Wayward Son
Contributor
There is only one facility in the gulf panhandle region & it's not in FL, it's the Springhill Medical Center in Mobile AL, 1 mile west of where I work & am sitting right now.
The next closest one is about 450 miles from here.
Anyone planning a trip to dive the Oriskany needs to know where this is, make sure their dive buddy knows about it & preferably have an action plan in the dive kit that can easily be found with instructions on what to do in the event you're bent.
The Coast Guard does not regard a bent diver as an emergency. It's not their responsibility. They may send a boat out to get you but it's unlikely that they will get you back to shore any sooner than your own boat can. And they will not send you to Mobile, they will hand you off to a local ER in Pensacola who will spend at least an hour working you up & determining what's wrong with you before transporting you. And if they send you to Springhill, it will be at least an hour's ride in an ambulance & when you get there, Springhill will then do their own workup on you. I have this directly from the man who runs the chambers & treats bent divers there. You will not be referred to Springhill & go straight into a chamber when you get there, so you might as well just go their first if there is no other condition requiring immediate attention prior to transport.
Unless you're in need of immediate stabilization, the fastest possible way to get you inside a chamber is to get back to your launch point ASAP (while on O2 if available), have someone drive you directly to Springhill Medical Center, 3719 Dauphin St, Mobile AL
(251) 344-9630
and to the ER there. They will then do a workup on you & if you need to be in a chamber they will get you in one (they have 2).
Call DAN at the earliest opportunity in this sequence & get them rolling on their end.
There are other chambers, including at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. They will not treat divers, period.
If you dive up here & need a chamber, Mobile is it. They have 2 chambers, each can hold up to 2 patients.
Fortunately there really aren't that many divers who get hit, they treat maybe 8 divers per year on average. But it's also not a good region to need one in due to the lack of facilities any where else near by.
The next closest one is about 450 miles from here.
Anyone planning a trip to dive the Oriskany needs to know where this is, make sure their dive buddy knows about it & preferably have an action plan in the dive kit that can easily be found with instructions on what to do in the event you're bent.
The Coast Guard does not regard a bent diver as an emergency. It's not their responsibility. They may send a boat out to get you but it's unlikely that they will get you back to shore any sooner than your own boat can. And they will not send you to Mobile, they will hand you off to a local ER in Pensacola who will spend at least an hour working you up & determining what's wrong with you before transporting you. And if they send you to Springhill, it will be at least an hour's ride in an ambulance & when you get there, Springhill will then do their own workup on you. I have this directly from the man who runs the chambers & treats bent divers there. You will not be referred to Springhill & go straight into a chamber when you get there, so you might as well just go their first if there is no other condition requiring immediate attention prior to transport.
Unless you're in need of immediate stabilization, the fastest possible way to get you inside a chamber is to get back to your launch point ASAP (while on O2 if available), have someone drive you directly to Springhill Medical Center, 3719 Dauphin St, Mobile AL
(251) 344-9630
and to the ER there. They will then do a workup on you & if you need to be in a chamber they will get you in one (they have 2).
Call DAN at the earliest opportunity in this sequence & get them rolling on their end.
There are other chambers, including at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola. They will not treat divers, period.
If you dive up here & need a chamber, Mobile is it. They have 2 chambers, each can hold up to 2 patients.
Fortunately there really aren't that many divers who get hit, they treat maybe 8 divers per year on average. But it's also not a good region to need one in due to the lack of facilities any where else near by.