Transportation and Timing
If you are a hospital inpatient, the hospital staff will schedule transportation for you. Outpatients (not in the hospital) will need to make their own arrangements for transportation You will be instructed when to arrive for wound care prior to the treatment dive, if applicable. If wound care is not required, you should arrive no less than 30 minutes prior to the scheduled dive to allow time to change into dive clothing and take care of other administrative tasks. Parking spaces have been reserved in our lot for outpatients who drive to the chamber. You will receive a HBO patient identification placard for display in your windshield when using these parking spaces.
Preparation For Treatment
Preparation for hyperbaric therapy involves several concepts:
a) You should not use any tobacco products while receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Smoking prevents full oxygen transport by the blood, and also decreases blood vessel size.
b) Ensure the hyperbaric physician knows about all of the medications you are taking, and
if any of those medications are changed.
If you become ill (cold, sinus congestion, diarrhea, nausea, swollen feet, difficulty
breathing, chest pains, low blood sugar, etc) during your weeks of HBO and have to cancel
a treatment dive, please contact us as soon as possible (someone is in our facility by
0630). If the problem is serious, please have the treating physician contact us to discuss
your progress and plans for returning to the chamber. If the illness is only mild, ensure
you discuss it with one of our doctors before proceeding with your treatment that day.
If you are diabetic we will check your sugar level immediately before the dive because
hyperbaric oxygen can increase the effect of insulin on lowering your blood sugar. Your
sugar level should be 120 or above before entering the treatment chamber.