AERO-OTITIS MEDIA AND LOSS OF AUDITORY ACUITY IN SUBMARINE ESCAPE TRAINING

Abstract

Thirty per cent of the men undergoing submarine escape training at the United States Submarine Base, New London, Conn., have aural difficulty leading to aero-otitis media and resultant loss of auditory acuity. In this training, every candidate for the Submarine School is subjected to 50 pounds (22.5 Kg.) of air pressure in a recompression chamber, a pressure equivalent to 3.4 atmospheres. Successful completion of this training is a prerequisite for entering the Submarine School. Only those men who have passed the physical examination are sent to the escape training tank. Because of the similarity between the problem of submarine and that of flying personnel, my associates and I feel that our findings are of particular interest. This paper presents an analysis of the extent of the damage associated with this training and outlines possible preventive and therapeutic procedures. Some of the earlier findings were presented in a paper by Shilling