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Altitude, Oxygen, and AMS Inside the Gamow Bag 
There are several different treatments and drugs available for Altitude sickness and its more serious forms, HAPE and HACE. All the different types of drugs, masks, and devices that can be used will not cure altitude sickness, but only allow for more time in the difficult and time-consuming real cure for AMS; descending. All the Diamox in the world will not help if you continue to ascend or stay in the same place. The only real cure for AMS is going to a lower altitude until symptoms go away – and then go even further down or seek medical treatment if you had signs of HAPE or HACE.
Descending, without really descending One device does exist that enables a person to descend without really descending; the Gamow Bag, (pronounced like Gamov), can simulate a lower altitude than where it physically is. The man responsible for the creation of the bag is Dr. Igor Gamow, a professor at the University of Colorado’s Boulder Campus. ExplorersWeb had the chance to speak with Dr. Gamow about the evolution of the Gamow bag and some of his other inventions. Today ExplorersWeb will discuss how the bag works and tomorrow an interview with the man behind the bag. While the Bag simulates lower altitude, it is a very useful aid in helping to alleviate the symptoms of AMS, HAPE, and HACE, allowing the person to then regain enough strength and composure to descend more safely to a lower altitude. It can also be used on a less serious scale reducing the mild symptoms of early AMS and allowing the person to adjust to the their current altitude gradually. An atmosphere of mattresses? The brilliant device, simple in nature, portable, and very user friendly has become a staple of many Himalayan expeditions and has no doubt saved many lives. Before going into the mechanics of how the Bag works it is important to first understand air and how it is not the same through all levels of our atmosphere. In a diving certification class some years ago the instructor explained our atmosphere by telling the class to imagine a large amount of mattresses stacked on top of one another rising all the way from the earth into the outer edges of our atmosphere. Due to all the weight from above, the mattresses at the very bottom of the stack are compressed and more densely packed together than the top ones. Air is like this stack of mattresses – at sea level it’s very dense while at higher elevations it is not very dense at all. Denser air has more oxygen in it than less dense air. Lack of oxygen at altitude is a major part of altitude sickness. The Gamow Bag in essence artificially compresses the mattresses higher up making them more like the mattresses lower in the stack. In other words, the pressure inside the bag simulates a lower altitude than where it physically is by pressurized air inside. In a worse case scenario this simple device allows for an AMS sufferer to hopefully recuperate enough to then descend to lower altitudes where they are safer and their lungs can take refuge in the thicker air. How it works The design is very simple in nature, a cylindrical tube with a viewing window that can accommodate one person. There is an external foot pump operated by someone outside the bag that has to be pumped every so often maintaining pressure inside the bag and circulating fresh air. An essential component inside the bag is a relief valve that regulates the pressure by opening and expelling old air when the new air is pumped in. Protocol for the amount of time needed in the bag varies according to the different stages of AMS. This bag has saved numerous lives since its introduction in the late 1980’s and no high-altitude expedition these days is complete without one. Tomorrow an interview with Dr. Gamow - the evolution of the Bag, its history, and also about some of Gamow’s other inventions. Interview with Dr. Gamow.. Back to news... |