Hawaii now without any recompression chamber

[Kevrumbo]

Some good preliminary news:

". . .The University of Hawaii says the hyperbaric treatment center will reopen at Kuakini Medical Center after physicians undergo training next month. . ."
State hyperbaric center may open in Feb.

 

[KathyV]

Some good preliminary news:

". . .The University of Hawaii says the hyperbaric treatment center will reopen at Kuakini Medical Center after physicians undergo training next month. . ."
State hyperbaric center may open in Feb.

Wow, what a big mistake it would be not to have a hyperbaric chamber and trained staff in Hawaii. I actually think that there should more than one chamber available.

Cayman is a much smaller country than the US and their islands are much less populous than Hawaii, but they have a large chamber on the main island of Grand Cayman, and a smaller one 90 miles away on Cayman Brac.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Wow, what a big mistake it would be not to have a hyperbaric chamber and trained staff in Hawaii. I actually think that there should more than one chamber available.

Cayman is a much smaller country than the US and their islands are much less populous than Hawaii, but they have a large chamber on the main island of Grand Cayman, and a smaller one 90 miles away on Cayman Brac.

The large auxiliary lock, multiplace Recompression Chamber has always been there on Oahu providing civilian service (and back-up support to the commercial and military dive-ops at Pearl Harbor), with US Coast Guard medevac transport available as needed for diving accidents coming from the other Hawaiian Islands. The big mistake here was the lack of foresight and proactive planning on the part of the University of Hawaii, Kuakini Medical Center and DAN, and the blame of failing to communicate with one another about staffing problems resulting in a gap in coverage for these last couple of months.

 

[tridacna]

Wow, what a big mistake it would be not to have a hyperbaric chamber and trained staff in Hawaii. I actually think that there should more than one chamber available.

Cayman is a much smaller country than the US and their islands are much less populous than Hawaii, but they have a large chamber on the main island of Grand Cayman, and a smaller one 90 miles away on Cayman Brac.

Hawaii has no shortage of chambers either. It's the lack of staff that seems to be the issue. Besides, Cayman has more “private” companies and bank accounts than people. That may help...

 

[undrwater]

Will volunteer chamber for food?

 

[iamrushman]

hopefully they will work it out over time....seems to be a problem through-out United States due to funding for on-call staff.

 

[k4kafka]

Last October, I learned Fiji did not have a working chamber also. It would inform my decision-making when choosing dive travel destinations to know about such things...Where is DAN on this issue ?
How about a world-wide survey.

 

[Oldbear]

We are very fortunate here on Kwajalein that the chamber is not an issue.

 

[Aloha Joe]

Maybe the next generation of dive computers will interface with hyperbaric chambers. It’s kind of interesting you need a trained doctor to run a chamber, but can use a $120 computer to “prescribe” a decompression ascent.

I’m half joking - I know it’s a serious thing and if I was bent I’d want trained support.

The articles I read say staff is an issue at UH, there are other facilities that don’t treat Deco, surprising they couldn’t or wouldn’t figure out a temporary deal. But $$ talks and 50-100 treatments a year is probably hard to “justify the cost” or whatever agreement for on-call staff. I can’t believe I just said that - out of love for humanity and the fact I’d be living in a small island, it doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice.

 

[Aloha Joe]

Requirements for certification seem to be a likely obstacle. While a nurse or EMT is eligible for hyperbaric technologist certification, the requirements include:

480 hours of pressure-related medical experience, with 40hrs clinical internship.

24 continuing education credits every 2 years, 12 in pressure-related topics.


I wonder what kind of training the computer algorithm writers have...

I read that deco chambers were run by Divers in the past, but personnel needs outgrew the supply.