Latest News, Press Releases & Updates
Back to List | Printer Friendly Version
Hyperbaric Chamber to Offer Limited Service Until June
(Hamilton, Bermuda, April 27, 2012)
Bermuda Hospitals Board today announces that its hyperbaric chamber will be offering a limited, emergency-only service for about 8 weeks, starting today, Friday 27 April. The temporary reduction in service is to ensure a safe number of qualified staff is available. The hyperbaric chamber is used in the treatment of decompression diving accidents and can be part of a treatment plan for some wound care patients.
Dr Edward Schultz, Chief of Emergency and Hyperbaric Medicine, comments: “Our primary concern is always patient and staff safety, and we have to have a safe number of qualified, on-site staff to run the hyperbaric service. We have about eight diving accidents per year and two physicians in the community, who have the required hyperbaric qualification, have generously agreed to provide emergency support to our internal staff so that we can keep this emergency treatment available. Although we cannot run the hyperbaric chamber service full time for routine wound care treatments, there are alternative treatments for these patients and our wound care nursing service will continue as before.”
About 50 patients use the Hyperbaric Chamber every year. Treatments can assist in the healing of certain surgical and other types of wounds, for example, diabetic ulcers.
Dr Schultz finishes: “We have a long term plan to establish a qualified, experienced, Bermudian hyperbaric technician team to prevent service interruptions due to staffing. In the meantime, we are in the process of arranging for experienced locums to supplement our internal team, and we expect to be able to offer the full service by the end of June.”
Notes to Editors
About Bermuda Hospitals Board:
The Bermuda Hospitals Board is a quango (quasi autonomous non-governmental organisation) established under the Bermuda Hospitals Board Act, 1970. It has a Bermuda Government-approved Board and a Chief Executive Officer, responsible for King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute. At the heart of both organisations is high quality care to all patients.
With approximately 1,700 employees, the Bermuda Hospitals Board is Bermuda’s second largest employer. King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute are the only healthcare organisations in Bermuda accredited by Accreditation Canada, an independent organisation whose role is to help hospitals examine and improve the quality of care and service they provide to their clients. In addition to providing an extensive list of services for the community, the Bermuda Hospitals Board is part of a referral network that includes some of the world’s leading specialist hospitals.
For more information, please log on to www.bermudahospitals.com.
or contact the Bermuda Hospitals Board Public Relations Department:
Anna Nowak
Bermuda Hospitals Board
Telephone: 441.239.2104
or
Lena Ostroff
Bermuda Hospitals Board
Telephone: 441.239.2171
Health & Wellness Information
