Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The Value Of A Decompression Chamber Service

By Janine Hughes


During the 20th century scuba diving was introduced, allowing frogmen to attain previously unreachable depths. Those who ascended too rapidly sometimes suffered from expanding gas bubbles in the blood, which could cause extreme pain, paralysis, and even death. The solution that still remains in use today is slow equalization of atmospheric pressure accomplished inside a special room. A decompression chamber service helps those facilities run without interruption.

Also called hyperbaric chambers, they were adapted originally from steel boilers in ship power plants. Because they were already meant for high-pressure uses, boilers could be easily redesigned as sealed rooms with a capacity for more than one person. This solution proved successful, and that original concept is still being used, although greatly modified for increased safety.

While there are still some metal cylinders being used, most modern units are made of acrylics, and often closely resemble a treatment room at a hospital. In order to fend off patient boredom, many new facilities contain entertainment systems to pass the time. They are also built to the most stringent fire suppression standards, and are generally computer controlled. In all cases, patient comfort is emphasized.

Those intended for use by a single individual are monoplace chambers, and the air mixture inside is replaced by pure oxygen when pressurized. They are the most common type, and are slightly more expensive than those made with metal frames. They have an excellent safety record and a reputation for reliability, and allow users to be closely monitored and observed medically.

A multiplace chamber can hold more people, and has advanced monitoring capabilities. Many have more than one airlock that allows the room to be completely sealed. Pure oxygen is not piped in generally, but is given to patients individually using a mask or hood, or sometimes through an endotracheal tube. Not filling the entire space with pure oxygen reduces accidental fires. Several people with differing levels of trouble can be treated at one time.

Hospitals today use the same kind of pressurized oxygen to treat patients with problems healing normally. Spending time in a hyperbaric chamber can assist those with open diabetic sores, people who have been badly burned and require skin grafting, and those who have sustained crushing injuries in an accident or are recovering from chemotherapy. The pressure measurably increases the amount of oxygen in the blood.

Because the rooms must always be ready for an emergency, unscheduled down-time is not an option. Service businesses currently exist that not only design and sell this type of facility, but also help maintain them afterward during real-time use. There is an emphasis on reliable, rapid deployment of technicians during a failure, and new computer diagnostic software discovers developing problems from a distance.

These specialized businesses not only keep their products operational, but may also provide targeted training for hospital operators and administrators in centers that replicate the latest procedures and equipment. Their goal is to significantly reduce the time necessary for routine service and upgrades, and to enable all locations using decompression to provide a high level of readiness.




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