Divers News

Pharmacological treatment.

Please read these very short clips from very well respected and 'peer reviewed' publications abroad in both the Hyperbaric community and Diving community. Hopefully you will understand why after two years pleading in writing with doctors in DAN Europe to stop this latest pharmaceutical thrust... WE gave up as we simply can't afford to be embroiled in possible legal action at a future date. "It's nothing personal...Just business"!

We have withdrawn our services from DAN Europe as at the 27th March 2009.

Regards, Des Quigley.

See ‘Deeper into Diving’ J. Lippmann and Dr. S. Mitchell, the second and latest edition, page 82, Ref; ‘Aspirin’ for clarification. ….

“… And in the absence of definitive data describing benefit, the current view is that aspirin administration cannot be recommended.”

Also see, ‘Diving Medicine for Scuba Divers’, Dr. C. Edmonds, Dr. B. McKenzie and Dr. R. Thomas…. Chapter 16-3, Drugs.

“Aspirin as a first aid measure has not been demonstrated to be of value in DCS. It may interfere with blood clotting and cause haemorrhage – especially in the stomach. Haemorrhage is already a major complication in spinal cord and inner ear DCS.”

We will not treat divers period, rather than get involved in, what we and international ‘Best practice’ consider… inappropriate and "Controversial" treatment!

Have a GOOD look at just WHO said this….

Ref:

“Although conclusive scientific evidence suggesting the use of any pharmacological treatment other than oxygen is missing, the administration of adjunctive fluid therapy is considered very important and generally recommended by the diving –hyperbaric medicine specialists in Europe, whereas the role of other drugs, such as steroids and anticoagulants, although widely used without any apparent adverse effect, is still controversial”.

A. Marroni, MD, President, Dan Europe. Decompression Illness -Final report,

The ECHM Collection, Volume 1. Best Publishing Company, 2005.

“If the arteries supplying blood to the spinal cord becomes blocked, an area of the spinal cord is deprived of oxygen due to decreased blood flow. Without oxygen to the spinal cord, nerve cells idle; when they receive oxygen the neurons can fire up again.

If the nerve cells are without oxygen for 10-15 minutes, they may fire back up, but ultimately trigger their own suicide routines, a process known as preprogrammed cell death or apoptosis. Symptoms may come and go, but the process is irreversible.” …. Dr. Arthur Dick.

‘Evidence presented at trial established that full recovery was a virtual certainty with timely treatment in a hyperbaric chamber within two hours of the onset of symptoms. The chances for full recovery would decline over time, however, so that after four hours an untreated bends patient would more likely than not sustain permanent injuries.

Rawson was on shore within 90 minutes, at which time he was met by ambulance and evaluated by emergency medical technicians. The patient was ready for transport within another 10 minutes but, rather than take him to an available hyperbaric chamber at the Navy Air Station less than 1-1.2 miles away, Baptist personnel ordered the ambulance to wait for a Life Flight helicopter transport.

In addition to the delays occasioned by the decision to use Life Flight, Baptist then decided to transport Rawson to its emergency room where there was no chamber.

Finally, Baptist’s decision to transport Rawson to Panama City, Florida for hyperbaric treatment resulted in Rawson not entering a chamber within the critical four hour period. Rawson was left with paraplegia and brought suit against Baptist’…. Successfully……

"No one, not a president or a doctor, is above the law. Mr. Levin went on to tell the jury that his whole case was made possible by the fortuitous discovery of a Navy document which proved that Baptist knew the Navy chamber was available for Rawson: Something happened that said, the good guys are going to win this time."

CITE: 674 So.2d 777 BAPTIST HOSPITAL, INC., Appellant, v. Malcolm Keith RAWSON, Appellee.

DOCKET, COURT: No. 95-2237. District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

DATE, SOURCE: April 24, 1996, Filed. Rehearing Denied June 19, 1996. Released for Publication June19, 1996.

We are only covered by insurance to treat DAN insured divers…by DAN Europe Insurances.

We are treating DAN insured divers only until the Governmental Hyperbaric Chamber is finally commissioned and then it’s into the West!

See ‘Deeper into Diving’ J. Lippmann and Dr. S. Mitchell, the second and latest edition, page 82, Ref; ‘Aspirin’ for clarification. ….

“… And in the absence of definitive data describing benefit, the current view is that aspirin administration cannot be recommended.”

Also see, ‘Diving Medicine for Scuba Divers’, Dr. C. Edmonds, Dr. B. McKenzie and Dr. R. Thomas…. Chapter 16-3, Drugs.

“Aspirin as a first aid measure has not been demonstrated to be of value in DCS. It may interfere with blood clotting and cause hemorrhage – especially in the stomach. Hemorrhage is already a major complication in spinal cord and inner ear DCS.”

We have no contract, association or arrangement with any other insurer or organisation.

If you have read or been told anything other than the above, somebody is playing games with your life or limbs. We would suggest you contact those people and clarify the situation (facts not Chinese whispers) as 10 of you on average, are going to get ‘Bent’ this year.

And now the scary bit…. The medical terms we have seen in here given to the ‘Bends’….

