Undersea Oxygen Clinic - New Chamber Available in Tampa

[rddvet]

Yep, DAN will refer direct to us if indicated, and the patient will receive a full consultation, and if diagnosed with DCS will get a chamber treatment if needed. Obviously if the patient has a different diagnosis, then we would treat appropriately and if at any time the physician felt that an ER visit, hospitalization, or admission for inpatient intensive care services was required, the patient would be transferred immediately to a local ER. No need to petition DAN per se, they already refer to us. I would encourage everyone to always have their DAN insurance active if they cave dive. We have had patients that have been diving Trimix for years, even instructing. They do a relatively simple dive that they have done hundreds of times before and get bent. Also, have had patients that do 60 ft open water bounce dives too may times trying to spear fish at 50 yrs old, and they get bent. It can happen to anyone. It has happened to me. Also, another reason to have DAN is that often standard health insurance requires pre-authorization for treatment to get covered. DAN does not. If the patient is diagnosed with DCS, they cover it, almost no questions asked. Really unheard of in todays health care environment. worth every penny.

That's perfect to hear. Being in my backyard is even better. In my case I chose to not undergo treatment because I knew the huge headache of dealing with an ER trying to come up with a diagnosis they rarely make, and then sit for hours while they find a chamber that will take me. The benefit didn't outweigh the headache for simple skin bends. On top of that, the fact that I had a headache got DAN jittery and forced their hand to require an ER visit. Your setup would have been perfect for my needs, as I suspect I would have been diagnosed and halfway through a chamber ride in the same amount of time the ER would have ruled out 80 other causes and finally agreed it could be DCS.

[Kevrumbo]

Hi all,
I am the directing physician at the new chamber in Tampa with Joe Dituri, PhD. My name is Farhan Siddiqi, MD. I am an orthopedic spine trauma surgeon and cave CCR trimix diver/hyperbaric doc. Joe is the owner of the chambers and he has 2 additional chamber operators. My team of physicians provides 24/7 emergency coverage for divers (amongst our other services non-related to diving)... yes we take almost every insurance and DAN insurance. Since we are a non-hospital attached chamber, we cannot take severe Type 2 DCS that may require an intensive care unit stay or inpatient admission. However Type 1 and mild-mod type 2, we can handle. . .
Take care all.

With all due respect Dr. Siddiqi, that is the major shortcoming of private stand-alone non-hospital/non-trauma center hyperbaric facilities: they either don't have a multiplace 6 ATA capable Chamber, and/or don't have Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) to treat Type 2 DCS or AGE -as well as the malpractice insurance to cover it all. . .

That you, Dr. Siddiqi, and Joe Dituri are willing to provide some 24/7 treatment options with DAN referral is commendable, but your facility is no where near the complete local emergency solution that the divers need up there in North/Northwest Florida, especially for the worst cases of hyper-acute to critical AGE with near drowning, going into full cardiorespiratory arrest.

---------
Again, there is a Level 1 Trauma Center up there in Gainesville at Shands/Univ. of Florida Medical Center. It also happens to be the state's major public teaching hospital and college of medicine, with a large pool of 24/7 available on-call Resident, Teaching Fellow, and Staff Attending Physicians specializing in Emergency and Hyperbaric Medicine. So why isn't there a state-funded 6 ATA Multiplace Recompression Chamber on the hospital campus available to treat the entire scope of Hyperbaric Patients (from routine outpatient wound care to acute emergency DCI)? WTF-does your Florida Dept of Health know about this crisis up there and what's going on? If not then how come you as a dive community and taxpayers there in North Florida aren't complaining about it and trying to resolve the problem?

This is our 6 ATA Multiplace Recompression Chamber for Dive Casualties only, with ACLS, that's been serving Southern California Divers 24/7 for over the past 40 years:
http://dornsife.usc.edu/hyperbaric/about/

http://dornsife.usc.edu/hyperbaric/

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com...baric-chamber/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GXwbyMuL5OM

[Kelly Jessop]

there is a Level 1 Trauma Center up there in Gainesville at Shands/Univ. of Florida Medical Center. It also happens to be the state's major public teaching hospital and college of medicine, with a large pool of 24/7 available on-call Resident, Teaching Fellow, and Staff Attending Physicians specializing in Emergency and Hyperbaric Medicine[/B]. So why isn't there a state-funded 6 ATA Multiplace Recompression Chamber on the hospital campus available to treat the entire scope of Hyperbaric Patients (from routine outpatient wound care to acute emergency DCI)? WTF-does your Florida Dept of Health know about this crisis up there and what's going on? If not then how come you as a dive community and taxpayers there in North Florida aren't complaining about it and trying to resolve the problem?

