Pacific Grove Hyperbaric Chamber Visit

November 19, 2022

By Chris Dutra

On November 19, 2022, Bobby, Marcia, Rocky, Jane, Rob, Lisa, and Chris visited the Pacific Grove Hyperbaric Chamber. Thanks go to Jane for arranging the outing!

The chamber is located in the same building as the fire department and next to the police station in Pacific Grove, and is run solely by volunteer personnel, including nurses, respiratory therapists, EMTs, and doctors. Our tour guide was Meg, a diver and retired RN. She explained the history and operation of the chamber, which treats only diving issues: decompression sickness (DCS), arterial gas embolism (AGE), and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Other chambers are often used to treat wounds and a number of "off label" conditions. These days, however, the chamber is rarely used for diving issues because of better dive training, the use of dive computers, better equipment, slower ascent rates, and safety stops. Most diving related issues are due to diver mistakes rather than equipment malfunction.

While at the chamber several of us bought some cool t-shirts! Afterwards we all enjoyed lunch at a very nice Mexican restaurant nearby. All in all, it was an excellent day and an excellent learning experience.

For the history of the chamber and how to donate, please see the following link and open "about us." http://www.pghyperbaricchamber.org/education/history/

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