1st Training Run, Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber (So. Calif.)

[Kevrumbo]

An invaluable experience, learning & practicing not only the Science & Art of Hyperbaric Medicine and Treatment of Dive Accidents, but actually seeing the Los Angeles County Medical Alert Center (MAC) System coordinate and integrate the various Departments on real recovery or rescue missions: all during my training over at Santa Catalina Island, offshore Southern California this past weekend.

Although actual Chamber Treatments are in 18msw (Decompression Sickness/Syndrome) and 50msw (Arterial Gas Embolism), training runs are only done at 12msw with only two five minute oxygen periods, and one O2 period at 6msw. The most fun & satisfying position on the Team is the inside Tender, where you would under direction, apply O2 demand regulator therapy to the patient and hopefully see the direct curative results of the treatment. Going down to depth inside the Chamber is kind of like sitting in your Scuba Tank (if you could!) during a fast fill: it gets very hot inside to 32deg C very quickly! Conversely, on a wide open “fast” 3m/min ascent, the ambient environment can cool down just as fast and get a little chilly & foggy inside as the dew point is past (fun with Adiabatic Expansion first hand).

The trickiest and the position requiring the most mechanical dexterity is the Chamber Operator. You're moving & turning various handwheels & levers controlling inlet and exhaust valves; monitoring depth & pressure gauges of the supply gas gauges; keeping the patient at the right depth as well as bringing the Physician down to depth in an auxiliary Lock Chamber if needed to attend to the patient.

The most demanding is the Recorder. He is responsible for keeping track of treatment schedule; calling out the intervals for when the Tender is to administer O2 and Air Breaks to the patient; timing the descents & ascents; keeping track of all Total Dive Times, Decompression Times, Nitrogen Table uptake etc. for all personnel entering the Chamber to assist the Patient -and keeping a written record of all of this as it's happening on an elapsed timeline. This is the most difficult of the three positions on the team since you're setting up the entire profile of the "dive", and trying to record of the all various time segments involved in the treatment by monitoring/toggling a set of six stopwatch timers in front of you -and somehow officially logging it all down simultaneously on paper.

Finally, the Catalina Chamber is the only one able to administer immediate aid to a stricken diver covering an entire weekend period here in Southern California (Friday night to Sunday Evening): there is no back-up Chamber on the Los Angeles County Mainland that can be up and running as fast on any given weekend, or IMHO, on any given day 24/7. But talking to the Veteran Volunteer Crew training me, they would prefer having an asymptomatic diver come in the afternoon with a suspected case of DCS, rather than having that same diver later helicoptering back to Catalina from the mainland, with acute full-blown Type 1 & 2 Signs and Symptoms -at 3AM in the Morning. . .

Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber Home Page
National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology (USA)

[Kevrumbo]

The largest single-day Scuba Charity Event in the United States:
Chamber Day/Eve 2007 Home

[Kevrumbo]

2006 CHAMBER CASE ACTIVITY (As of Dec. 31, 2006)
Treated "Air Embolisms": 3
Treated "Decompression Sickness": 9
Re-Treatments: 3
Patient Arrived, No-Treatment: 10
Call-Ups, Patient Did Not Arrive: 25

From Karl Huggins, Chamber Mgr/Dir:
Quote:We had 22 divers brought into us compared to 19 in
2005. A greater percent of the divers brought last year [2006] received
treatment. Of the 22 divers brought in 12 were treated
compared to the 5 out of 19 we had in 2005. We also had more
retreatments (3) than we have had since 1997. Since the big
drop in activity we had in 2003 we have seen a steady increase
in patients brought to the Chamber.
_________

Initial Reported or Observed Problem of Divers Brought to the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber (1995 - 2000):

No Problems Noted: approx. 10% occurrence
Buoyancy Problem: 12%
Air Supply Problem: 11%
Buddy Problems: 10%
Decompression Problem: 6%
Equalizing Problem: 6%
Pain: 6%
Uncomfortable: 5%
Environmental Problem: 4%
Equipment Problem: 3%
Medical Problem: 3%
Regulator Problem: 3%
Rapid Ascent: 2%
Fatigue: 2%
Rebreather Problem: 2%
Mask Problem: 2%
Aspiration (water): 1%
Panic: 1%

