Active hyperbaric chambers treating divers and staffing - travel divers need better information.

[Wallowa]

So do it yourself. Why rely on others?
How would you propose this be done in a sustainable and affordable way?

Serious question? Ah, "affordable"....look I searched and asked questions of the agencies that are supposed to be supporting divers that are injured...what did I ask for? Simply publish a listing of chambers in USA who will treat civilian divers that I could contact in the event I need chamber treatment... do it annually and leave the responsibility up to me to confirm the status of a chamber when I draft my emergency plan before dives. "Sustainable"? Yes DAN or UHMS would need to at least once a year identify these chambers. and post on their websites. Tough job? But who better to compile the listing?

I can not rely on correct treatment or timely treatment the way diving injuries are addressed today. Sending a serious case of DCI to a burn chamber does not cut it. Plus how many of these agencies keep a listing of pressurized air ambulances? Not everyone lives, travels or dives at sea level so land ambulance transport could make the DCI worse. And time to correct treatment can make all difference for a full recovery.

Just compile and make available a list of diver treatment chamber information....6ATA chambers. Addresses, type of chamber and contact information. Play 'what if' you are the injured diver.

Do all diving related injuries need a treatment table to 6ATA? Of course not, but what if such a chamber is needed to save a diver's life or from profound life long disabilities and they get sent to the local ER room while trying to locate or treat in a mono-place 2ATA chamber.

I assume the full responsibility for my emergency planning and right now I can not get the needed information. Ah, is what I would like to see done affordable and sustainable? And do theses corporations want to assume the accountability of providing chamber locations and contacts? Who knows.

 

[diverdoug1]

Serious question? Ah, "affordable"....look I searched and asked questions of the agencies that are supposed to be supporting divers that are injured...what did I ask for? Simply publish a listing of chambers in USA who will treat civilian divers that I could contact in the event I need chamber treatment... do it annually and leave the responsibility up to me to confirm the status of a chamber when I draft my emergency plan before dives. "Sustainable"? Yes DAN or UHMS would need to at least once a year identify these chambers. and post on their websites. Tough job? But who better to compile the listing?

I can not rely on correct treatment or timely treatment the way diving injuries are addressed today. Sending a serious case of DCI to a burn chamber does not cut it. Plus how many of these agencies keep a listing of pressurized air ambulances? Not everyone lives, travels or dives at sea level so land ambulance transport could make the DCI worse. And time to correct treatment can make all difference for a full recovery.

Just compile and make available a list of diver treatment chamber information....6ATA chambers. Addresses, type of chamber and contact information. Play 'what if' you are the injured diver.

Do all diving related injuries need a treatment table to 6ATA? Of course not, but what if such a chamber is needed to save a diver's life or from profound life long disabilities and they get sent to the local ER room while trying to locate or treat in a mono-place 2ATA chamber.

I assume the full responsibility for my emergency planning and right now I can not get the needed information. Ah, is what I would like to see done affordable and sustainable? And do theses corporations want to assume the accountability of providing chamber locations and contacts? Who knows.

My initial treatments were limited to a 3 ATA / 2.07 bar Perry Sigma 40 mono but my treatment should have been modified to 165 FSW initially if it was available. My outcome may have been better with a deep mod. Also , I think treatment of severe type 2 DCS if preferably treated with the option of a chamber attendant multi

 

[sea_ledford]

As already mentioned, a comprehensive list would be meaningless due to staffing and use issues. Does it matter if there is a chamber that meets your needs a couple hours away if, when you need it, the operator is on vacation? Or it is in use treating someone else? Or offline because the medlock is leaking and needs a new o-ring?

The other problem DAN was fighting with providing this information (which they used to do), was divers would drive straight to the chamber because they thought they were bent. But they were actually having a heart attack/stroke/whatever way more common ailment and should have stopped at one of the three emergency rooms they passed on the way to the unstaffed chamber.

I get wanting the information from a dive planning perspective, but it's a bit like trying to reserve a specific seat on a city bus.

 

[tursiops]

the agencies that are supposed to be supporting divers that are injured

What agencies are these? Who besides DAN?

The other problem DAN was fighting with providing this information (which they used to do), was divers would drive straight to the chamber because they thought they were bent. But they were actually having a heart attack/stroke/whatever way more common ailment and should have stopped at one of the three emergency rooms they passed on the way to the unstaffed chamber.

 

[Wallowa]

My initial treatments were limited to a 3 ATA / 2.07 bar Perry Sigma 40 mono but my treatment should have been modified to 165 FSW initially if it was available. My outcome may have been better with a deep mod. Also , I think treatment of severe type 2 DCS if preferably treated with the option of a chamber attendant multi

Concur...although expensive and labor intensive multi-lock 6ATA chambers should be available for treatment of serious DCI [type 2 DCS and AGE]....I believe that being locked down in a mono-place chamber at 2ATA [or 3ATA in your case] does not allow for adequate pressure to run all the treatment tables that may be needed and in the event the diver suffers a medical crisis in the mono chamber and the chamber must be rapidly depressurized to extract them, whatever the hypobaric injury they were suffering before being put in the chamber it just got worse and perhaps a lot worse and permanent....

