US List of Emergency Recompression Chambers Near Active Scuba Diving Locations. . .

[KathyV]

Medicaid is a state-based program so it would probably only work in your home state and if you are eligible and enrolled in the program. Medicare is a federal program and again you have to be eligible and enrolled and I believe that it only applies to healthcare in the US and US territories.

In an emergency the best thing to do is usually to get immediate care at the nearest facility and then get transferred to your preferred facility - after you are stable and able to be transferred. You can argue with your health care insurer about it later.

We have mid-level DAN insurance, and when we take a big vacation we always buy travel insurance and add coverage for "evacuation to a medical facility of your choice" to the policy. I'm very happy to be treated at the nearest facility in an emergency, but later I want to have some choice in the matter.

 

[Kevrumbo]

(1) Medicaid is not always applicable, (2) not everybody is a US citizen, (3) not everybody dives in the US, (4) sometimes you need to evacuate to the HBOT treatment, and (5) it is nice to have a knowledgeable 3rd party advocate like DAN as part of the discussions about diagnosis and treatment.

Any other questions?

Yes, question to you @tursiops -can you read again and comprehend the OP topic, and post something relevant instead the argumentative rhetoric above?

If you're a US Citizen and destitute enough to require Medicaid in order to pay for covered medevac transport & HBOT for DCI, then obviously you don't have the financial means to be traveling overseas on dive trip vacations, which would be the primary domain of DAN accident insurance. Do you understand?

And FYI, we Californians are fortunate enough that Medicaid is always applicable here as needed for treament at the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber.

 

[tursiops]

Yes, question to you @tursiops -can you read again and comprehend the OP topic, and post something relevant instead the argumentative rhetoric above?

If you're a US Citizen and destiture enough to require Medicaid in order to pay for covered medevac transport & HBOT for DCI, then obviously you don't have the financial means to be traveling overseas on dive trip vacations, which would be the primary domain of DAN accident insurance. Do you understand?

And FYI, we Californians are fortunate enough that Medicaid is always applicable here as needed for treament at the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber.

Thanks for reinforcing my point. The vast majority of divers are not destitute urchin divers or bottom scrapers living near Catalina.

 

[Kevrumbo]

Thanks for reinforcing my point. The vast majority of divers are not destitute urchin divers or bottom scrapers living near Catalina.

The vast majority of divers worlwide -including you @tursiops -don't have the privilege of diving here, along with having the support of a dedicated municipal government EMS like the LA County/USC Recompression Chamber at Catalina, solely on 24/7 stand-by for civilian diving accidents, and only here in SoCal.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

It's better to know where you can dive recreationally or professionally as a US Citizen, and your emergency resources covered by tax supported Gov't public programs like Medicaid, if you're a down-on-your luck diver that can't even afford secondary accident insurance like DAN.

My beef with DAN (and with @Duke Dive Medicine here on SB) is that they have a conflict-of-interest in this instance -->claiming that they are the go-to authority on what kind of emergency treatment a DCI patient should seek while trying to sell you their insurance product at the same time.

IMHO -All the info you need to seek and get emergency treatment is there if you're a diving casualty victim in the vicinity of these hospitals/medical center facilities listed in the OP. . .

Duke Dive Medicine does not sell insurance and has no conflict of interest in providing diving accident management advice. The DAN insurance and diving medicine arms are separate and their medical advice is offered without condition. For the record, I do not speak for DAN, but I do hope you have more than wash-rinse-repeat, cut-and-paste Catalina Island chamber information to support a public accusation of unethical behavior on either DAN or Duke Dive Medicine's part.

 

[KathyV]

Don’t have a link, but Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL (Chicago suburb) is the only chamber in the Chicago area that will accept emergencies of any sort. Multiple place (up to 8). Hospital is also a Level I trauma center.

Here is some info about the chamber at Lutheran General in Park Ridge, IL near Chicago:

http://www.acfrieden.com/131026PR1.pdf

 

[Marie13]

Here is some info about the chamber at Lutheran General in Park Ridge, IL near Chicago:

http://www.acfrieden.com/131026PR1.pdf

I did a chamber dive at Lutheran General last year. One Saturday a month they have a program for divers done by the guy who runs the chamber. Local divers asked for this back in the early 90s, I believe. 45-60 min lecture, which is very good, and then the chamber dive. Cost is $20 per diver for chamber dive. 12 max in the chamber, although unlimited for lecture (no cost). Lecture is very good.

 

[Marie13]

Given the lack of information the general public and I'm sure emergency services has about DCI, knowing where the closest chamber is cannot be anything but a good thing.

 

[doctormike]

My beef with DAN (and with @Duke Dive Medicine here on SB) is that they have a conflict-of-interest in this instance -->claiming that they are the go-to authority on what kind of emergency treatment a DCI patient should seek while trying to sell you their insurance product at the same time.

That's a really unfounded and inappropriate accusation.

I don't know that much about DAN as an organization, but I don't see how them giving free medical advice to any diver who calls them is a conflict of interest. Are you implying that they take the premiums (a big $75 per year for the Cadillac plan) and then make a fortune by advising people who need recompression NOT to get treated so that they save on payouts? I called them once, after my symptoms had completely resolved on surface O2, and they STILL told me to go right to a chamber and get treated. Never saw a bill from that. They were professional and helpful, and I appreciate that.

Now I DO know DDM, and he has been INCREDIBLY helpful to people for many years, both on SB and elsewhere. He takes the time to explain decompression medicine in these threads, he guides worried divers towards treatment or reassurance, and he doesn't make a dime off of that. So please don't throw shade at a guy who spends his free time helping divers out of the goodness of his heart.

 

[KathyV]

Given the lack of information the general public and I'm sure emergency services has about DCI, knowing where the closest chamber is cannot be anything but a good thing.

Although Chicago has a very big lake and an active local diving community, I wonder if local ambulance drivers and emergency departments are familiar with decompression sickness, emergency procedures, and the available chambers?

My husband and I once visited the ED at a small hospital in Florida because he had unexplained joint pain after diving - it wasn't DCS - but we got the impression that the ED staff were very knowledgeable about diving-related and water-related injuries and were equipped to handle them. I am not sure that would be true in the middle of the country.