Choosing Hyperbaric Chamber Training Courses

By Janine Hughes


Recompression chambers were associated with diving operations until fairly recently. It was only in the early 1960s that research showed the benefits to certain patients of breathing in pure oxygen at pressures greater than normal atmospheric pressure. It was found that this treatment helped new blood vessels to grow and body tissue and organs received more oxygen, thus promoting the healing process. Today a number of hyperbaric chamber training courses exist for health care professionals who want to be involved with this type of treatment.

Chambers are situated at a number of hospitals and other treatment centers. Some chambers are designed to accommodate a number of patients at the same time. They have two compartments that decompress and compress independently, allowing a multidisciplinary team to go into and out of the chamber without affecting the treatment of the patients. Each person is provided with oxygen via an individualized delivery system. Other chambers are designed to treat only one patient at a time.

Many different problems have been found to improve with this type of treatment. Serious infections, bubbles of air in blood vessels, wounds that will not heal, carbon monoxide poisoning and thermal burns are just some of the problems that can be treated. Treatment protocols establish the optimum amount of time and dosage required for a specific problem.

A number of courses are available for those wanting to learn how to administer the treatment. When selecting such a course, the experience and credentials of those offering the course should also be considered. An accredited course is essential. Other factors that should be considered are course content, teaching methods, cost and length.

Online courses are available and they can provide a solution for those who cannot physically attend lectures. Online courses today are very advanced, offering the latest learning materials and using many tools to enhance learning. They also offer an interactive learning environment with forums, discussion groups and instructors available to help.

The basics covered in such courses are aspects such as operations of chambers, oxygen toxicity, side effects and contraindications. Every aspect of patient care should be covered. It is not enough to just know the theoretical side as the practical aspects are very important. Both should be covered and knowledge should be reinforced with the use of slides, videos and other learning tools.

The type of content covered and the length of a course usually depends on the students it is designed for. Those with much prior experience in medicine will be able to do a basic course easily and progress on to more complex aspects. Physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and others will all be learning at different levels and towards different goals. Certificates are issued on completion of most of the courses.

This type of treatment is proving to be successful, particularly when other methods of treatment are failing. Treatment protocols are being established and more physicians are now trained to prescribe a particular protocol to treat a specific problem. The team then administers the dosage strictly according to this protocol. This therapy needs to be administered with care to avoid toxic side effects and in the hands of a trained team therapy is safe and effective.




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