Hyperbaric Chambers On Display at BAH, Jan. 7

The Bay Area’s media is getting a behind the scenes look at Bay Area Hospital’s new hyperbaric chambers today, Jan. 7. Hospital staff will guide the media through a two-hour session this afternoon. The event is not open to the general public. According to a news release, the hospital recently purchased the two Sechrist hyperbaric chambers as an investment in advanced wound care. They will allow improved healing for patients with a variety of conditions, including diabetes patients with lower-extremity ulcers. In hyperbaric therapy, the patient lies in a sealed chamber, breathing pure oxygen that is pressurized to as much as three times normal air pressure. This pressurized, oxygen-rich environment can more than triple the air intake of the patient’s lungs. As oxygen-enriched blood flows throughout the body, it promotes healing by stimulating the release of stem cells and natural substances known as growth factors. The chambers at Bay Area Hospitals will be used to treat conditions including: • Wounds that won’t heal. • Crush injuries. • Gangrene. • Skin or bone infection that causes tissue death. • Radiation injuries. • Burns. • Skin grafts or skin flaps at risk of tissue death. • steomyelitis. Hospital staff members and several local physicians are completing specialized training to use the chambers in wound care. The startup date for hyperbaric therapy has not been set.