Selected Problems of Determining Pilot Survival Time in Cold Water After the Aircraft Crash
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: : Survival of a pilot in an emergency catapult situation over bodies of water is an essential element for organizing a rescue operation. Also important is the ability to determine the survivability of a crash survivor in extreme conditions with prolonged immersion in cold water. This time depends on a number of factors, such as time in the water, sea condidions, water temperature, age, gender, fatigue and also biophysical parameters and predispositions of the pilot survivor. At present, the emergency services do not have the ability to determine the survival time of a pilot survivor taking into account a number of the factors mentioned. This paper presents a mathematical and simulation model of the physical phenomena of heat transfer between a pilot survivor and an extreme water environment. The physical phenomena of heat transfer were described by nonlinear and non-stationary differential equations containing important elements from the point of view of determining the survival time of a pilot survivor. The model shown is a single-segment, multi-layered and flat model of a human body. The model takes into account a number of body layers that will be cooled in the heat transfer process due to the disturbed heat balance that existed before the immersion of a pilot survivor. By assigning input parameters to the model in the form of the pilot's position, body weight, body height, water temperature, protective clothing insulation and others, information can be obtained about the dynamic processes of heat loss and body temperature drop during cooling. An important piece of information obtained from the simulation model is the visualization of the process of hypothermia of the pilot’s body and the attainment of life-threatening states. Parameters obtained from the model include time to unconsciousness and pilot’s survival time. These times can be the basis for the correct organization of rescue operations. The article presents sample plots of the pilot’s body temperature drop for various model input parameters.
Authors: Armed Forces General Command, Warsaw, Poland, Przemysław Stężalski, Sławomir Michalak, Jerzy Borowski
Institution: U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4407993131