Time of useful consciousness (TUC) is defined as the amount of time an individual is able to perform flying duties efficiently in an environment of inadequate oxygen supply. It is the period of time from the interruption of the oxygen supply or exposure to an oxygen-poor environment to the time when useful function is lost, and the individual is no longer capable of taking proper corrective and protective action. It is not the time to total unconsciousness. The TUC has also been called Effective Performance Time (EPT). At the higher altitudes, the TUC becomes very short; considering this danger, the emphasis is on prevention rather than cure.
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“Many a time I have seen my mother leap up from the dinner table to engage the swarming flies with an improvised punkah, and heard her rejoice and give humble thanks simultaneously that Baltimore was not the sinkhole that Washington was.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)