Originally Posted by
Tanker-driver
There is new training out there not requiring the use of the chamber. Not sure exactly how it works, but several guys in my unit have done it. I imagine it involves controlled exposure to a low oxygen environment. In any case, some sort of high altitude training should be required for anyone operating a pressurized airplane. Learning to recognize your own symptoms (everyone's are slightly different) to hypoxia is an eye opening experience.
The Navy uses Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device (ROBD) to supplement it's hyperbaric chamber rides done during Aviation Preflight Indoctrination. I went through the Aviation Swim/Physiology refresher last year and the chamber was not part of the syllabus anymore, but ROBD was. Essentially as Rickair pointed out in a previous post, an aviator sits down in the sim with helmet and mask on and the O2 levels are lowered to the mask and replaced with higher concentrations of nitrogen while flying a prescribed profile including comms with ATC.
My $.02: The training is invaluable and reinforces those items learned in the chamber without the categorization of high risk training. At the end of the day for me it was about symptom recognition and understanding how I interpret those while flying. Being hypoxic and knowing you're hypoxic are inherently two different things. If there was a civilian equivalent type of training, I'd highly recommend it to those who have never done any type of chamber ride or practical hypoxia training, it would be money well spent.