Lack of Chamber volunteers sends diver 200km - Ireland

[DandyDon]

Rescued diver flown 200km due to lack of staff in Irish hospital

A diver suffering from the bends had to be flown to the North as there was no staff to operate a special decompression facility here, it emerged on Sunday.

University Hospital Galway confirmed its hyperbaric chamber was not available because there were no volunteers available to run it.

The diver got into difficulty on May 8 and was showing symptoms of decompression sickness after completing a dive in the Union Hall area of Cork.

He had to be flown more than 200km to a hospital in Craigavon, Co Armagh, for treatment. A University Hospital Galway spokesman said: “The hyperbaric service is provided by staff who volunteer and are rostered depending on availability.

“Unfortunately, it was not possible to facilitate treatment on Tuesday 8th May as no volunteers were available in the timeframe required.”

The Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter was requested to airlift the diver to hospital.

However, the crew had to land at Shannon Airport first to refuel before continuing to over the border.

They also had to fly no higher than 500ft, because of the patient’s condition, meaning it had to take a circuitous route to Craigavon that allowed them to avoid all areas of high ground.

An Irish Coast Guard spokesman said: “There is one recompression chamber in the Republic of Ireland on an ‘as available’ basis.

"Alternatives are in the UK if Galway is unavailable.”

 

[iain/hsm]

A man is worthy of his wages.

And the unforeseen consequence of expecting volunteers to work for free
Notwithstanding the £5000 an hour cost to call up for the free chopper ride
that gets paid for by others.

Shame it is the European divers that have to suffer.
Still could be worse IWD I hear is the new alternative medical hyperbaric treatment.
The strong are saying nothing.

 

[Kevrumbo]

A man is worthy of his wages.

A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world to his fellows. . .

And the unforeseen consequence of expecting volunteers to work for free
Notwithstanding the £5000 an hour cost to call up for the free chopper ride
that gets paid for by others.

We have always had volunteers here -most of them active divers- to run our Recompression Chamber 24/7 & 365, as part of the support chain of professional Emergency and Search & Rescue (SAR) Services provided by taxpayer-funded Los Angeles County Government and US Coast Guard for diving casualties in nearshore/offshore Southern California. 200km and 90min ETA for treatment at our stand-by emergency Recompression Chamber on Catalina Island is about the maximum range from the farthest divesites in our area of operation.

Shame it is the European divers that have to suffer.
Still could be worse IWD I hear is the new alternative medical hyperbaric treatment. . .

That's called Oxygen In-Water-Recompression, "O2 IWR"; a last resort option that dive accident victims with DCI might have to consider with a properly prepared kit & protocol beforehand, for remote third-world areas and regions with absolutely no reliable 24/7 stand-by Chambers like the above Ireland example, and like Northern Florida Cave Diving Country -as further shameful example.

You have to garner charitable and volunteer assistance from a large generous local scuba diving community, together with governmental professional SAR services, in order to make a 24/7 stand-by Emergency Recompression Chamber with Advanced Cardiorespiratory Life Support work for diving accident casualties only.

Volunteer > USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

. . .The strong are saying nothing. . .

They are saying "nothing" because they don't know any better. . .

This has been the model for successfully running a volunteer Recompression Chamber -for the past forty years:
How the Chamber is Funded > USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences