Harness Hang Syndrome

Info on HHS, harness hang syndrome, aka orthostatic intolerance, aka suspension trauma

Original article found in the ICD-10-CM

While in a sedentary position, blood can accumulate in the veins, which is commonly called "venous pooling," and cause orthostatic intolerance

Click to expand...

In the veins, blood normally is moved back to the heart through one-way valves using the normal muscular action associated with limb movement. If the legs are immobile, then these "muscle pumps" do not operate effectively, and blood can accumulate. Since veins can expand, a large volume of blood may accumulate in the veins.

Click to expand...

Venous pooling typically occurs in the legs due to the force of gravity and a lack of movement.

Click to expand...

Orthostatic intolerance may be defined as "the development of symptoms such as light-headedness, palpitations, tremulousness, poor concentration, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache, sweating, weakness and occasionally fainting during upright standing"

Click to expand...

An accumulation of blood in the legs reduces the amount of blood in circulation. The body reacts to this reduction by speeding up the heart rate and in an attempt to maintain sufficient blood flow to the brain. If the blood supply is significantly reduced, this reaction will not be effective. The body will abruptly slow the heart rate and blood pressure will diminish in the arteries. During severe venous pooling, the reduction in quantity and/or quality (oxygen content) of blood flowing to the brain causes fainting. This reduction also can have an effect on other vital organs, such as the kidneys [3]. The kidneys are very sensitive to blood oxygen, and renal failure can occur with excessive venous pooling. If these conditions continue, they potentially may be fatal.

Click to expand...

venous pooling and orthostatic intolerance could result in serious or fatal injury, as the brain, kidneys, and other organs are deprived of oxygen

Click to expand...

Moving the worker quickly into a horizontal position - a natural reaction - is likely to cause a large volume of deoxygenated blood to move to the heart, if the worker had been suspended for an extended period. The heart may be unable to cope with the abrupt increase in blood flow, causing cardiac arrest

Click to expand...

Research indicates that suspension in a fall arrest device can result in unconsciousness, followed by death, in less than 30 minutes

Click to expand...

Rescue procedures should include the following contingency based actions:

• If self-rescue is impossible, or if rescue cannot be performed promptly, the worker should be trained to "pump" his/her legs frequently to activate the muscles and reduce the risk of venous pooling. Footholds can be used to alleviate pressure, delay symptoms, and provide support for "muscle pumping."
• Continuous monitoring of the suspended worker for signs and symptoms of orthostatic intolerance and suspension trauma.
• Ensuring that a worker receives standard trauma resuscitation1 once rescued. Some authorities recommend that the patient be transported with the upper body raised.
• If the worker is unconscious, keeping the worker’s air passages open and obtain first aid.
• Monitoring the worker after rescue, and ensuring that the worker is evaluated by a health-care professional. The worker should be hospitalized when appropriate. Possible delayed effects, such as kidney failure, which is not unusual in these cases, are difficult to assess on the scene.

Click to expand...

thats really scary. can you give some ways to minimize the risk of HHS?

myinnerslut said:

thats really scary. can you give some ways to minimize the risk of HHS?

Click to expand...

Flex your legs. Wiggle them around a little. As I understand it you just got to tense up those big leg muscles a little.

Or don’t drop any body part bellow the heart, that should work.

Oh isn't this what Homburg was talking about the other day on the rope work thread?

Scary stuff. It's good that it's easily avoidable.

Thinking about this, it might actually not be so easy to prevent

I have a kind of orthostatic intolerance, and no leg movement helps, I just have to make sure not to fall over for 30 seconds or so while things return to normal.

My orthostatic intolerance is caused by nerve damage though, so I’m not sure how similar it is to the OI in HHS.

humf

Hi

I'm new to this life style, but what has been said is kinda like what ive been diagnosed with as a kid. Its a genitic disorder with a name so big it'll take 2 lines of letters to type so i wont bother.

