Yesterday I went diving in the hospital
Although it wasn't the most educational clinical day I've ever had, I got to spend the day with the wound care department of the hospital. Normally, us students are just there to observe in the wound care department. They normally have students just puppy dog someone around as they go change wound vacs, or do dressing changes, or whatever. And normally there's only one student there (if any), but yesterday there was an extra one besides me. So they happened to be doing a hyperbaric "dive" soon and asked if I wanted to join them. Being probably my only opportunity to go on a hyperbaric dive ever, I decided to go. When they found out I had an insulin pump, they said I couldn't go. Then I convinced them to let me go if I just left it off while I was in there. They said, "Sure!" So I did. This is the chamber I went in:
I went in with a tech and one patient. They were very careful about what went in to the chamber. Electronics had to stay out, for fear of ruining them or according to one, the possibility of creating a spark. They checked my clothes to make sure my scrubs weren't all cotton so there wasn't any sparks from the static. Starting a fire in a super-oxygenated high pressure room would be very bad, or blow the thing up (that's bad when that happens). On a medical note, they wanted me to have my blood sugar at least above 100 because they said it drops your blood sugar. Mine was 175 from breakfast still -- they told me to keep it there. I decided to give myself a little insulin just to cover me being off the pump for 2 hours, but not enugh to drop it down much at all over the next two hours. We went in, and they pumped up the pressure and oxygen, and seriously every 2 seconds (or more to avoid pain) for about 5 minutes you had to pop your ears as the pressure went up, or it would start to hurt pretty quick.
It looked kind of like this one on the inside, but bigger, or like this one from the same company. When we got up to the right pressure, and started talking, our voices all sounded a lot higher -- like the inhaling helium thing. The air was warm and thick. Then we kicked back and watched a movie for the next 2 hours which was not of my choosing, nor will it be in the future. But I'm not trying to critique movies here. Their headphones that they used to watch the movie weren't electronic -- they just had hollow air sound tubes connecting to somewhere else that made the sound. When they brought the pressure back down after 2 hours, again, there was lots of popping of the ears and we had to wear oxygen masks and the room got really cold. I checked my blood sugar again and it dropped to 50. They weren't kidding that it drops your blood sugar. So they gave me oreos and they all had some too in sympathy.
They even gave me a water bottle. A nice one.
Not my usual clinical day. I thought it was fun. There is about 12 chairs in their hyperbaric movie theatre. Now we just need them to sell us tickets and do a family night in there or something.
I went in with a tech and one patient. They were very careful about what went in to the chamber. Electronics had to stay out, for fear of ruining them or according to one, the possibility of creating a spark. They checked my clothes to make sure my scrubs weren't all cotton so there wasn't any sparks from the static. Starting a fire in a super-oxygenated high pressure room would be very bad, or blow the thing up (that's bad when that happens). On a medical note, they wanted me to have my blood sugar at least above 100 because they said it drops your blood sugar. Mine was 175 from breakfast still -- they told me to keep it there. I decided to give myself a little insulin just to cover me being off the pump for 2 hours, but not enugh to drop it down much at all over the next two hours. We went in, and they pumped up the pressure and oxygen, and seriously every 2 seconds (or more to avoid pain) for about 5 minutes you had to pop your ears as the pressure went up, or it would start to hurt pretty quick.
It looked kind of like this one on the inside, but bigger, or like this one from the same company. When we got up to the right pressure, and started talking, our voices all sounded a lot higher -- like the inhaling helium thing. The air was warm and thick. Then we kicked back and watched a movie for the next 2 hours which was not of my choosing, nor will it be in the future. But I'm not trying to critique movies here. Their headphones that they used to watch the movie weren't electronic -- they just had hollow air sound tubes connecting to somewhere else that made the sound. When they brought the pressure back down after 2 hours, again, there was lots of popping of the ears and we had to wear oxygen masks and the room got really cold. I checked my blood sugar again and it dropped to 50. They weren't kidding that it drops your blood sugar. So they gave me oreos and they all had some too in sympathy.They even gave me a water bottle. A nice one.
Not my usual clinical day. I thought it was fun. There is about 12 chairs in their hyperbaric movie theatre. Now we just need them to sell us tickets and do a family night in there or something.
Comments
Sounds like an interesting experience. The last time I flew into NYC, my ears would not pop coming down, and they were killing me and I could hardly hear anything. It was very obnoxious!
where the heck is the chamber at uvrmc anyway?
(ps-- did you know that the hospital morg is right next door to the cafeteria?-- I only went there once but it totally grossed me out)
Maybe I don't want to know.
The hyperbaric chamber is down the hallway you have to go to to get to rehab. It's south of the chapel and just south of the south building entrance doors on the parking-lot side. Click on the picture. You can see the west parking lot out of the window kind of.