Time of useful consciousness

Time of useful consciousness is a really important thing for pilots to know about. It tells them how long they can keep thinking and working properly if they don't have enough oxygen in their body.

When you breathe in air, your lungs take oxygen from the air and send it to your body through your blood. But when you're up high in an airplane, there's not as much oxygen in the air as there is on the ground. That can make it hard for your body to get enough oxygen.

That's why airplanes have special oxygen masks that pilots and passengers can use. But if you don't use the mask for long enough, your body won't have enough oxygen and you'll start to feel confused and sick. That's called hypoxia.

The time of useful consciousness is how long you can keep thinking and working properly without enough oxygen. It depends on how high up you are and how long you've been without enough oxygen. For example, at 25,000 feet, you might only have 3-5 minutes of useful consciousness without an oxygen mask.

So pilots have to be really careful about making sure they have enough oxygen, especially when they're flying at high altitudes. They need to put on their oxygen masks if they start feeling funny, even if it seems like it's just because they're tired or bored. Because if they don't, they might not be able to think straight enough to fly the plane safely.