Basicaly my blood is so thick that, if im still longer than 5 minutes, all the oxygen is used and it turns toxic. Another side affect is that if im still long enough and the bloods not moving it seperates into blood and gas oxygen, that causes a scab to form inside the vein, the same as when you get cut. When i do move after being still the scab moves to my heart or brain causing a stroke.

I read somewhere that being physicaly kept still this happens in a normal person over 30 minutes or longer. My doctors have come up with a machine that gives me tiny electrical shock, similar to what you might get from touching the car door after a drive, to have me twitch just enough while i sleep. There is also another way to get the mussles to move if you physicaly cant and thats using a vibrator in direct contact to one of the big mussles or joints.

If you are suspended for a long while, just before you get let out try straping a vibrator to your calf and souls of your feet for a few minutes, see if you feel any better or even less pins and needles?

YourCaptor said:

Info on HHS, harness hang syndrome, aka orthostatic intolerance, aka suspension trauma

Original article found in the ICD-10-CM

Click to expand...

You might like to post this info and link in the Our Bodies, Our Brains thread...or place a link there for this thread.

Catalina

YourCaptor said:

Thinking about this, it might actually not be so easy to prevent

I have a kind of orthostatic intolerance, and no leg movement helps, I just have to make sure not to fall over for 30 seconds or so while things return to normal.

My orthostatic intolerance is caused by nerve damage though, so I’m not sure how similar it is to the OI in HHS.

Click to expand...

Well when I made the "easy to prevent" statement, I meant that with proper education and barring medical conditions...

Badger82 said:

Hi

I'm new to this life style, but what has been said is kinda like what ive been diagnosed with as a kid. Its a genitic disorder with a name so big it'll take 2 lines of letters to type so i wont bother.

Basicaly my blood is so thick that, if im still longer than 5 minutes, all the oxygen is used and it turns toxic. Another side affect is that if im still long enough and the bloods not moving it seperates into blood and gas oxygen, that causes a scab to form inside the vein, the same as when you get cut. When i do move after being still the scab moves to my heart or brain causing a stroke.

I read somewhere that being physicaly kept still this happens in a normal person over 30 minutes or longer. My doctors have come up with a machine that gives me tiny electrical shock, similar to what you might get from touching the car door after a drive, to have me twitch just enough while i sleep. There is also another way to get the mussles to move if you physicaly cant and thats using a vibrator in direct contact to one of the big mussles or joints.

If you are suspended for a long while, just before you get let out try straping a vibrator to your calf and souls of your feet for a few minutes, see if you feel any better or even less pins and needles?

Click to expand...

Wow Badger. So I'm guessing you've been doing anticoagulation therapy and stuff for years. One of my friends sons has the opposite problem. He's only 6 and had to have a porta cath placed so he can get factor five injected twice daily. Poor kid. He hasn't been able to go to school for awhile because they were doing IVs twice daily and the school nurse couldn't place them.

Pantomime_Muse said:

Wow Badger. So I'm guessing you've been doing anticoagulation therapy and stuff for years. One of my friends sons has the opposite problem. He's only 6 and had to have a porta cath placed so he can get factor five injected twice daily. Poor kid. He hasn't been able to go to school for awhile because they were doing IVs twice daily and the school nurse couldn't place them.

Click to expand...

yea i have been, kinda been known as a walking miracle, i was told i would die the day after my first period, im now 20 somthing and still alive. i just have 2 injections a month and take asprin every time i get hurt or sit still longer than a few minutes, makes sitting in the car to go to work each morning exhorsting.

I'm guessing this is similar, yet different, to DVT (deep vein thrombosis)? My grandmother has problems with clotting, so has taken warferin in the past to prevent it.

Thank you for the information. I'll have to pass it on to our safety officer at work... hehehe.. now THAT should be an interesting conversation.. hehehe...

Ok, I think we need to remember that 'OI' is the means through which this happens, its not the actual cause of death… unless the bottom is suspended and forgotten.

