Flight Physiology

*These saturation targets describe the separate altitude routine for a casualty without a driving ventilator, on room air, before other penalties. The routine begins its hypoxia effect at 500 m corrected altitude. They are not predicted clinical saturations or guaranteed final monitor values. The active ventilator uses its own oxygenation calculation with the same ambient pressure factor.

Increasing inspired oxygen can improve oxygenation, but cannot restore lost red cells or ventricular filling. Hemorrhage plus falling saturation reduces both components of delivery. The delivery examples show the additional loss when saturation falls from 97% to 85% with the same blood volume and heart rate.

Boyle expansion applies to an existing gas pocket as ambient pressure changes. Continued progression at a constant altitude comes from the injury and ventilation/drainage balance, rather than repeatedly applying the same ascent expansion. Descent can reduce gas volume but does not repair a pleural leak.

A hemorrhaged casualty begins transport with less venous return and stroke volume. Vasoconstriction and tachycardia may preserve some pressure, but the oxygen delivery deficit remains. If saturation then falls on ascent, oxygen content falls as well. Positive pressure and PEEP can further limit filling.

The flight motion model uses climb speed and bank attitude as simple stress indicators. Its effect starts above a 0.5 L blood compartment deficit and reaches full sensitivity at a 2 L deficit. Climb loading rises from 1 to 8 m/s; the bank indicator reaches its maximum near 44°. The result eases into and out of a pressure reduction.

These are gameplay proxies, not a calculation of actual acceleration, patient orientation or measured G force. A constant climb speed is not sustained acceleration in real flight. Stable aircraft handling still matters in the game because the configured indicators affect a hypovolemic casualty.

Follow pulse, pressure, mental status and oxygenation through takeoff, turns and climb. A better pressure reading when the aircraft levels off does not establish that blood loss has been replaced.

The Ventway Sparrow’s screen settings are described under screen brightness and night mode. Medication drips for sustained care are listed in the full infusion reference.

Practical applications

Access and fluid: a larger internal lumen and shorter flow path favor rapid volume delivery. Cold blood is more viscous. Inspect tubing, the clamp and the access site when flow falls. The game uses configured gauge capacities, temperature multipliers and site complications; it does not calculate catheter radius⁴ directly. Compare the actual values in IV Access and Infusions.

Vascular tone: sympathetic vasoconstriction can raise systemic resistance during shock. A casualty can retain a measurable pressure while delivering little flow. In the game, resistance contributes to pressure separately from the volume based DO₂ estimate.

Altitude: a decrease in cabin pressure is not itself the same as an increase in the pressure gradient from an IV bag to the vein. Bag height, applied cuff pressure, line resistance and venous pressure determine that gradient. Do not infer a faster drip from altitude alone.

Airway resistance: narrowing or obstruction increases the pressure needed to move air. The fourth power relationship is a useful idealized comparison, but gas compressibility and turbulent flow limit its direct use for a ventilator circuit or injured airway.

Poiseuille’s equation assumes steady laminar flow of a Newtonian fluid through a rigid circular tube. Blood vessels are compliant and flow is pulsatile; whole blood and injured airways do not meet every assumption. Use the relationship to understand direction and sensitivity, rather than calculate a patient’s exact SVR or oxygenation from a catheter gauge.

Addon Options > ACM Extended: Systems > Systems > Flight physiology enables the modeled flight system. The map’s sea level offset is corrected automatically when its sampled minimum terrain elevation exceeds the default 3,000 m threshold. It is an estimate of a terrain authoring offset, so map elevation is not identical to height above ground.

The current player facing options do not expose a sea level datum selector. The pressure approximation is bounded at 11,000 m. The flight model uses corrected casualty altitude rather than a separate pressurized cabin simulation, so do not assume a vehicle’s appearance supplies a pressurization benefit.