Noch is completely unclear what to do with that Titan submersible happened in the Atlantic. But if it is still intact, the existing Oxygen Supply sets limits for survival on board. “There are nicer deaths,” says lung specialist Rainer Schädlich. “The process takes a long time because the oxygen is slowly consumed and additional CO₂ is produced through respiration.”
Typically, air contains about 21 percent oxygen (O₂) by volume. If the proportion of Carbon Dioxide increases, that of O₂ decreases. “If the oxygen content falls below 15 percent by volume, physical and mental performance is increasingly reduced,” says Schädlich, who is a specialist in internal medicine, pulmonary and bronchial medicine, allergology and environmental medicine in Straelen.
Although diving and submarines have carbon dioxide filters to collect the gas, explains Professor Stefan Kluge, Director of the Clinic for Intensive Care Medicine at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf. But: “If the capacity of the carbon dioxide filter is exhausted, then the carbon dioxide increases.”
With increasing lack of oxygen, it occurs accordingly Headache as well as to nausea, vomiting, fatigue, but also shortness of breath, confusion, dizziness and drowsiness to the point of apathy. “The symptoms of a lack of oxygen, especially shortness of breath, can be very uncomfortable. In this respect, I would not speak of a mild death.”
How quickly the oxygen is consumed depends heavily on the breathing and activity of the people on board, says the Hamburg intensive care doctor. If you do or sleep as little as possible, the consumption is much lower than with hectic activity or panic.
The search for the “Titan” submarine, which has been missing since Sunday, continues
Source: dpa/Oceangate Expeditions
With the submersible, there is also the fact that it may be deep down in the freezing cold. If it is also cold inside the “Titan”, the people on board could have increased oxygen consumption due to muscle tremors.
According to Kluge, the organ that is most quickly damaged by a lack of oxygen is the brain. Even if a rescue takes place in a state of unconsciousness, there is a risk of irreversible damage. “Timely administration of oxygen can prevent severe damage in individual cases.”
Oxygen is vital for energy production in the cells, the so-called cellular respiration, as Schädlich explains. “Without sufficient oxygen supply, the cells are damaged.”
From a historical perspective, Schäddlich does not see much reason for hope for the men on the “Titan”: “In the history of sunken submarines, more men have died than survived,” he said. Their death throes have different phases: “In the beginning they are still hectically trying to solve the mechanical problems. A calmer phase of tense silence and reflection follows.” Then the first symptoms would appear, later unconsciousness and death.
So little time left
According to the American news channel NBC the ship has an oxygen supply of up to 96 hours. The US Coast Guard announced on Wednesday that the oxygen supply on the “Titan” is expected to end shortly after 1 p.m. on Thursday.
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