This is our 6 ATA Multiplace Recompression Chamber for Dive Casualties only, with ACLS, that's been serving Southern California Divers 24/7 for over the past 40 years:
http://dornsife.usc.edu/hyperbaric/about/

The crisis and Shands chamber has been discussed ad nauseum, but this more likely is a study in hospital economics 101, which has effected the whole state. Where it is great you have a model that works in your region, the pity is comparing your region and Florida is truly apples and oranges. I for one am appreciative that a service has been made available, and although it may not cover all cases, at least there is an option we didn't have before.

[rddvet]

With all due respect Dr. Siddiqi, that is the major shortcoming of private stand-alone non-hospital/non-trauma center hyperbaric facilities: they either don't have a multiplace 6 ATA capable Chamber, and/or don't have Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) to treat Type 2 DCS or AGE -as well as the malpractice insurance to cover it all. . .

That you, Dr. Siddiqi, and Joe Dituri are willing to provide some 24/7 treatment options with DAN referral is commendable, but your facility is no where near the complete local emergency solution that the divers need up there in North/Northwest Florida, especially for the worst cases of hyper-acute to critical AGE with near drowning, going into full cardiorespiratory arrest.

---------
Again, there is a Level 1 Trauma Center up there in Gainesville at Shands/Univ. of Florida Medical Center. It also happens to be the state's major public teaching hospital and college of medicine, with a large pool of 24/7 available on-call Resident, Teaching Fellow, and Staff Attending Physicians specializing in Emergency and Hyperbaric Medicine. So why isn't there a state-funded 6 ATA Multiplace Recompression Chamber on the hospital campus available to treat the entire scope of Hyperbaric Patients (from routine outpatient wound care to acute emergency DCI)? WTF-does your Florida Dept of Health know about this crisis up there and what's going on? If not then how come you as a dive community and taxpayers there in North Florida aren't complaining about it and trying to resolve the problem?

This is our 6 ATA Multiplace Recompression Chamber for Dive Casualties only, with ACLS, that's been serving Southern California Divers 24/7 for over the past 40 years:
http://dornsife.usc.edu/hyperbaric/about/

http://dornsife.usc.edu/hyperbaric/

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com...baric-chamber/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GXwbyMuL5OM

Seriously, you're getting tiresome with the same thing over and over again. Florida has added a new facility that can be helpful in less severe cases. That's a win in my book.

Come start diving in Florida regularly then you can be so critical. You can't compare every diving location in the world to Catalina's exceptional option. This isn't California.

[Michael F]

The crisis and Shands chamber has been discussed ad nauseum, but this more likely is a study in hospital economics 101, which has effected the whole state. Where it is great you have a model that works in your region, the pity is comparing your region and Florida is truly apples and oranges. I for one am appreciative that a service has been made available, and although it may not cover all cases, at least there is an option we didn't have before.

Pardon my ignorance if this item has already been flogged but have Government officials been petitioned to enhance services at Shands to better serve divers?

I suppose the tourism $ created by Cave divers and OW divers in Florida isn't sufficient in their minds to justify the expense.

Kevrumbo, what are your thoughts on how this could be sold if not to support tourism $?

[OFG-1]

Pardon my ignorance if this item has already been flogged but have Government officials been petitioned to enhance services at Shands to better serve divers?

I suppose the tourism $ created by Cave divers and OW divers in Florida isn't sufficient in their minds to justify the expense.

Kevrumbo, what are your thoughts on how this could be sold if not to support tourism $?

Good god man, asking this question is like asking Ross about decompression theory. This has not only been flogged, the dead horse has beaten into a pulp, converted to cheap cat food, fed to the cat, crapped out, uncovered by a turd eating dog, and then thrown up all over the CDF.

[rddvet]

Kevrumbo, what are your thoughts on how this could be sold if not to support tourism $?

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

Please click on his name and just look at the thread responses he's had. It will be the same old tune over and over again. He likes to repeat the same thing over and over.

Go do the same on scubaboard and you can get 50-100 posts containing the same breakdown on his $1000s spent on just helium and luggage overages on his "expedition" to bikini atoll.

Beetlejuice may be fun the first couple times you call him, but eventually he's going to irritate the crap out of you.

[Michael F]

Pardon my ignorance if this item has already been flogged but have Government officials been petitioned to enhance services at Shands to better serve divers?

