Naval Base Guam diver locker demonstrate patient care

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Chelsy Alamina | 150225-N-ZB122-007 SANTA RITA, Guam (February 25, 2015) Divers assigned to the U.S. Naval Base Guam Dive Locker monitor the patient during a demonstration for patient care due to decompression illness in the hyperbaric chamber. U.S. Naval Base Guam is home to the only recompression chamber in the region and provides treatment to military and civilian personnel from Guam and the Micronesia Islands. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chelsy Alamina/Released)  

SANTA RITA, GUAM

02.25.2015

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Chelsy Alamina 

Defense Media Activity - Guam

SANTA RITA, Guam- U.S. Naval Base Guam (NBG) is home to the only hyperbaric chamber within the Micronesia Islands that accepts and treats military and civilian patients with dive-related illnesses.

The NBG dive locker conducted an emergency scenario consisting of a diver going into cardiac arrest in a hyperbaric environment simulated in a depth of 60 feet of sea water Feb. 25.

“We are trying to establish clear rules and guidelines of how to treat a patient until we can safely get our patient and our dive medical technician, which is the inside tender for the patient and the first responder, to the surface so that we can administer definitive care such as defibrillation,” said Lt. Kevin Wright, NBG Undersea Medical Officer.

Signs of decompression sickness and arterial gas embolisms, the clogging of arteries from bubbles in the bloodstream, can be recognized within ten minutes of reaching the surface after a dive. Symptoms can range from elbow pain or itching skin to severe neurological damage such as paralysis; some patients may even become unconscious.

The average time for one treatment in the chamber is approximately four hours and 45 minutes. The dive medical technician, or inside tender that is in constant contact with the patient, monitors and documents their vitals, blood pressure, respiratory and heart rate and ensures that they are comfortable and hydrated working round-the-clock to try and warrant an asymptomatic outcome.

According to Wright, being able to successfully treat a patient is the keystone in the extensive training and exercises performed by the dive locker, and divers assigned to the locker must always be prepared to handle any situation that is presented.

“Until you actually run through a simulated patient care environment, you can’t really know where your problems are going to be it really helps you identify issues in your process so you can fix them,” said Wright. “You don’t want to be practicing for the first time when you have a very sick patient on your hands.”

Statistically, this chamber is the most active of all in the U.S. Navy combined. In the past 40 years, there have been 472 documented cases of dive injuries recorded for NBG and averaging three to five treatments a month for the past two years.

The NBG dive locker recommends all divers to confer with their local hospital in the event they experience any symptoms after a dive.

For more information on AFN Pacific and RMBG Guam, visit www.afnpacific.net and www.dvidshub.net/unit/AFN-Guam.

• Date Taken: 02.25.2015
• Date Posted: 02.26.2015 00:03
• Story ID: 155430
• Location: SANTA RITA, GU