CO Poisoning: Is HBOT Still The Gold Standard?

One of our chief missions is to raise awareness and help increase 24/7 access to HBOT chambers at emergency rooms for victims of thermal burns, smoke inhalation, and carbon monoxide poisoning. (Review our past coverage here.) So we were especially pleased to discover a new posting of a 2007 talk by Dr Fred Fiesseler of Morristown (NJ) Memorial Hospital. Drawn from case studies and a review of the medical literature, Fiesseler's presentation reaffirms our commitment to this mission. To listen to the audio file follow this link:

Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Still the Standard for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?

Going forward we will be identifying ER-accessible chambers in our treatment center directory and partnering with emergency medical associations and innovative companies like Healthagen to spread this lifesaving information far and wide.

Of course some political activism may be in order, too, and count on HyperbaricLink to be there.

Gulf Oil Rig Blast: Coast Guard Divers, Robots Team Up

Burnt and sunk a week ago in 5,000 feet of water 50 miles off the Mississippi Delta, the Deepwater Horizon oil platform has presented huge challenges for first responders and cleanup crews. US Coast Guard pilots and EMT divers (see video below) braved the flames to evacuate 17 injured and return 100 other workers to their families. Days of nonstop searching turned up none of the 11 missing and presumed dead.

Now robot submarines the size of pickup trucks are leading the effort to plug the well and prevent an even bigger environmental disaster, as the oil slick oozes toward the Louisiana coast. Working at depths where no diver could possibly go, the robots bring spotlights, still and video cameras (Coast Guard photo above), and diamond-edged sawblades to the deepwater scene.

Hyperbaric emergency preparedness plays a small but important role in such a tragedy. Victims reportedly suffered burns and smoke inhalation. Search-and-rescue teams, too, face serious risks of burns, smoke inhalation, and decompression illness. We've yet to learn where the injured were evacuated and how they are being treated.

Mixed Martial Arts: From Octagon Cage To HBOT Chamber

Punches, kicks, elbows, knees—mixed martial artists take more physical punishment in one 5-minute round than most athletes endure in a lifetime, and today's top cage fighters are helping popularize hyperbaric oxygen therapy for rapid rehabilitation and superfitness training.

In Saturday night's pay-per-view bout, HBOT maven Urijah "The California Kid" Faber (photo left) was gunning to reclaim his featherweight championship title from Brazilian phenom Jose Aldo. Faber lost by unanimous decision. But by 4 a.m. the next morning he was already telling his 40,000 Twitter followers he was in the hyperbaric chamber to reduce swelling in his badly bruised left thigh. In 2009 he had overcome a fractured hand and climbed back into contention with the help of hometown physicians at the Hyperbaric Oxygen Clinic of Sacramento. Our hats off to the man.

Veteran cagefighter and broadcaster Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg (photo right) uses his personal chamber to enhance his training methods and is endorsed by OxyHealth Portable Hyperbarics. The leading manufacturer of mild hyperbaric (mHBOT) chambers has sold over 7,000 units in the last 10 years.

Accelerated healing. Superhealth and fitness. Elite athletics. Personal hyperbarics. Once more we find common clinical practice running at a breakneck pace ahead of the scientific evidence, and the mainstream HBOT market struggling to catch up with a whole new generation of healthcare consumers, inspired by celebrities and moving fast in social networks. It's not the blood sport for everybody. But we can't seem to look away.

Wright-Patterson AFB Opens Chamber To Public

Kettering Health Network in suburban Dayton today announced that its members now enjoy access to hyperbaric physicians and chambers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Home to one of the nation's largest multiplace HBOT chambers, with a capacity of 22 people, Wright-Patt is a leader in pressurized medicine for military aviators and is accredited, with Distinction, by the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). KHN also provides hyperbaric woundcare in monoplace chambers at Kettering Medical Center.

As we grow and commercialize our treatment center directories, HyperbaricLink.com will offer free Profile+Plus listings to all US military clinics, whether open to civilians or restricted to servicemembers and veterans. Let's keep 'em flying!

Tiger Woods: New (Unpaid) HBOT Spokesman

In his pre-Masters press conference the golf great, by way of denying any illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs, says hyperbaric oxygen "helps you heal faster." Okay. Apparently it helped Tiger rehab from knee surgery and an achilles tear in 2008-2009. And he's certainly not alone. We've been following a long line of top athletes, from Australian cricketers to Superbowl stars to mixed martial artists, who swear by HBOT for speedier recovery. More soon.

But we're of a mind that HBOT is also a performance-enhancing therapy, akin to blood doping and this plasma-spinning thing Tiger's into. Even horse racing officials ban animals from competition for days or weeks following hyperbaric treatments. (Read our horse stories HERE.) We're especially fascinated by the rise of portable/personal hyperbarics for rehabilitation, performance, superhealth, fitness, anti-aging, wellness, and a host of other lifestyle applications.

Look for related blogposts and conditions pages as we dig and collect new HyperbaricLinks on this subject.

TBI: Pentagon Study To Commence 2011

A clinical trial to include 300 soldiers at 5 sites over 18 months, all coordinated by the Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health & Brain Injury, is more good news for military veterans suffering traumatic brain injury (TBI) and another shot in the arm for evidence-based hyperbaric medicine. Read more about the study at Army Times.

P.S. Please accept this short PSA as our apology for neglecting to celebrate Brain Injury Awareness month in March.