STAFF TOUR HYPERBARIC MEDICINE CENTER

Community Resource Center staff recently arranged for a small group of Social Service staff to tour the Norman Knight Hyperbaric Medicine Center at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The following is adapted from their website.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a medical treatment used to treat a limited but diverse number of illnesses. Hyperbaric oxygen is a simple concept. The air we breathe contains 21 percent oxygen. By breathing 100% oxygen under pressure, the Hyperbaric Medicine Center is able to deliver more than three times the oxygen to tissues that can ordinarily be provided at a normal (sea level) atmosphere.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be the primary treatment for some disorders, or as part of a combined effort as adjunct therapy to improve the effectiveness of standard therapy. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is provided in a pressurized chamber. The patient is placed within the chamber which is then compressed to the level (depth equivalent) ordered by the consulting physician, using pure oxygen for a specified period of time. The number of treatments varies with different diseases and may be modified according to clinical response.

Information for Patients http://www.meei.harvard.edu/shared/oto/hbo2.php. Virtual tour: http://www.meei.harvard.edu/shared/oto/hboslides.htm.

-Thanks to the Hyperbaric Medicine Center staff. Social Service staff wishing to tour this or other facilities please contact Community Resource Center staff or your CRC Advisory committee member.

 

05/08