Initial review of the U.S. Navy's pressurized submarine escape training outcomes.

The U.S. Navy reinstituted pressurized submarine escape training (PSET) for submarine sailors in 2009 after a nearly 30-year absence.

Assessment of cognitive function while on low-dose propranolol: implications for usage by survivors in a disabled submarine.

While awaiting rescue from a disabled submarine (DISSUB), survivors will likely endure an atmosphere of rising CO2 which will eventually be lethal. Previously, it was determined that low-dose propranolol reduces resting metabolic carbon dioxide production and therefore may increase survival time in this scenario. The actions and decisions survivors would carry out in a DISSUB situation would require an unaltered cognition state.

Propranolol's potential to increase survival time in a disabled submarine.

Background: While awaiting rescue from a disabled submarine, survivors will likely endure an atmosphere of rising CO2 that will result in CO2 toxicity once the available emergency CO2 scrubbing materials are exhausted. Propranolol is a beta-blocker that may increase survival time by reducing metabolic CO2 production (VCO2). The purpose of this study was to determine if propranolol reduces resting VCO2 in healthy men.

Vitamin D supplementation in underway submariners.

Introduction: We assessed the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in maintaining normal calcium and bone homeostasis in underway submariners deprived of sunlight.

Methods: Serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25(OH)D), 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25(OH)2D), calcium, parathyroid hormone (PTH), phosphate, osteocalcin, bone specific alkaline phosphatase, and urinary levels of N-telopeptide were examined in 51 subjects aboard a submarine. These levels were obtained prior to a 76-d deployment, before and after a 6-d liberty period (deployment day 49 and 55), and on return to homeport.

Health experience of 122 submarine crewmembers during a 101-day submergence.

Introduction: The artificial environment encountered in submarine duty may affect the health of crewmembers. Previous studies of submariner health have not examined self-treatment habits or the incidence of minor health problems for which no care is sought from a health care provider. Our study examined patterns of minor medical problems and self-treatment among the crew of one submarine over a period of continued submergence for 101 d.