Kevrumbo, what are your thoughts on how this could be sold if not to support tourism $?

Good god man, asking this question is like asking Ross about decompression theory. This has not only been flogged, the dead horse has beaten into a pulp, converted to cheap cat food, fed to the cat, crapped out, uncovered by a turd eating dog, and then thrown up all over the CDF.

John, have you written any books? Seriously, I like the way you compose. Always graphic and entertaining. Communication can be fun when people make the effort.

The last thing I want to do is aggravate people but if we don't make an effort to find a solution it will never improve. Kev does have a few ideas and maybe one of them could be part of a solution.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

Please click on his name and just look at the thread responses he's had. It will be the same old tune over and over again. He likes to repeat the same thing over and over.

Go do the same on scubaboard and you can get 50-100 posts containing the same breakdown on his $1000s spent on just helium and luggage overages on his "expedition" to bikini atoll.

Beetlejuice may be fun the first couple times you call him, but eventually he's going to irritate the crap out of you.

OK, fair enough. I read every post that Kev has made on CDF (and a few elsewhere) and I saw a reference to contacting various Florida officials concerning funding but I didn't see anything on the concept of funding/support/or promotion of having the chamber at Shands available for divers and/or in a standby capacity.

I will admit that I don't have the answer or possibly enough understanding of the complexity of a solution, however, I believe that if not working towards a solution we are accepting status quo. End of story.

I only visit Cave Country a few times per year at best and do not ever practice anything but conservative diving but Sh1t happens. I hope to invest in a full faced mask and plan to always keep an extra 80 of O2 available.

[Kevrumbo]

Pardon my ignorance if this item has already been flogged but have Government officials been petitioned to enhance services at Shands to better serve divers?

I suppose the tourism $ created by Cave divers and OW divers in Florida isn't sufficient in their minds to justify the expense.

Kevrumbo, what are your thoughts on how this could be sold if not to support tourism $?

John, have you written any books? Seriously, I like the way you compose. Always graphic and entertaining. Communication can be fun when people make the effort.

The last thing I want to do is aggravate people but if we don't make an effort to find a solution it will never improve. Kev does have a few ideas and maybe one of them could be part of a solution.

OK, fair enough. I read every post that Kev has made on CDF (and a few elsewhere) and I saw a reference to contacting various Florida officials concerning funding but I didn't see anything on the concept of funding/support/or promotion of having the chamber at Shands available for divers and/or in a standby capacity.

I will admit that I don't have the answer or possibly enough understanding of the complexity of a solution, however, I believe that if not working towards a solution we are accepting status quo. End of story.

I only visit Cave Country a few times per year at best and do not ever practice anything but conservative diving but Sh1t happens. I hope to invest in a full faced mask and plan to always keep an extra 80 of O2 available.

Michael F, we as American Citizens here, it helps to know how to work with and apply the system (i.e. US Dept of Health & Human Services -getting help in applying for and writing a proposal for a Monetary Grant in Need, for example) -instead of uselessly whining why it can't be done -like the idiots below- because of redtape bureaucracy, state gov't politics and malpractice litigation. See link to a major source of these funds below.

Good god man, asking this question is like asking Ross about decompression theory. This has not only been flogged, the dead horse has beaten into a pulp, converted to cheap cat food, fed to the cat, crapped out, uncovered by a turd eating dog, and then thrown up all over the CDF.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.

Please click on his name and just look at the thread responses he's had. It will be the same old tune over and over again. He likes to repeat the same thing over and over.

Go do the same on scubaboard and you can get 50-100 posts containing the same breakdown on his $1000s spent on just helium and luggage overages on his "expedition" to bikini atoll.

Beetlejuice may be fun the first couple times you call him, but eventually he's going to irritate the crap out of you.

There are numerous rural health grant opportunities aimed at improving the quality of health care in rural areas made available to hospitals in the form of public grants, federally-funded demonstration projects, and private grants. The single best resource for federal funding of rural health grant programs is Grants.gov

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/le...-services.html

Y'all are Federal Taxpayers too -how come you Florida Dive Community Residents are too stupid to know what your resources are???

If you ain't helping to find the solution, then y'all are part of the problem. . .

[rddvet]

-like the idiots below-

how come you Florida Dive Community Residents are too stupid to know what your resources are???

If you ain't helping to find the solution, then y'all are part of the problem. . .

The almighty KevRumbo. Smarter than us dumb rednecks cause he's from california. He's so smart he can google him up something good like.

I can see the bumper stickers now. Instead of keep christ in christmas.................keep kev in kalifornia.