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| Title: | INVESTIGATION AND CERTIFICATION OF CRITICAL CARE EQUIPMENT FOR USE IN US NAVY HYPERBARIC CHAMBERS |
| Authors: | Lowe, RR
Stanga, DF |
| Keywords: | hyperbaric
equipment
CRITICAL CARE |
| Issue Date: | 2001 |
| Abstract: | BACKGROUND: There is currently no Authorized for Navy USE (ANU) list of hyperbaric-safe medical equipment. Navy hyperbaric patients are generally not critically ill. In unusual situations where ventilators, cardiac monitoring equipment, intravenous fluid pumps, thermometers, active re-warming devices, etc. would enhance patient management and outcome, the Navy is severely limited. NEDU, funded by the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, is evaluating commercially available critical care equipment for use in US Navy hyperbaric chambers. METHODS: Most Navy chambers do not have "through-the hull" penetrations for electrically hazardous equipment. Some equipment may contain materials that release hazardous volatile compounds at depth. These concerns and the equipment's operability have been evaluated to maximum depths of 165 feet of seawater for hyperbaric-safe operation. RESULTS: NEDU has evaluated six ventilators (three selected for further tests), three intravenous pumps (one selected), and a cardiac monitor / pulse oximeter (selected). All of the selected units were found to be hyperbaric-safe. Further testing is required to determine gas, fluid flow characteristics and accuracy at depth. CONCLUSION: NEDU has identified medical equipment that is safe to operate in a hyperbaric environment. We are presently testing delivery accuracy at depth of above equipment. Additional equipment applicable to the hyperbaric environment will continue to be evaluated. |
| Description: | Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, Inc. (http://www.uhms.org ) |
| URI: | http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/986 |
| Appears in Collections: | UHMS Meeting Abstracts
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