Wilderness & environmental medicine
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Wilderness Environ Med · Jan 2001
Normal oxygenation and ventilation during snow burial by the exclusion of exhaled carbon dioxide.
To confirm that the accumulation of exhaled carbon dioxide (CO2) is the principal cause of nonmechanical asphyxiation during avalanche burial by demonstrating that complete exclusion of exhaled CO2 during experimental snow burial results in normal oxygenation and ventilation utilizing the air within the snowpack. ⋯ There is sufficient oxygen contained within a densified snowpack comparable to avalanche debris to sustain normal oxygenation and ventilation for at least 90 minutes during snow burial if exhaled CO2 is removed. The prolonged oxygenation observed during CO2 exclusion is irrespective of the presence of an air pocket.