Quote:Divers Brought to the Catalina Chamber
--Did They Panic During the Dive?
Panicked: 33%
Did not Panic: 42%
Unknown: 25%

Quote:Divers Brought to the Catalina Chamber and
Suffering From AGE/Drowning/Near Drowning
--Did They Panic During the Dive?
Panicked: 51%
Did not Panic: 19%
Unknown: 30%

Quote:Cases from 1995 thru 2000
Of 154 Divers Brought to the Chamber:
76 (49%) Recompressed:
43 (57%) of which were DCS related
33 (43%) of which were Air Embolism related

78 (51%) Not Recompressed:
23 (29%) Rule Out AGE
23 (29%) Rule Out DCS
19 (24%) Near Drowning
9 (12%) Drowning
4 (5%) AGE/DCS Refused Treatment Against Medical Advice

19 (12%) Full Arrest --Fatalities

[PFM]

Nice write up, it sounds like you got a lot out of the training, are you know part of the team?

[Kevrumbo]

(Still have a year of Internship to go before being granted full Crew Status...)

Some Raw Data Stats going back to 2000, and representative of the mainland beach and offshore islands recreational diving population of the greater Los Angeles region:

2000 Chamber Case Activity
(As of December 1, 2000)
4 - Treated "Air Embolisms"
8 - Treated "Decompression Sickness"
0 - Re-Treatments
10 - Patient Arrived, No-Treatment
18 - Call-Ups, Patient Did Not Arrive

2001 Chamber Case Activity
(As of December 4, 2001)
6 - Treated "Air Embolisms"
8 - Treated "Decompression Sickness"
3 - Re-Treatments
8 - Patient Arrived, No-Treatment
17 - Call-Ups, Patient Did Not Arrive

2002 Chamber Case Activity
(As of December 6, 2002)
9 - Treated "Air Embolisms"
9 - Treated "Decompression Sickness"
0 - Re-Treatments
10 - Patient Arrived, No-Treatment
19 - Call-Ups, Patient Did Not Arrive


2003 Chamber Case Activity
(As of December 31, 2003)
1 - Treated "Air Embolisms"
4 - Treated "Decompression Sickness"
0 - Re-Treatments
11 - Patient Arrived, No-Treatment
23 - Call-Ups, Patient Did Not Arrive


2004 CHAMBER CASE ACTIVITY
Treated “Air Embolisms” 4
Treated “Decompression Sickness” 3
Re-Treatments 0
Patient Arrived, No-Treatment 10
Call-Ups, Patient Did Not Arrive 9

2005 CHAMBER CASE ACTIVITY
(As of Sept. 8, 2005)
Treated “Air Embolisms” 3
Treated “Decompression Sickness” 1
Re-Treatments 0
Patient Arrived, No-Treatment 11
Call-Ups, Patient Did Not Arrive 20

2006 CHAMBER CASE ACTIVITY
(As of Dec. 31, 2006)
Treated "Air Embolisms": 3
Treated "Decompression Sickness": 9
Re-Treatments: 3
Patient Arrived, No-Treatment: 10
Call-Ups, Patient Did Not Arrive: 25

[Kevrumbo]

The largest single-day Scuba Charity Event in the United States:
http://wrigley.usc.edu/hyperbaric/cd2008/cd2008.htm

For donations, please consider signing up on our Flying Dutchman 2008 Diveboat . . .

Thanks!

[wilbo]

Quote: (Originally Posted by Kevrumbo)

The largest single-day Scuba Charity Event in the United States:
http://wrigley.usc.edu/hyperbaric/cd2008/cd2008.htm

For donations, please consider signing up on our Flying Dutchman 2008 Diveboat . . .

Thanks!

Sorry but due to what seems an ever decreasing dive budget - I feel that my money is better needed by the diving related charities closer to home waters.

Best of luck with it Kev.

[Kevrumbo]

Thanks to all for at least looking at the Chamber Day Website again!

By all means come to Catalina Island for a facilities tour --or even a fun Chamber Orientation Dive to 6Ata!-- should you ever visit the Los Angeles in the future. . .