So this has just happened/is happening now.
48 hours ago I got a call from a friend asking for the contact number for the local hyperbaric chamber. She had a friend who is a local lobster diver. He had come up , passed out for 20 mins and lost feeling below his waist when he came too. The vessel he was on had headed to Bimini as it was the closest large island (this is in the Bahamas).
She had phoned me as i carry out dive ops on my vessel and she knew i would have the relevant contact info. I got the 24 hour mobile phone number for the local chamber from my emergency management plan within seconds and passed it on.
Today I got the rest of the story.
She spent the next few hours ringing that number and others i gave her. It took around 4 hours for someone to answer the 24 hour emergency contact number (Island time!) . During this time the casualty was evacuated by air from Bimini to Nassau due to no facilities in Bimini and apparently there are 3 chambers in Nassau. I only knew of 1. The casualty was evacuated to Nassau and placed into hospital ward on 100% O2. Not into a chamber, why, because all 3 were un-staffed. Not a single tech on island apparently due to COVID, the techs had "gone home" to other islands/countries.
A tech is flying in to operate one of the chambers today and the casualty is due to start their first of 10 sessions tonight if they can get the right paperwork signed by a hospital staff member who is currently not answering their phone (being a Sunday in the Bahamas).
I hope to get some more info eventually but as i am not personally involved im not sure how much info ill get, but it has given me some things to think about.
- How to contact the other 2 chambers and add them to my emergency plan, if it takes 4 hours to answer the 24 number i need more than one option!
- Why was the casualty moved from Bimini to Nassau where there were no techs when it was closer to Florida?
- Next time ill give the DAN number as well as local (even though they were not insured from what ive seen DAN would at least of been able to help in some way with contacts etc)
- How often should I review numbers/address/services provided by companies in my emergency plan?
- What is the emergency plan for the dive liveaboard operators here I wonder (there are at least 5 i pass nearly every week ), i will try and make contact and see if they are willing to share info?
I have been diving nearly every week for the last few months, unknowingly without any local emergency care available!
2020
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