What’s Treatment Like? Why Do Patients Choose Brookwood Baptist for Treatment?

This post is a continuation of a series, which discusses more about wound care at Brookwood Baptist Medical Center.

Q: What are some of the safety precautions we take for patients before getting in the Chamber?

A: Chambers go through rigorous daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly inspections to assure flawless performance. Everything from the type of solution used to clean the chambers to non-conductive floor wax used in the hyperbaric process is inspected and approved by the safety director for use in the unit. Nothing goes inside the chamber besides your body and what we provide you! The oxygen rich environment is highly flammable and all safety precautions must be met to begin treatment. Patients must wear 100% cotton scrubs (provided by facility.) Patients must remove hearing aids, dentures, etc. for patient safety protocols.

Q: How do you prepare before going into treatment?

A: Patients prepare for treatment starting on the initial consult. We work with patients on ear clearing techniques (similar to scuba diving) in order to deal with pressure changes, review hyperbaric treatment protocols, and work with patients who may be claustrophobic.

Once oriented to the hyperbaric process, patients arrive for their appointments, enter our changing rooms, and get into facility provided scrubs. Patient vitals are obtained, then patients relax comfortably on a full-size mattress and watch Netflix, movies, news, or most popularly take a 2-hour nap in our highly oxygenated healing environment.

Q: How long is the treatment?

Patients need to plan to spend 2 hours/day with us during a typical course of treatments. Treatment protocols vary among different ailments, but typically last 90 minutes at pressure with 10-minute compression (time to reach depth of 2.4 ATA) and 10-minute decompression (time to reach surface 1 ATA). This brings the total treatment length to: 110 minutes

Q: Why should someone consider treatment at Brookwood Baptist?

At Brookwood Baptist Hyperbarics, we like to think our friendly staff and safety-oriented mindset separate us from other hospitals. With hyperbaric treatments lasting for such long periods, it offers a unique chance to really get to know your patients and form great relationships with them.

Thanks for reading more about our Hyperbaric Chamber at Brookwood Baptist. For more information on our wound care services, please click here.