U.S. Air Force Col. Randy Huiss, 15th Wing commander, receives instruction from U.S. Air Force Capt. Timothy Plant, 15th Aerospace Medicine Squadron officer in charge of aerospace and operational physiology, prior to hypoxia training on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Jan. 22, 2015. The training is conducted using a Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device that induces the early onset of hypoxia, helping aircrew members to know and understand how it feels to become hypoxic. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexander Martinez/Released)

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U.S. Air Force Col. Randy Huiss, 15th Wing commander, operates a flight simulator during hypoxia training on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Jan. 22, 2015. The training is conducted using a Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device that induces the early onset of hypoxia, helping aircrew members to know and understand how it feels to become hypoxic. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexander Martinez/Released)

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U.S. Air Force Capt. Timothy Plant, 15th Aerospace Medicine Squadron officer in charge of aerospace and operational physiology, annotates response from a student during hypoxia training on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Jan. 22, 2015. Plant uses a Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device that induces the early onset of hypoxia to ensure that all aircrew members assigned to JBPHH receive hypoxia training. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alexander Martinez/Released)

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Getting Hypoxic with the 15th Aerospace Medicine Squadron

Published Feb. 17, 2015
By Tech. Sgt. Aaron Oelrich
15th Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- The dangers of hypoxia are real in the profession of aviation. That is why every Air Force flight crew member on JBPHH is provided essential hypoxia training by the 15th Aerospace Medicine Squadron's Aerospace and Operational Physiology team.

Hypoxia is caused by an oxygen deficiency in the blood, sufficient enough to cause impairment of functions.

This condition can cause a wide range of symptoms to include confusion, poor judgment, increased rate and depth of respiration, increased heart rate and unconsciousness; none of which is safe when a pilot or aircrew member is flying.

However, according to Capt. Timothy Plant, officer in charge of aerospace and operational physiology, all flight crews experience hypoxia in a training environment to prepare them for the potential onset during flight operations. A Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device is used to create a controlled hypoxic environment.

The ROBD creates hypoxia by altering the percentage of oxygen and nitrogen in the air mixture through mass flow controllers that precisely generate hypoxic breathing conditions, without affecting atmospheric pressure, said Staff Sgt. Xenia Dillon, aerospace and operational physiology non-commissioned officer in charge of training.

In addition to the ROBD, a flight simulator designed to mimic basic aircraft function is used to test cognitive abilities in a hypoxic environment.

"The training objectives are specifically, recognition of hypoxia signs and symptoms," said Plant. "The only way you can effectively accomplish that is by getting people hypoxic. Putting them into a controlled hypoxic environment and let them experience how their body responds to the environment. Once they recognize their signs and symptoms we want to see them demonstrate proper corrective procedure."

Prior to 2011 personnel from JBPHH would be sent on temporary duty to bases with a hypobaric chamber to accomplish their annual hypoxia training.

"Hypobaric chambers essentially change the atmospheric pressure grounding air crews because of the risk of decompression sickness, with the ROBD you can step strait from the training to the jet, said Dillon. "We have taken all 700 plus aircrew and trained them here, instead of sending them to a hypobaric chamber, saving the military on TDY costs."