when i got my medical certificate i very confidently answered the question “what do you do if a person becomes unconscious?” with “remove from the room immediately” only to be met with puzzled silence by the instructor and that’s when i learned that the deeply ingrained nautical fear and grim reality of seamen and their rescuers asphyxiating in enclosed spaces due to build up of toxic gas or especially lack of oxygen does not translate to land.
all jokes aside i do think it should translate to land. while no one should walk around with a fear of closed windows or carry around a gas-detector as most places are properly ventilated, and these issues are fairly uncommon, i think the following is still sound advice outside of cargo holds.
if you are in an enclosed space without air circulation (e.g. a basement), especially one that bears a risk of oxygen depletion (storage of fruits and vegetables, wood, or large amounts of rusting steel, all things that turn oxygen into carbon dioxide), and you start feeling light-headed, LEAVE before you sit down. GO OUTSIDE.
at best you can regain your bearing and air out the room before continuing, avoiding unconsciousness, brain damage or worse, and at worst you left a room for no reason. this has been a nautical best practice PSA
This is why you don’t crawl down random caves, abandoned mines, or big drain pipes or whatever in the spirit of adventure. I’ve seen maintenance crews in storm drains (Which should already be somewhat ventilated) use a special air pump that circulates fresh air down to where they are working.
My mom worked with EMT up in the mountains, and one year they did a training exercise. The EMS people pulled up to the “emergency” area and saw an overturned tractor trailer and several “bodies.” The EMTs walked over all confident in their ability to pass the tests and move on when the instructors would come over and tell them “hi! Y'all are now dead. Please join the bodies on the ground.”
She said only the third ambulance or so to arrive stopped and counted bodies and ambulances already on the scene and looked at the truck. It had all “POISON” hazard signs. Every team that walked too close “died” of chemical asphyxiation. I think they all learned something that day.
So.
Yeah.
It’s a lesson that is relevant on land too.