The Many Uses of Hyperbaric Chambers

Posted on Mar, 2011 in Home/Scuba Training/The Many Uses of Hyperbaric Chambers

chamber The Many Uses of Hyperbaric ChambersWe all have seen many times on TV and movies big metal tanks with a person or several sitting or laying inside – yes it is a decompression chamber or in other words a hyperbaric chamber. Chances are that if you have been polishing your skills as a diver, or unfortunately have experienced decompression sickness, you are quite familiar with this piece of machinery.

For the rest of us: What is a hyperbaric chamber you ask? Technically, a hyperbaric chamber is a vessel used to pressurize air and or other gases, all while holding a specified pressure, regardless of the surrounding atmospheric pressure. In this small review we are not going to touch non scuba diving related medical usage and aspects of the chamber.

So how does it work? As previously mentioned, hyperbaric chambers are often times used to treat decompression sickness. When a diver becomes ill from ascending to the surface too quickly without employing proper safety decompression stops, they can be put into a hyperbaric chamber in an attempt to feed the body with the proper kind of gas, all while monitoring the pressure and adjusting it to properly decompress.

Some divers however, purposely decompress in a chamber, rather than within the water. Surface decompression on oxygen is usually considered safer than decompressing in the water, because the amount of oxygen, diver’s depth, and temperature can be controlled at an exact setting. Those who chose to decompress in a chamber using oxygen, must complete a series of stops within the water before rapidly ascending to the surface. It is important to enter a chamber within five minutes of doing so.

There are some things to keep in mind when using a hyperbaric chamber. One should treat making a dive inside the chamber the same as if making a dive in water. The pressure within your ears will have to be equalized, and anything brought into the chamber, a watch for example, must be able to withstand the pressure. If you are in the chamber long enough you can still contract “the bends.” Also, those who operate the chamber are very specific about what kinds of fabrics are allowed to enter, as the chance of fire is always possible. Shoes must always be removed before entering the chamber as well, to avoid bringing in outside flammable sources.

Overall, hyperbaric chambers are essential to scuba diving. If you are an active diver it is important to know closest medical facility with decompression chamber, so in case of emergency you can always get there ASAP. Another important aspect to know that operation cost is pretty high so it is another pro towards to being insured for diving related accidents. As it might become very I mean very expensive to get treatments for any scuba diving related injuries. So whenever you going always do your research (there are many web sites which do have this information) and find closest chamber to your location. Have this info easily accessible during the dives.  For some local divers who want to experience  chamber dive  – Dipndive.com offers a sport diving run in the Tobermory Health Clinics Recompression Chamber as a part of the weekend trip to Tobermry, Ontario – see our scuba diving training pages for more details

Save diving!

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