Dive into DGMC's hyperbaric oxygen treatment chamber

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Jessica Clark
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  You might think it was a human experiment from a sci-fi movie if you visited David Grant USAF Medical Center's hyperbaric oxygen treatment chamber.

Picture eight to 10 people with plastic bubbles around their heads, each with one blue tube coming out of each side. They sit in chairs lining a dome-like chamber. Pipes and knobs of different shapes and sizes entangle each other like a maze on the walls behind them.

As each person inhales, the bubble shrinks a little and expands again as they exhale. Voices are only heard from the two blue suits standing in the middle as they inspect the chamber and the individuals periodically.

"It's a pressurized chamber that therapeutically oxygenates the cells in your body," said Staff Sgt. Timothy Snell, DGMC medical technician. "Ninety-eight percent of our patients are treated for wound care, but it is also used to treat decompression sickness, diabetic ulcers and carbon monoxide poisoning."

"During the Industrial Revolution, people were building bridges that would go 20 to 40 feet below with divers going with them," he said. "Nitrogen was building up in their bodies, but they weren't getting enough oxygen, resulting in fatalities. This is when they better developed the hyperbaric oxygen treatment that we have today."

Routine patients usually sit in the chamber for two hours while they breathe oxygen through an inflatable plastic device that is placed over their heads, he said.

"But treating decompression sickness can last five or more hours," he said. "I've been in there as long as eight."

Hyperbaric treatments are nicknamed "dives" because they're mimicking the pressure scuba divers experience when under 33 or more feet of sea water. This is also equivalent to 2.2 atmospheres of pressure, Snell said.

The hyperbaric technicians are interviewed for their positions to ensure they have the appropriate experience in a field where things can go wrong fast.

"I'm finishing up my three year rotation here," said Snell. "It's a privilege to know that I'm helping people directly with their healing process."