Helium deaths

[American]

I don't know what fascist excerpt policy we have these days, since I have too much of a life to post here very often, so here is a link to the story ... if THAT'S still allowed... ("seig heil!")


http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19373622%5E912,00.html


The story is remarkably short on details. I personally speculate they were having sex. In fact I would bet a million dollars on it.

I feel badly that they died and everything, but I just totally know that those two were having sex together, like young lovers often do inside of promotional apartment complex balloons.

 

[Beerina]

"Ok, sweets, breathe the helium, Ok, now say 'Daddy, no! Daddy, no!' "

Ehhh, I've been going to Hell for years now...

 

[slingblade]

It was deflated. There was little or no helium in it. Nor oxygen.
They died just as they would have died if they'd crawled into a giant plastic bag....which is exactly what they did.

They were found partially out of the balloon. I'd like to know which parts.
Probably their legs, otherwise one assumes they would have been able to breathe, and wouldn't have died. So maybe their legs being outside (if that's what happened) indicates they never did get all the way inside before they suffocated.

Hard to have sex in a balloon with your working bits outside, isn't it?

Or maybe they did get their heads outside, but were so oxy-deprived, they died anyway. Who knows?

 

[Meadmaker]

If it weren't for the guy in the Zoo Lion thread, these two might have a shot at a Darwin award, too.

 

[American]

It was deflated. There was little or no helium in it. Nor oxygen. They died just as they would have died if they'd crawled into a giant plastic bag....which is exactly what they did.

...to have SEX, I bet. The media won't say that, but we all know it!


Anyway, how come they didn't change their minds as soon as they noticed that they needed to breath and stuff? You don't just croak when you cross over to the Afterworld. Not unless you've undergone instant decapitation, like getting hit with a meteor.

You kinda FADE when you die. Everyone knows that.

 

[slingblade]

...to have SEX, I bet. The media won't say that, but we all know it!

Well I certainly hope they did! Not a bad way to go, I suppose. There are other, worse ways.

Anyway, how come they didn't change their minds as soon as they noticed that they needed to breath and stuff?

Gee, I don't know. I'd ask them, but.....

You don't just croak when you cross over to the Afterworld. Not unless you've undergone instant decapitation, like getting hit with a meteor.

You kinda FADE when you die. Everyone knows that.

Yeah, from all that eye-witless testimony, I'll bet.

 

[TragicMonkey]

...to have SEX, I bet. The media won't say that, but we all know it!


Anyway, how come they didn't change their minds as soon as they noticed that they needed to breath and stuff? You don't just croak when you cross over to the Afterworld. Not unless you've undergone instant decapitation, like getting hit with a meteor.

You kinda FADE when you die. Everyone knows that.

Yeah, nobody's ever tried incorporating oxygen deprivation into sex before.

Kids! Don't try that!

 

[_Q_]

Anyway, how come they didn't change their minds as soon as they noticed that they needed to breath and stuff? You don't just croak when you cross over to the Afterworld. Not unless you've undergone instant decapitation, like getting hit with a meteor.

You kinda FADE when you die. Everyone knows that.

It's easy to underestimate the Dangers of Oxygen Deficient Atmospheres.

 

[rjh01]

I find it strange that people can climb Mount Everest without supplied Oxygen where the atmosphere is only 25% (which contains only 21% oxygen), yet the above attachment says that at 8 - 10% oxygen you can faint.

 

[Seismosaurus]

I find it strange that people can climb Mount Everest without supplied Oxygen where the atmosphere is only 25% (which contains only 21% oxygen), yet the above attachment says that at 8 - 10% oxygen you can faint.

Don't people have to aclimatise themselves to low pressure for a couple of weeks before doing stuff like Everest? Plus they're in top physical condition - and some still can't make it up there. Take the average Joe and Jane off the street and drop them straight on the top of Everest, I wouldn't be surprised if they keeled over in a couple of minutes.

 

[MRC_Hans]

One point. Our urge to breathe when short of air is not caused by lack of oxygen, it is caused by excess CO2. Our sensors don't work on oxygen, but CO2. However, if you are in an environment with plenty of atmosphere, but little or no oxygen, there is no excess CO2, so you don't feel suffocation. That is why gas-filled locations are silent killers. You can breathe helium, and you will not feel a thing (except for the funny voice phenomenon), but if you go on, you will just pass out, and if nobody pulls you out, you will die.

