The inhospitable conditions and varied scenarios under which diving personnel operate, increase the likelihood that safe diving practices cannot always be maintained. Special Operations often require personnel to travel to remote destinations with only minimal equipment and resources.
Divers returning to the surface, who have been exposed to increased ambient pressures may experience Decompression Sickness (DCS), and a lack of staged decompression stops may also cause Arterial Gas Embolism (AGE).
The presence of a Hyperlite at the surface provides immediate first aid to solve diving and decompression related injuries, especially in remote locations. This adds to the confidence of those under pressure. This versatile and extremely compact system with its capability for quick deployment, and early transport under pressure, when available and necessary, has saved many lives where previously personnel, if not treated quickly, would likely face imminent death.
Scenarios also include submarine escape and rescue, where submariners returning to the surface are likely to be suffering from DCS or AGE and will require immediate on-scene recompression and where the need arises to fly immediately following a dive, make it an invaluable item for first response in such circumstances.
Battlefield Medicine
The threat of Improvised Explosive Devices or IED’s and other explosive blasts are dangers that soldiers are exposed to on a daily basis in Afghanistan and at other military hotspots. Furthermore, even the operators of powerful weaponry may expose them to similar shockwaves. These all appear to be some of the likely causes of the development of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) in the weeks or months to come.
Double blind hyperbaric studies of TBI sufferers are currently underway to establish whether chronic TBI can be successfully treated using HBOT at low increased atmospheric pressure (around 1.5 ata), which, if successful, will offer hope to the hundreds of thousands of TBI sufferers.
The following article supports this argument“In January, 2010 a peer reviewed journal published a case series report of two brain injured airmen who were casualties of an IED in Iraq. Both were going to be medically boarded out of service. Their military physician prescribed Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT 1.5tm). Both of them recovered and they were both retained on active duty”.
The application of the SOS Hyperlite, with its higher pressure of 33.5 psi, 75fsw, 2.3bar (3.3ata) or 23msw makes it suitable in the battlefield for treating acute blast injuries, although its use in that field remains as yet unproven, at least in the US.
Further research will need to be conducted to validate the present data to establish whether more aggressive hyperbaric treatment (likening blast injury to an air/gas embolism for example) will benefit acute traumatic blast injury at an early stage after such exposures and before the initial symptoms appear to have disappeared. The treatment of air or gas embolism is an approved US medical condition, accepted by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, as are severe blood loss anaemia, crush injuries, acute traumatic ischemia and acute thermal burn injuries, all experienced in battlefield medicine .
A Hyperlite based at military airfield medical centres where high flying aircraft operate has proven to be an important asset when pilots return from missions having lost pressure in their cockpits. Such sudden pressure losses can cause serious altitude sickness/ decompression sickness and pilots are likely to return to the ground in very poor condition. Such examples include pilots of U2 bombers, which can fly over 70,000 ft. If cabin pressure is for any reason lost, pilots are likely to suffer from Decompression (this could be Explosive or Gradual) before Hypoxia sets in. Similar scenarios have been known to effect the crew of AC130 aircrafts, who are exposed to rapid changes in pressure as parachute deliveries are pushed of the back of the aircraft.
It is absolutely essential that these pilots or crew members receive Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) as soon as is possible in order to maximise their chances of survival. Not only will this aid pilots who are suffering from Decompression Sickness, but this will also rapidly re-oxygenate the bloodand therefore removing Hypoxia.
The Hyperlite is not only extremely portable and versatile, but is also rapidly deployable and can be fully operational within 15 minutes. This therefore maximises their patients chances of survival and a full recovery.
Hyperlite at Brooks US Air Force Base
Aeromedical Evacuation
The use of the SOS Hyperlite in Aeromedical Evacuation is of considerable interest to medical professionals.The SOS Hyperlite (or EEHS to most Military personnel) has long been used, not only as a treatment system, but also for Transfer-Under-Pressure (TUP), transporting injured patients, whilst continuing to deliver 100% Oxygen at above ambient pressure throughout. Whether they be special forces, coastguard, commercial or scientific divers or simply sport divers on a luxury yacht, ths SOS Hyperlite provides an essential life saving capability, particularly when an incident occurs in a remote location, at a distance from a multiplace hyperbaric facility.
The SOS Hyperlite has been specifically designed to allow therapy treatments of up to 60fsw (18msw), such as the US Navy Table 6, to be conducted at pressure altitudesof up to 18,000ft above sea level. The unit is also capable of being used to maintain sea level pressures or above, with the incumbent breathing air or oxygen, in situations where being at ambient pressure may be life threatening. The advantage of this is that the aircraft will not need to fly at low altitude, as would otherwise be the case, saving considerable time and fuel.