Dengue Fever, Drug Mule, Pulled Muscle, Complex Migraine (our favorite), Inner Ear Infection, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, Neurosis, “An Irritation” and the winner is… the one that 36 doctors on a flight agreed on…. Pneumothorax! I kid you not, 36 of them on a return flight from a medical conference! Just how unlucky can a ‘bent’ diver be?

We have informed DAN Europe that we will not be treating DAN customers as and from the re-opening of the Governmental Unit in Galway… whenever that rescheduled event actually happens. We and our Hyperbaric Medical advisers don’t view ‘Aspirin’ as an appropriate treatment either for DCI or DCS.

We will not treat divers period, rather than get involved in, what we consider… inappropriate treatment!

To that end we have continued to treat ‘Bent’ Divers (who were told by their insurance company to take ‘Aspirin’) with the only recognised intervention for DCI or DCS…. HYPERBARIC OXYGEN… Ref. Merck Manual, p. 2626, 18^th edition, …at our own expense yet again, until complete resolution.

This is a private facility. NOBODY has a ‘Right of passage’ in here… (are you CFT types getting this?) regardless of what insurance you think you have with a third party. DAN Europe is also a third party.

You as divers are more than welcome to test our resolve before the courts…. But please, please, don’t bet your life or limbs on it. You belong to the ‘System’ now or indeed will, very soon!

N.B. For the non diving public, please allow me to clarify this…. Divers get a little bit ‘Bent’ every time they go diving. It’s called ‘Sub-Clinical’ and is generally no harm whatsoever….. if they behave themselves. Not flying too soon, not drinking alcohol, etc., etc., but they do and ‘Foreign Matter’ gets trapped the wrong side of the blood brain barrier* and there is a very short time window to solve the problem. It’s called the ‘Oxygen Window’ which is three hours in duration approximately and after this time…. It’s in God’s hands and the unfortunate staff of the Hyperbaric Facility they attend. There are no other interventions… Chemical or otherwise. Thank you Prof. Philip James, Wolfson Hyperbaric Medicine Unit, Ninewalls Medical School, University of Dundee.

*The blood-brain barrier is a metabolic or cellular structure in the
central nervous system that restricts the passage of various chemical
substances and microscopic objects (e.g. bacteria) between the
bloodstream and the neural tissue itself, while still allowing the
passage of substances essential to metabolic function (e.g. oxygen).

For the full text, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood-brain_barrier

CFT members have been *stopped from attending The National Hyperbaric Centre who were treating all uninsured divers FREE… for years previously… Since June 1996 to be exact. At no time was any diver EVER asked for a fee. They were always asked to make a voluntary donation to:

* “CFT divers are only to attend a hyperbaric facility attached to a Hospital…”

“If you are not happy with the treatment your husband is getting at the National Hyperbaric Centre, you can go to CFT’s Hyperbaric Expert….. in NORWAY”!

We really have no comment to make on this line of insulting stupidity save we are now distancing ourselves from all current members of CFT regardless whether they have DAN insurance or not.

And finally, to the member of the Technical Committee (TC) that stated at a recent T.C. meeting…..

“He’s a businessman, if you turn up with ten grand in your hand, they will treat you”

We take latest remark as being absolutely outrageous. A similar feculent remark by a past member of the Executive Committee several years ago about the same “Businessman” eventually cost the Irish tax payer Euro 3.5 million in legal fees before the Irish Admiralty / High Court.

We wish CFT members well looking for a chamber attached to an hospital on this Island that will not send them on to DDRC in the UK to be finally resolved within the normal two year period. Ref: Google…. David Pelly DCS

Time… One of the elements that can be FATAL to a compromised Diver…. The other one is stupidity which there would appear to be an over abundance of….

AND JUST THEN….. “When you thought it was safe to get back in the water”….

There is currently a deeply and passionately researched paper posted on the CFT web site, composed by a CFT Moiteur Instructor, clarifying the status and availability of chambers on this Island. In this paper there are erroneous references to the status of some Doctors in University Hospital Cork (UHC), who intimated to the author that they had ‘Hyperbaric’ qualifications which they received in Gosport, UK.

The author of this ‘paper’ was informed through Professor Philip James, Dept. of Hyperbaric Medicine, University of Dundee, who lectures in Gosport, that the Gosport facility did not and has not ever done ‘Hyperbaric’ courses. When clarification of these alleged qualifications was sought from one of the doctors in University Hospital Cork…. They, the doctors turned out to be qualified from Gosport to conduct ‘Diving Medicals’! …. How dangerous is this?.... And ‘They’ are not alone!

The author immediately changed his first draft paper to avoid any legal ‘Issues’ with it later, should somebody present at UHC on foot of this erroneous information, or indeed the Naval Base, some 37 kilometres away from UHC with DCI, labouring under the illusion that there was actually somebody qualified in Hyperbaric Medicine at UHC (An extra and separate two year medical diploma) and sent on the ‘Final Draft’ paper to CFT.

WHICH PAPER WAS ACCIDENTLEY (they will no doubt claim) POSTED ON THE WEB SITE? THE ERRONEOUS ONE!

Now the real question is just who CFT are going to blame on this latest one…. The traditional ‘Tea Lady’ or ‘Messenger Boy’ perhaps?