Poor quality info on TV

[PBcatfish]

Would anyone care to pick this apart?

 

[lowwall]

Sounds about right to me. Give the victim O2 and increase the ambient pressure.

They wouldn't have to drop down to the deck though because they can maintain a cabin pressure of at least .5 bar above what's outside, so around 18,000 feet would be sufficient. It would be even higher for the most modern airliners. You want to maintain as much altitude as possible because the thinner the air, the faster you can go.

 

[dmaziuk]

That brings up memories... "House" plots were actually not too bad: they stretched the plausible but it was all "based on real" stuff that could happen. Unlike most teevee drivel.

 

[Tracy]

Would anyone care to pick this apart?

What are we picking apart?

 

[PBcatfish]

What are we picking apart?

Perhaps the assumption that the guy had ascended too fast. Perhaps other assumptions. Perhaps the issue that if the plane flys that low, they will be far less fuel efficient & perhaps crash before reaching a refueling point.

 

[CT Sean]

Seems pretty reasonable for a hour long TV show. More fact-based than your average Discovery Channel show nowadays

 

[dmaziuk]

The episode was about mass psychosis IIRC, anyway. The diver guy was just a trigger.

 

[ofg-1]

Perhaps the issue that if the plane flys that low, they will be far less fuel efficient & perhaps crash before reaching a refueling point.

Well, that's not an assumption. Jet engines use more fuel at or near sea level that at altitude. If you have less oxygen, you use less fuel and produce less thrust. As far as running out of fuel, check out the Gimli Glider story.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Would anyone care to pick this apart?

Dude. This is "House". The same doctors not only operate the CT scanners, they give meds and do everything from deliver babies to cardiac massage on an open chest. Picking apart a scene from that show is not too hard.
<Edit> that came out way more blunt than I meant it - I was laughing as I wrote it

 

[lowwall]

Dude. This is "House". The same doctors not only operate the CT scanners, they give meds and do everything from deliver babies to cardiac massage on an open chest. Picking apart a scene from that show is not too hard.
<Edit> that came out way more blunt than I meant it - I was laughing as I wrote it

I never watched it, but wasn't it a big point of the show that the medical stuff was, however unlikely, at least physically possible? The sudden loss of consciousness is unlikely, but the the other symptoms are not unreasonable. And the suggested treatment of administering O2 and lowering the ambient pressure is exactly what you'd expect.

... I decided to do a quick search to see if my understanding about the show was correct. It looks like it was - with the big caveats of House doing everything by himself (as noted by DDM) and also his apparently constant unethical or illegal behavior. But more to the point, I found a now defunct website created by a physician who reviewed every episode as they came out for story and medical accuracy. It looks like the clip is from "Airborne" (season 3, episode 18). Here's his summary:

"Both of tonight’s medical mystery were good and deserve an A. The solutions fit the cases and earn another A. The medicine was a mixed bag, a B- for the hospital plot, and an A for airplane plot, so I’ll give it a B+ overall. The soap opera aspect was decent — not terribly exciting, but not bad either — and earns a B."

The full review is at: Polite Dissent » House – Episode 18 (Season Three): “Airborne”