If there is a failure in the air supply, oxygen masks will be provided . . .
[ɪnspɪˈreɪʃən] the act or process of inhaling; breathing in. (Collins English Dictionary)
If you go on a survival course or watch YouTube survival videos it will not take long for the rule of 3s to come up.
The rule of threes is that you can survive for 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food.
Air, Shelter, Water, Food.
It’s a very good rule of thumb to help us to get our priorities straight although the exact order can be varied according to the circumstances.
On almost any course you’ll be introduced to this concept and then everyone will go off to build shelters and light fires.
I have never yet been on a course where the subject of air is actually discussed.
So let’s talk about air, we take it absolutely for granted, from the moment we are born we breathe and continue to breathe usually without any thought until we come to the end of our days, which might, if one is unlucky, be due to the inability to breathe.
Here is a simple little test to assess your own limits.
WARNING Do not force yourself to hold your breath beyond the point where you want to breath, it can be dangerous!
Try a little experiment with me now, find the stopwatch on your phone or your watch, take a breath, hold it and time yourself to the point where you can no longer resist the urge to breath. I find it easier to breath slightly more deeply than usual for as few breaths then exhale just a little before holding my breath, as the urge to breath builds up I slowly exhale some more until my lungs are relaxed but empty, I then hold it at that still point for as long as I can comfortably resist the urge to breath in.
Don’t force it, just hold your breath to the point where you are beginning to fight the urge to breathe in and at that point take a deep breath.
(it’s worth taking a moment to savour and be grateful for that breath, you wouldn’t want to take it for granted again would you?)
Take a note of the time you managed to hold your breath, that’s how long you have without air and my guess is that for most of us it’s actually a lot less than 3 minutes.
In extreme circumstances you might be able to resist the urge to take a gasp of air for perhaps twice as long as you just managed but when the time comes you will either pass out & breathe in or just take a huge gulp of a breath. If you happen to be underwater or in a toxic environment at the time then it’s goodnight Vienna.
Air is so fundamental to our continued existence that we take it as a given.
It’s worth considering the circumstances that might restrict your ability to breathe because in this case you have so little time to do anything about it that prevention is always the best option.
Here are a few reasons why you might find yourself deprived of air:
Falling into water, smoke, gas, choking, strangulation, suffocation, becoming trapped with limited air, high altitude, chest injury, contamination, aircraft decompression, avalanche, anaphylaxis, seizure, medical conditions, accident, traumatic asphyxia (riot crush).
This list is far from exhaustive but it nicely highlights the best approach to ensuring a good air supply - be careful!
Our first line of defence is to pay attention to the possibilities, play it safe, particularly respect water, know how to swim and wear a life jacket when you’re on the water.
We can improve our aerobic fitness and personal efficiency using air and practice holding our breath for longer - be careful with this though, I will do a separate blog post about the pitfalls of breath-holding.
We can learn how to deal with situations of smoke or gas contamination.
If you take part in outdoor sports like skiing, know the signs and hazards of avalanche and know how to react if you are caught in one.
If you suffer from a medical condition such as athsma, epilepsy or are prone to anaphylactic shock or severe allergic reaction then make sure you always carry your medication and have friends around you who know what to do if you have an attack.
If you need to carry an Epipen then make sure you carry it and make sure that the people with you know how to use it.
Learn how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
Know how to do the Heimlich manoeuvre and how to do it on yourself.
There’s lots to think about but fortunately we’re going to think about it and talk about it all right here at Perfectrucksack!
We all need constant inspiration so let’s do what we can to give a bit more conscious attention to the air that surrounds us, the breath of life.
I’m looking forward to talking about this more in future but for now - keep on breathing.
Jonny