Help Helium inhaling?

[RedSauce]

So I heard that if you inhale helium, like from a balloon or a canister, the helium will fill your lungs, causing you to black out and then die painlessly from the oxygen supply being cut off. Is that a thing?

 

[Dejected 55]

That's a little overly simplistic from wherever you heard it and on face value not accurate.

You can inhale a lungfull of helium and talk funny and be fine. You might even be able to do it a couple of times in a row before you get lightheaded. And that isn't going to kill you even if you did pass out.

Generally speaking... the way your body works is, it wants oxygen BUT your body doesn't respond to lack of oxygen so you'd know it... rather your body responds to build-up of CO2. So, normally, if you're in an oxygen lacking environment you are building up CO2 in the air and increasingly breathing that and your body responds gasping for air... but it's not because of lack of oxygen, just the detected too much CO2.

Here is where something like helium comes in... Breathing helium deprives your body of the oxygen it wants BUT does not create new CO2... so if you had a setup that ensured steady flow of helium and excavated any excess CO2 that might be there in case oxygen is present... then you have a scenario where you'd pass out from lack of oxygen and eventually die and your body would never react to the lack of oxygen in a way you'd know it.

Suffice it to say, it's just a little more complicated than breathing helium from a balloon. There are threads on here discussing this in more detail if you look around.

 

[unique_user]

So I heard that if you inhale helium, like from a balloon or a canister, the helium will fill your lungs, causing you to black out and then die painlessly from the oxygen supply being cut off. Is that a thing?

No, breathing once wont kill u. u cannot breath once and hold ur breath. it is nearly impossible

u need 2 things. lack of oxygen for 30-45 minutes and a way to remove the co2 u generate in ur lungs for same time. this is why u need a cylinder to supply u oxygen free gas to breath and u need exit bag to remove co2 generated

Exit bag and inert gas megathread

Exit Bag and Inert Gas Basics —A very, very long post, I know, but I feel like I've fielded a lot of questions about this, so I figured I'd spell out everything I know. Others on the forum should please add to this thread whatever reliable technical information they feel is appropriate for...

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