My conundrum is that for my personal safety, not trying to save the world, I can’t source information on the locations and contact points for chambers near me or even within a reasonable air ambulance ride. Heck, contacted air ambulance companies and asked what their protocols were for transporting a hypobaric injury and never got a response. They were vacuous on the topic.

Just my 2 psi but the diving industry and agencies need to step up and think this through. Lack of detailed regional emergency treatment and transportation plans is at the detriment to injured divers. Looking the other way is not the way.

If DAN or UHMS has such plans then the public should have access to them before being injured to incorporate that information into their individual emergency planning. Proactive rather than reactive.

 

[tursiops]

I wonder if you guys have really even tried to get the information you seek. For example, UHMS publishes 10 pages of names, addresses, and phone numbers of UHMS ACCREDITED HYPERBARIC MEDICINE FACILITIES.

 

[Wallowa]

What agencies are these? Who besides DAN?

View attachment 898422

DAN is not an emergency diver treatment organization but rather an informational entity for the support of safe diving. UHMS is comprised of medical professionals that conduct hyperbaric treatment; not just for divers but other illnesses and injuries.

In my opinion all agencies and institutions that conduct diver education or diving activities should be involved in providing the diving community correct and updated emergency planning information so that each diver can incorporate that into their emergency planning for each dive they make. Just to say "call DAN" is like saying "call Ghost-Busters"; the current status of DAN's information is unknown and unavailable. DAN is not in business of treating divers but of providing them with information. Trust with verification; you can't verify what is not known.

Leford is absolutely correct that diagnosis of mechanism and type of injury is a crap shoot. Even for trained experts. Most ER physicians have never encountered a hypobaric injury and can not definitely determine if the injury is a DCI. Delay time while an ER physician tries to figure out that the patient is suffering from an unknown malady could be critical for an eventual chamber treatment. Chamber crews on multi-lock chambers can diagnosis DCI; they are trained to evaluate the signs and symptoms to adjudge what treatment table to use. So where does that leave the diving public? Not in a good place.

Driving to a chamber that is not operational of course is nonsense; hence this is why divers need updated chamber status information. Not aware of how many divers drive them selves to a chamber so perhaps the ambulance crew is competent to determine if the diver is suffering from an injury or illness not related to diving; like the heart attack mentioned.

Easy to brush off the need for better emergency options and just turn your fate over to DAN. In the end a diver suffering any debilitating injury will need to rely on medical professionals but the requisite competency to diagnose and treat divers and availability of treatment options is what in my opinion is woefully lacking. Old saw, "know what you know and know what you don't know" is applicable to this discussion, what we don't know can be catastrophic.

 

[Allen-1]

I wonder if you guys have really even tried to get the information you seek. For example, UHMS publishes 10 pages of names, addresses, and phone numbers of UHMS ACCREDITED HYPERBARIC MEDICINE FACILITIES.

That's useful, thank you. I just printed GA/FL and added to my "divetrip med" folder.

Any suggestions for similar listings for Roatan, Bonaire and/or Cozumel?

 

[sea_ledford]

Roatan is easy - Anthony's Key. One of the busiest recompression chambers in the world, so pretty much always up and running.

Visit the Hyperbaric Chamber Medical Clinic | Anthony's Key Resort

For your health and safety, we provide Covid-19 testing, Hyperbaric treatments, and general healthcare in Roatan at the Cornerstone Medical Services and Hyperbaric Chamber that is open daily.

anthonyskey.com

 

[Wallowa]

I wonder if you guys have really even tried to get the information you seek. For example, UHMS publishes 10 pages of names, addresses, and phone numbers of UHMS ACCREDITED HYPERBARIC MEDICINE FACILITIES.

Yes, I have seen this...almost all are "wound healing"....and military cited may only treat military...it is a start and thankfully the listing is dated 3-31-25...and hopefully on that date these chambers are still operational.

Look, it is appreciated the UHMS has a listing but recognize they are not focused on diver cases of DCI....and yes, I can call each to determine their status, which is my protocol, and to find out if they are multi-lock 6ATA chambers....as seen determining if and what grade of DCI has occurred is difficult even for 'Diving Docs'....None on that listing, unless I missed it, are classified as diving specific hyperbaric injury physicians....nor are diver treatment chambers specified.

Perhaps the best chamber to treat injured divers on west coast is missing....USC Catalina... USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber - USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber they are top tier treatment of all DCI levels of injury....the list is incomplete and missing what we need the most, identified and correct diver treatment chambers.

You asked if diver DCI treatment was an affordable option for health care community; look at the listing, that is where hyperbaric treatment makes a profit, in wound and other than DCI illness treatment. Yes, they must make a profit to stay in business. I believe those that profit from divers should support true diving treatment facilities. If you "create" diving activities then you should slice a little of your bottom line to support those divers that are injured.

Thanks for your post....would greatly appreciate a listing of extant 6ATA civilian diver treatment chambers in USA. I could not find one.