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Saturday, January 31, 2015

Hyperbaric Chamber Training Courses Available

By Janine Hughes


Recompression chambers were associated with diving operations until fairly recently. It was only in the early 1960s that research showed the benefits to certain patients of breathing in pure oxygen at pressures greater than normal atmospheric pressure. It was found that this treatment helped new blood vessels to grow and body tissue and organs received more oxygen, thus promoting the healing process. Today a number of hyperbaric chamber training courses exist for health care professionals who want to be involved with this type of treatment.

Chambers are situated at a number of hospitals and other treatment centers. Some chambers are designed to accommodate a number of patients at the same time. They have two compartments that decompress and compress independently, allowing a multidisciplinary team to go into and out of the chamber without affecting the treatment of the patients. Each person is provided with oxygen via an individualized delivery system. Other chambers are designed to treat only one patient at a time.

So many different problems have been discovered to benefit from this treatment. It is often used together with other medical and surgical treatments, particularly when they have not been that successful. Wounds that do not heal, thermal burns and crush injuries are just some of the conditions that respond well to treatment. A trained physician determines the safest dose and amount of time necessary to treat each condition.

A number of courses are available for those wanting to learn how to administer the treatment. When selecting such a course, the experience and credentials of those offering the course should also be considered. An accredited course is essential. Other factors that should be considered are course content, teaching methods, cost and length.

Online courses provide a valuable means of achieving further education today for those who may be unable to physically attend a course. One of the fears people have when it comes to taking online courses is of not receiving enough help and having to battle alone to complete assignments. In fact, most of the online courses available today are very interactive and offer easy access to instructors.

Topics covered in the most basic courses will be those such as the workings of chambers, oxygen toxicity as well as contraindications and side effects. Some time should be spent focused on patient care and treatment for specific conditions. Most courses are well structured with a good balance between theory and the practical application. Assessment is often continuous rather than consisting of one exam.

The type of content covered and the length of a course usually depends on the students it is designed for. Those with much prior experience in medicine will be able to do a basic course easily and progress on to more complex aspects. Physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and others will all be learning at different levels and towards different goals. Certificates are issued on completion of most of the courses.

This type of treatment is proving to be successful, particularly when other methods of treatment are failing. Treatment protocols are being established and more physicians are now trained to prescribe a particular protocol to treat a specific problem. The team then administers the dosage strictly according to this protocol. This therapy needs to be administered with care to avoid toxic side effects and in the hands of a trained team therapy is safe and effective.




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