Sort of like 'speeding' is the means through which the crash occurred, but in the end the 'impact' killed them.

In this case the 'impact' is

Moving the worker quickly into a horizontal position - a natural reaction - is likely to cause a large volume of deoxygenated blood to move to the heart, if the worker had been suspended for an extended period. The heart may be unable to cope with the abrupt increase in blood flow, causing cardiac arrest

Click to expand...

The way OI is experienced will most likely differ a fair deal from person to person. So, prevention would be rescuing the bottom at the first symptoms of OI, which are

symptoms such as light-headedness, palpitations, tremulousness, poor concentration, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache, sweating, weakness and occasionally fainting

Click to expand...

Badger82 said:

Hi

Click to expand...

Hello and welcome to the threads.

Badger82 said:

yea i have been, kinda been known as a walking miracle, i was told i would die the day after my first period, im now 20 somthing and still alive. i just have 2 injections a month and take asprin every time i get hurt or sit still longer than a few minutes, makes sitting in the car to go to work each morning exhorsting.

Click to expand...

I can only imagine. I suppose you really are a walking miracle. Well I'm glad you're still with us and that we've met you.

YourCaptor said:

Ok, I think we need to remember that 'OI' is the means through which this happens, its not the actual cause of death… unless the bottom is suspended and forgotten.

Sort of like 'speeding' is the means through which the crash occurred, but in the end the 'impact' killed them.

In this case the 'impact' is

The way OI is experienced will most likely differ a fair deal from person to person. So, prevention would be rescuing the bottom at the first symptoms of OI, which are

Click to expand...

Hmm well if you're not sure, I guess we could ask Homburg. He is very knowledgeable about these things, and is our resident rope Top. I'd suggest that if anyone has any questions to go to him. He's a smart one, he is he is.

YourCaptor said:

The way OI is experienced will most likely differ a fair deal from person to person. So, prevention would be rescuing the bottom at the first symptoms of OI, which are

symptoms such as light-headedness, palpitations, tremulousness, poor concentration, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, headache, sweating, weakness and occasionally fainting

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Many of those symptoms are to be expected in suspensions.

Light-headedness is common when you mess with someone's cent of gravity and balance. Poor concentration is dead common. Show me a sub that can concentrate when in sub-space. Fatigue is VERY common. Suspension is draining, and can be very painful and stressful. Headache can easily be because of increased cranial blood pressure due to partial inversions and the like. Weakness will not be even remotely obvious in most suspension situations. And I don't know about you, but sweating is pretty common when I'm sexually aroused, and I've seen it in a whole lotta bottoms too.

Not saying the symptom list lacks worth, but I am saying that you need to apply discretion. I've said before that suspension is complex shit, and shouldn't be played with by people that aren't serious about learning the dangers (such as HHS). That is why I mentioned it but did not go into it in my thread. HHS is not something that is likely to come up in normal rope play, but might just cause Joe Six-pack to think before he strings up Jo-anne Six-pack.

Light-headedness, palpitations, tremulousness, and fainting are sure signs that something is wrong though. The rest? Common enough. Experience with the actual practice of suspension will teach this.

Easiest way to avoid the most common incidence of OI? Don't stand with your knees locked. The military teaches this in formation. Do the same in play, and you'll generally be fine. If you immobilise the legs, then you have to worry.


ETA: A thank you to Pantomime_Muse (The fiver is in the mail.)

if you watch *most* people in suspension, they tend to want to move around and flex and "fly" and stuff - the quiet ones you need to keep an eye on.

Netzach said:

if you watch *most* people in suspension, they tend to want to move around and flex and "fly" and stuff - the quiet ones you need to keep an eye on.

Click to expand...

Haha like me. All I want to do is hang there.

00Syd said:

Haha like me. All I want to do is hang there.

Click to expand...

I'm very stationary on the ground, but when I go up I'm Ms. Marionette. The best is self suspension, whee!