On a slight tangent - visited a friend who is an aeromedical guy last week. We got to talking about blood oxygenation at altitude and he told me of some ongoing research on pilots and a habit some have of breathing too shallowly, which results in low blood Ox. One pilot was fine below 10,000 feet, but in the 10,000-12,000 foot range he had low blood Ox, even with supplemental oxygen.
The doc said that they're looking at using a CPAP instead of supplemental oxygen for some flight at least in the low teens because it forces the pilot to inhale enough oxygen to appropriately oxygenate the blood. There are CPAP units that will run off of the aircraft's power.
This sounds interesting to me as it would also be a way to get the needed oxygen without having to carry around an oxygen tank.
Wondering if anyone else has heard or seen anything on this use of CPAP units?