Hans

 

[rjh01]

Don't people have to acclimatise themselves to low pressure for a couple of weeks before doing stuff like Everest? Plus they're in top physical condition - and some still can't make it up there. Take the average Joe and Jane off the street and drop them straight on the top of Everest, I wouldn't be surprised if they keeled over in a couple of minutes.

Agreed. You can get sick after 10,000 feet altitude. However, these people are not resting. They are exerting themselves to the maximum. They should also be dead in minutes. The only explanation is that the body makes massive adjustments to altitude (Thick blood, ie lots of red blood cells). Or there is a mistake somewhere.

 

[Beerina]

One point. Our urge to breathe when short of air is not caused by lack of oxygen, it is caused by excess CO2. Our sensors don't work on oxygen, but CO2. However, if you are in an environment with plenty of atmosphere, but little or no oxygen, there is no excess CO2,

...because CO2 exchange, i.e. release, takes place as long as their is air, even if it's oxygenless, even if it's pure helium?

so you don't feel suffocation. That is why gas-filled locations are silent killers. You can breathe helium, and you will not feel a thing (except for the funny voice phenomenon), but if you go on, you will just pass out, and if nobody pulls you out, you will die.

Hans

I'm reminded of a Dave Barry story about his son's teenage birthday. As they were preparing the party, his son and friends were breathing helium they were supposed to be using to blow up balloons. His son breathed too much of it, passing out, "being very careful to strike his head against the brick wall on the way down."

 

[aggle-rithm]

Don't people have to aclimatise themselves to low pressure for a couple of weeks before doing stuff like Everest? Plus they're in top physical condition - and some still can't make it up there. Take the average Joe and Jane off the street and drop them straight on the top of Everest, I wouldn't be surprised if they keeled over in a couple of minutes.

My mother joined the Women's Army Corps during WWII to help with the war effort -- unfortunately, she spent the duration in Colorado doing medical research. One study she did examined how long it takes to acclimatize to higher altitudes.

The result: A new arrival to Colorado showed increases in red blood cell count for two weeks before it reached the maximum level. Therefore, it was concluded that it takes two weeks to acclimatize (at least, it did at that altitude, which was probably about 10,000 feet).

 

[aggle-rithm]

My cat died of an asthma attack after having had a potato chip bag stuck over her head for several hours. She had a fondness for salty snacks, and buried her head in the empty bag trying to get the crumbs.

Except for stumbling around the room like a drunk, she seemed fine. Then, a mere fifteen years later, she took a sudden turn for the worse and had to be put down.

(PS, don't give me any of that post hoc, propter hoc mumbo-jumbo! I know it was the potato chips! )

 

[peptoabysmal]

College students, eh? Any chance drinking was involved?
Move along folks, nothing to see here, just natural selection at work.

 

[slingblade]

My mother joined the Women's Army Corps during WWII to help with the war effort -- unfortunately, she spent the duration in Colorado doing medical research. One study she did examined how long it takes to acclimatize to higher altitudes.

The result: A new arrival to Colorado showed increases in red blood cell count for two weeks before it reached the maximum level. Therefore, it was concluded that it takes two weeks to acclimatize (at least, it did at that altitude, which was probably about 10,000 feet).

Yes. Which is why altitude sickness is the most common complaint of Colorado tourists. They don't stay long enough at lower alts, like Denver.

Was your mom at Camp Hale?

 

[rjh01]

If anyone wants to breath Helium for its side-effects the safe way to do this is to blow up a normal size balloon with helium then breathe that helium.

DO NOT BREATHE HELIUM DIRECT FROM THE CYLINDER.

 

[MRC_Hans]

...because CO2 exchange, i.e. release, takes place as long as their is air, even if it's oxygenless, even if it's pure helium?

Excatly. You will exhale CO2, but the concentration does not rise. Actually, as you run out of oxygen, it falls . So you just pass out. I have always wondered why this is not more used for the various killings we do, that is euthanizing animals, executions, suicides .... It is simple, painless, and clean.

Hans

 

[MRC_Hans]

If anyone wants to breath Helium for its side-effects the safe way to do this is to blow up a normal size balloon with helium then breathe that helium.

DO NOT BREATHE HELIUM DIRECT FROM THE CYLINDER.

AMEN! For two reasons: The risk of suffocation, and the risk of pressure damage to the lungs. You don't need a balloon, though. Any similarly sized plasic bag will do.

Hans