Posted by JRM on March 12, 2001 at 17:46:42:
In Reply to: Re: Oh ho ho! keep that epiglottis open!!!! posted by Maciek on March 09, 2001 at 10:58:29:
First off, never ever ever ever ever try this dirty freediving trick. It will kill you. Consider yourself warned.
Again, you would never want to actually do this in the water, but here's a little weirdism the human body has. You can temporarily reduce the efficiency of your CO2 receptors by rubbing your carotid area (neck). Don't ever do it in the water though. It raises the chance of SWB hugely. You will die if you do it, but you can stay submerged quite a bit longer before you drown.
Picked this up in EMT school. A common problem around these parts is some aerobics classes teach the students to take their pulse via their neck instead of their wrists while working out. Sometimes while bouncing up and down they inadvertently massage their receptors into oblivion, which cuts their need to breathe, and they pass out on the treadmill. The nice gym, wanting to avoid a lawsuit, calls out EMS, and depending on whether Fire gets there first, they could get a ride to the ER so the doc can tell them they're a moron.
Again, don't ever do this in the water. And certainly don't do it when practicing your apnea at your desk.
JRM
--on a lighter note, I almost passed out at my desk trying for a new personal best apnea record. I'd give the time, but folks would just laugh at me!