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When
it comes to the bends this chamber’s a gas
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LEUT
Carolyn Jones with the team at the Hyperbaric Chamber at
SUMU HMAS Penguin.
Photo by ABPH Kelvin Hockey.
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A 36-year-old
woman who went “house hunting” in the depths of the Muswellbrook
Dam on Father’s Day ended up in a recompression chamber at
HMAS Penguin, suffering the bends.
A few days earlier a woman, 26 from Wollongong had also suffered
the bends and been treated in the chamber.
The incidents were clear examples of the value of hyperbaric chambers
held by the Royal Australian Navy and excellence of the RAN personnel
who operate them.
RAN doctor, LEUT Carolyn Jones of the Submarine and Underwater Medicine
Unit at HMAS Penguin was in charge of the treatment of both women.
“When the Muswellbrook Dam was built and the water dammed up,
homes, including a mansion, were covered with water,” she explained.
“Diving in the dam looking for the buildings is now a recreation
for the local people.
“The Muswellbrook woman did a ‘not provocative’ dive
to 14 metres looking for a building.
“When driving home with her husband she complained of pain
in her shoulder and tingling. Her memory was slightly affected and
she also had loss of balance,” LEUT Jones said.
“Her husband drove her to the Muswellbrook Hospital where she
was assessed and our section contacted.
“A Westpac helicopter collected her from Muswellbrook and flew
her to the football field here at Penguin.
“A Navy ambulance transported her down to our ten person chamber,
whilst her husband came to Sydney by car,” LEUT Jones said.
Treatment began with the diver being compressed for 4 hours and
45 minutes to a depth of 18 metres (2.8 atmospheres).
LS Scott Creighton accompanied her inside the cylinder, whilst LSMU
Nicole Eitzen led the sailors outside the chamber.
During that period the diver breathed in pure oxygen with staggered
five-minute breaks when she breathed air.
Upon completion she was examined and then returned to the chamber
for two hours at nine metres.
She showed no symptoms when she emerged, but spent the night in
a ward at the Balmoral Naval Hospital.
“The woman will not be able to dive again until she comes back
in October for another checkup,” LEUT Jones said.
The second case involved a Wollongong diver aged 26 who suffered
bends symptoms after a dive in the ocean.
She too complained of tingling. The woman had experienced a similar
incident in June.
“Initial contact was made with the hyperbaric chamber team
at the Prince of Wales Hospital,” LEUT Jones said.
“However the chamber was in use treating medical patients and
we were asked if we could care for the diver.
“She was driven to Penguin, arriving about 5pm and treatment
began.
“POMED Scott Walker entered the chamber with her. POCD Warren
Dean was in charge of the people outside.
“She received the same treatment and times as the Muswellbrook
diver and also spent a night in the hospital.
“She too cannot dive until she returns for a checkup in October,”
LEUT Jones said.
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