Shands UF Hyperbaric Chamber Closed.

[Skybluewater]

Divers don't provide enough funding to the chamber... they don't get bent enough to need it too often, thankfully.

So there's the conundrum:

An expensive service not needed enough to allow the cost to be covered directly by the recipient of the service. This is where a free market system fails in this situation. I want this diver safety net to continue to exist. Non-divers probably or most likely do not want to subsidize something that they don't care about or participate in.

Generally, wound therapy treatments provide the income to keep the chamber operation solvent financially. And there's the sticky situation of finding certified doctor(s) to be available 24/7. Shands will continue to do the wound therapy from 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday. They say they will abort the wound therapy treatment for an emergency DCS. I have a feeling that this won't be true forever, though. Especially, when DCS treatments become so infrequent that they won't feel comfortable doing them anymore. Divers are not supported at Shands after 4pm and on the weekends and holidays etc.

I think this problem could be solved if the right person with the capacity to do something cared enough to do so.

Right now the people that can make a difference are not cave divers and very few of them are any kind of diver at all. So, they can not relate to us and they don't understand the importance.

It's up to us to let them know, otherwise silence means it's OK.

[imdown]

Maybe instead of spending that $20 some odd million on saving that salt water marsh mouse out in CA we could of used the funds to keep a couple of chambers open. Oh well, if North Central Florida had gotten their hands on that money they would have spent it for more dumpsters and free beachballs for the locals at the springs.

[Cindy]

Shands is not for profit, that means that they have the obligation to treat poor and indigent, cave divers included. They get one hell of a lot of funding from our tax dollars. They are also not prepared to take care of the CO2 emergencies the poor families have during storms and winter. You would not believe how much money Shands spends on some pretty useless stuff. I personally do not want to see one of my friends die in agony, nor do I want to die that way or be crippled.

Today I did a fairly intense dive. We discussed where to go if anyone was bent. Given the reality that any cave diver who does not have DAN will not get emergency transport if the chamber is closed. You will have to pay that up front for transport. Because Jax is only staffed on a few night that leaves Tally as the closest chamber. I understand Orlando has the same situation now. It's not just nights people it's weekends also if I understand this.

Email the County Commission, The tourist BOD, the Hospital, Ginnie springs, the cave diving agencies, your state representative, the Shands BOD, anybody else you can think of. I already have. Just think what an uproar there would be if golfers could only get life saving emergency treatment during bankers hours.

[Cindy]

I also contacted a few news paper people. A nice letter to the editor would be helpful. Power of the press and all that. Spend a little time to save yourself some agony.

[DogDiver]

It's all about the bottom line. Dollars!!! Running a multiplace chamber with three staff members on overtime or call in pay, just doesn't pay the bills. In this cost restraint economy where there are fewer people getting outpatient procedures, cuts have to be made. Do the math, no dollars comming in to a very costly department = department cuts. I don't mean to rain on anyones parade, but writing to elected officials or DAN is futile. The decision has been made and will not change. Perhaps we should look at our dive plans and make them a little more concervative. Don't dive like there is a chamber just 20 minutes away. Dive like most of the rest of technical divers do....concervatively, and plan on a chopper ride if you get bent. I know, it's easy for me to say, working at a chamber. But the ball is in your hands. Dive agressivly, and pay the price...enough said....Ken

[diveconjeff]

When I lived down in West Pam Beach, St. Marys closed the chamber for DCS treatment. As I recall it was within two weeks that the first DCS case was flown to Mercy down in Miami.

Subsequently, the chamber has reopened on albeit on a limited basis. Turns out that a larger picture may have held some sway. Certainly the hospital is not going to make money treating divers. But the thought of a vacation destination that actively wants to promote diving without rapid access to a chamber did promote some bad vibes in the community. After all, the dive charters, the hotels, the restaurants all had stakes of various sizes in the game as well. What do they all have in common? The ability to shape politics. If the econmomic welfare of the region (consituents) is adversely affected it might be a chip to work with.

The pols often have an eye out for a feel good type of win. Specially true if elections are coming up....

[Cindy]

It's all about the bottom line. Dollars!!! Running a multiplace chamber with three staff members on overtime or call in pay, just doesn't pay the bills. In this cost restraint economy where there are fewer people getting outpatient procedures, cuts have to be made. Do the math, no dollars comming in to a very costly department = department cuts. I don't mean to rain on anyones parade, but writing to elected officials or DAN is futile. The decision has been made and will not change. Perhaps we should look at our dive plans and make them a little more concervative. Don't dive like there is a chamber just 20 minutes away. Dive like most of the rest of technical divers do....concervatively, and plan on a chopper ride if you get bent. I know, it's easy for me to say, working at a chamber. But the ball is in your hands. Dive agressivly, and pay the price...enough said....Ken

They are already running the chamber and have been. This is about call and emergency coverage. Weekends are not covered either. Seems to me I remember someone getting bent not long ago. How agressive was that dive? MMM People get hit frequently without cause. Other than being dehydrated or overweight, or over 40. Guess a few of us better only dive on bankers hours.

[Cindy]

When I lived down in West Pam Beach, St. Marys closed the chamber for DCS treatment. As I recall it was within two weeks that the first DCS case was flown to Mercy down in Miami.

Subsequently, the chamber has reopened on albeit on a limited basis. Turns out that a larger picture may have held some sway. Certainly the hospital is not going to make money treating divers. But the thought of a vacation destination that actively wants to promote diving without rapid access to a chamber did promote some bad vibes in the community. After all, the dive charters, the hotels, the restaurants all had stakes of various sizes in the game as well. What do they all have in common? The ability to shape politics. If the econmomic welfare of the region (consituents) is adversely affected it might be a chip to work with.

The pols often have an eye out for a feel good type of win. Specially true if elections are coming up....

I agree, some can sit on your butt and not even hit a key on the computer or do something. I have never been able to do that. Besides, is it going to kill someone to give an opinion? Not having a chamber open on the weekend will in time.This problem in particular is where our agencies need to step up.

[tomhauburn]

Having a close by chamber is in everyone's interest. Our tourism. the right thing to do and it is a mater of life and death if time is important. The are people on this board that would not have survived a longer trip. Just imagine how much not having a chamber is going to cost DAN in long air flights. They set up chambers in foreign lands for less. While I have not been bent the more I cave dive the more likely it will become. I'd hate to think I might die because of the travel distance and the pain it would cause my family. I really understand the pain of the expense but really folks they get one law suit and its more than a year long operating expense. ( Not that I am the suing type ) Or one death that could have been prevented and how much is that publicity going to cost them compared to all the advertising they do being wiped out by an article in a news paper.

[DogDiver]

Look up EMTALA. You will get appropriate and prompt treatment at any ER. There they will stabalize you and determine the best plan of treatment. In DCS that will usually mean a chopper ride to a 24 hour chamber.

Chambers are rembersed only for the dive. Weather it's s 2 hour wound treatment or a 5 hour navy 6 table. The rembersment is the same rate. Again, do the math. One diver tying up a chamber and 3 medical staffers, or 3 wound or burn patients. Sorry just a taste
of reality. Ken