pathogenetic factor inherent in explosive decompression is the strong cooling of the pilots body. This especially affects less protected areas of the body: arms, legs, face, as air with a temperature of 56 degrees causes fairly quick frostbite.
Explosive decompression aircraft
At altitude during decompression, a complete loss of crew performance occurs in a matter of seconds. They can hear some sound, but at that moment death is already coming. There is no way to send a distress signal to the dispatcher.
When the tail of the airliner is destroyed, there is no chance for passengers to survive, everyone dies in one moment. Nothing will be able to help, since there is a complete inoperability. These are the consequences of explosive decompression of an airplane.
If the flight attendant suggests putting on an oxygen mask, you need to do this, since the air at high altitudes is very rarefied. And if complete decompression sets in, the lungs will not provide oxygen to the brain due to a heavy load, dizziness and fainting will begin. People on the plane pass out in literally forty seconds.
The main symptoms of explosive decompression
Explosive decompression has eight main symptoms:
1. As a result of an increase in the volume of air that is in the lungs, the rib cage instantly expands. Witnesses of decompression compare this phenomenon with a blow to the chest.
2. Filling with gases of the intestines and stomach, followed by bloating - the so-called high-altitude flatulence.
3. Severe pain in the paranasal cavities of the nose and ears.
4. Uncontrolled bowel movements and urination, severe persistent vomiting.
5. Impact emission from the anus of gases, and from the nose - air.
6. Severe pain in joints and muscles as a result of tissue ischemia caused by gas embolism of small vessels - high-altitude pain.
7. Due to the fact that the separation of sweat increases sharply, there is a feeling of severe freezing.
8. Within two minutes from the onset of explosive decompression, people begin to have cramps and a coma.
Explosive decompression barotrauma
Damage to organs of the body as a result of the pressure difference between the internal cavities and the external environment is called barotrauma. It occurs during the descent of divers to great depths, during takeoffs and landings of aircraft. Everything that happens during explosive decompression is fraught with great dangers, one of which is barotrauma.
In explosive decompression, the following organs are susceptible to barotrauma:
• Hearing aid.
• Lungs.
• Hollow organs.
With a barotrauma of the auditory apparatus, the eardrum is torn, the auditory ossicles are damaged , hemorrhage in the ear tissue and the tympanic cavity occurs .
With pulmonary barotrauma in the respiratory tract there is liquid blood, the lungs swell to the limit, focal ruptures with hemorrhages of the lung tissue are noted.
As a result of increases in the volume of gases in the stomach and intestines, they rupture - these are manifestations of barotrauma of hollow organs.
Causes of death from explosive decompression
Sudden death from explosive decompression, as reported in the literature, occurs as a result of shock, tissue emphysema, due to which there is a "ramming affect" of gases. But the hypobarium in this case has nothing to do with the tragedy. Evidence of whether there is a direct relationship between tolerance to fast hypobaria and the size of subcutaneous emphysema has not yet been found.
An important role in the fatal outcome in explosive decompression, of course, belongs to the gas embolism, although it does not have decisive significance.
In 1970, the author Lukhanin identified the main factor of rapid mortality in hypobaria - this is anoxia.
Preventative measures
Measures for the prevention of explosive decompression at altitude must be dealt with in all seriousness, putting the task of saving the lives of passengers and flight personnel to the forefront.
Basic preventive measures:
1. Ensuring the integrity of the aircraft.
2. Organization of quick air blowing into the cabin during its depressurization.
3. The special clothing of the pilots should tightly fit the body.
You should be aware that wherever and wherever you fly on an airplane, there is always a risk of an accident, in which explosive decompression is in the first place from threats to life. It is she who leads to imperceptible, but significant irreversible consequences.