Stodelle
09-25-2003, 09:47 PM
There has been much talk about hyperbaric chambers. While I hope none of you get to take a ride in the chamber, you may be surprised to know there is a chamber close by.
Many people are not aware that their local hospital may have a chamber or 2. While these are not the large walkin chambers we see pictures of in the dive magazines, they are none the less just as effective. Many hospitals now use small, single person hyperbaric chambers to treat a large number of medical illnesses, not just dive related injuries. Some hospitals use their chambers for anything from diabetic wounds that will not heal to burn victims who need an oxygen rich environment to promote healing.
But, just because your local hospital may have a chamber, this doesn't necessarily mean they can treat dive injuries or have staff that can. However, they can be a great first response with a little coaching.
The Divers Alert Network can advise a chamber operator on a basic treatment, long enough to prolong an extensive injury until a trained doctor can evaluate the diver. In fact, it is often times much faster, and cheaper, to have a dive specialist come to the injured person rather than the other way around.
I 1st learned of this while diving for the Sheriff's Department. We often times dove at depth and at altitude. It was not uncommon to do a 150' dive at almost 8000' asl and unfortunately, we had some of our deputies who had to be chambered from an accident. The problem we ran into was that the common protocol for a dive injury is to airlift the injured diver to the closest dive chamber. Well, for us it would have meant an almost 1 hour helo ride, not to mention having to climb to altitude for the helo to clear the mountains. This is one of the worst things you can do is take an injured diver to altitude as it can cause more problems (ie. no flying after diving). We learned of a local hospital that had 2 of these solo chambers. The deputies were taken there, put in the chamber, DAN was called, computers were reviewed, and soon the dive doctor was there to assist in the treatment. No doubt that adding those additional risks, along with the delays, could have spelled havoc on the divers. But by doing it this way, their treatment had already been started at the doctor's directions, before he even got there.
Some recommendations for all divers:
1) If you are not a member, or do not have any dive related insurance, check into it. Carl Huggins who runs the Catalina Chamber in California estimates the average chamber treatment at close to $10,000. A $64 a year policy at least covers that, and gives you access to specialists who can answer ANY dive related injury questions.
2) Before your dive, call DAN, or your local hospital, and ask where the nearest chambers are located. You do not have to be a member to get this info. While a dive specific chamber is great, just knowing where the closer, smaller chambers are can save your life too. Not to mention, you or your dive partner can tell the medics where they should head and be on the way that much quicker. DAN tells people to call if there is an emergency, but when minutes count, a little pre-knowledge can be beneficial.
3) Don't be macho! If you think there is a problem, don't play the "I'll see if it gets better" game. Every year there is a story of someone who dies later from a dive injury when all the signs were present. While noone wants to look like a fool and "jump the gun", noone wants to be dead either for their image.
Be safe and remember that the sport we all love can also be dangerous.
Many people are not aware that their local hospital may have a chamber or 2. While these are not the large walkin chambers we see pictures of in the dive magazines, they are none the less just as effective. Many hospitals now use small, single person hyperbaric chambers to treat a large number of medical illnesses, not just dive related injuries. Some hospitals use their chambers for anything from diabetic wounds that will not heal to burn victims who need an oxygen rich environment to promote healing.
But, just because your local hospital may have a chamber, this doesn't necessarily mean they can treat dive injuries or have staff that can. However, they can be a great first response with a little coaching.
The Divers Alert Network can advise a chamber operator on a basic treatment, long enough to prolong an extensive injury until a trained doctor can evaluate the diver. In fact, it is often times much faster, and cheaper, to have a dive specialist come to the injured person rather than the other way around.
I 1st learned of this while diving for the Sheriff's Department. We often times dove at depth and at altitude. It was not uncommon to do a 150' dive at almost 8000' asl and unfortunately, we had some of our deputies who had to be chambered from an accident. The problem we ran into was that the common protocol for a dive injury is to airlift the injured diver to the closest dive chamber. Well, for us it would have meant an almost 1 hour helo ride, not to mention having to climb to altitude for the helo to clear the mountains. This is one of the worst things you can do is take an injured diver to altitude as it can cause more problems (ie. no flying after diving). We learned of a local hospital that had 2 of these solo chambers. The deputies were taken there, put in the chamber, DAN was called, computers were reviewed, and soon the dive doctor was there to assist in the treatment. No doubt that adding those additional risks, along with the delays, could have spelled havoc on the divers. But by doing it this way, their treatment had already been started at the doctor's directions, before he even got there.
Some recommendations for all divers:
1) If you are not a member, or do not have any dive related insurance, check into it. Carl Huggins who runs the Catalina Chamber in California estimates the average chamber treatment at close to $10,000. A $64 a year policy at least covers that, and gives you access to specialists who can answer ANY dive related injury questions.
2) Before your dive, call DAN, or your local hospital, and ask where the nearest chambers are located. You do not have to be a member to get this info. While a dive specific chamber is great, just knowing where the closer, smaller chambers are can save your life too. Not to mention, you or your dive partner can tell the medics where they should head and be on the way that much quicker. DAN tells people to call if there is an emergency, but when minutes count, a little pre-knowledge can be beneficial.
3) Don't be macho! If you think there is a problem, don't play the "I'll see if it gets better" game. Every year there is a story of someone who dies later from a dive injury when all the signs were present. While noone wants to look like a fool and "jump the gun", noone wants to be dead either for their image.
Be safe and remember that the sport we all love can also be dangerous.