Hyperbaric chambers instead of ventilators

[Newtonian]

It has been known for many decades that Hyperbaric chambers (oxygen) can save lives when all other treatments fail. Please read this article:

From the Brink of Death — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

This is an authorized Web site of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is a research tool for publications in various languages produced by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

wol.jw.org

So she was considered doomed to die. But she didn't. Why is this treatment ignored by some during this pandemic?

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

How many of those are available in hospitals?

 

[OldBiologist]

How many of those are available in hospitals?

Yep, there’s the rub. Here’s the list of those available in the world. It’s the same reason we use ventilators over EMCO machines, even though those are more common than hyperbaric chambers.

Also a quick check shows military grade and medical grade machines are $75-125k+. Portable ones for home use are $4k to $20K. Finally there’s is the question of how many would be available since many are undoubtedly being used to treat wound healing, burns, etc. in their usual patient stream.

https://www.uhms.org/images/Accredited-Facilities/UHMS_Accredited_Facilities_March_2020.pdf

 

[Newtonian]

How many of those are available in hospitals?

Good question. Especially since this treatment has been used for many decades. It can be complex - but the basis is simple enough - pump oxygen into an air-tight chamber. Kind of a more complete Oxygen tent.

 

[MarathonMike]

What about those CPAP machines for snorers? Could those be rigged with an oxygen tank?

 

[Newtonian]

How many of those are available in hospitals?

Yep, there’s the rub. Here’s the list of those available in the world. It’s the same reason we use ventilators over EMCO machines, even though those are more common than hyperbaric chambers.

Also a quick check shows military grade and medical grade machines are $75-125k+. Portable ones for home use are $4k to $20K. Finally there’s is the question of how many would be available sine they are undoubtedly being used to treat wound healing, burns, etc. in their usual patient stream.

https://www.uhms.org/images/Accredited-Facilities/UHMS_Accredited_Facilities_March_2020.pdf

Good answer. After all, hyperbaric chambers are harder to make than swabs!

But why doesn't the media bring this treatment to light? Though one televised news report gave an example of a dying Covid patient who was saved by this treatment. Can't find the article on the internet - perhaps one of you all can.

Meanwhile - we have thousands of potential hyperbaric chambers waiting to be used - if only people will wake up to this treatment:

Airliners could have role as Covid-19 hyperbaric oxygen chambers - The Engineer

Thousands of grounded aircraft could be transformed into potentially life-saving hyperbaric oxygen chambers to treat COVID-19 patients with airport departure lounges used as wards.

www.theengineer.co.uk

Excerpt:

"Thousands of grounded aircraft could be transformed into potentially life-saving hyperbaric oxygen chambers to treat COVID-19 patients with airport departure lounges used as wards. ...

HBOT – breathing oxygen under pressure – has the potential to prevent patients deteriorating to the level where they require ventilation. It is standard treatment for many diseases where hypoxia is a factor, but a shortage of HBOT chambers has been perceived as a barrier to adoption for treating COVID-19.

Makeshift HBOT chambers can be pressurised to the required levels for potentially effective treatment – approximately 1.6 times atmospheric pressure."

The shortage of these chambers could be solved - hopefully it will be solved so thousands of lives can be saved.

Then again, the United States cannot solve the shortage of swabs!

 

[Newtonian]

What about those CPAP machines for snorers? Could those be rigged with an oxygen tank?

Good question - I'll look into that.

Edit:

CPAP Machines Were Seen As Ventilator Alternatives, But Could Spread COVID-19

Doctors say the machine that helps some people with sleep apnea keep their airway open at night won't be enough to help an ill COVID-19 patient breathe and could spread the coronavirus to bystanders.

www.npr.org

That can difficulty can be solved I think. But, like actual ventilators, it is not as good as hyperbaric chambers which actually increase Oxygen to tissues - not just to damaged lungs.

https://www.thecpapshop.com/blog/can-cpap-machines-be-used-as-ventilators-to-treat-covid-19/

"On March 22, the FDA said that manufacturers and health care professionals can make necessary modifications to convert continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and bi-level positive air pressure (BiPAP) machines to treat respiratory insufficiency, provided the design mitigations minimized aerosolization.1 "

reference 1 - "US. Food & Drug Administration. Ventilator Supply Mitigation Strategies: Letter to Health Care Providers. Accessed March 2020."

Ventilator Supply Mitigation Strategies

Recommendations for health care providers and facilities in treating patients who require ventilation assistance due to COVID-19 complications

www.fda.gov

However, like ventilators, this would just increase oxygen to the lungs, not to all exposed tissues as is the case with hyperbaric chambers. Also, usually a hyperbaric treatment only requires a few hours while ventilators generally generally involve whole days - or even longer.

And, many on ventilators die - not so likely with hyperbaric chambers.

From the 1988 article I posted in OP:

From the Brink of Death — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

This is an authorized Web site of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is a research tool for publications in various languages produced by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

wol.jw.org

"By now Bonnie was so critical that she could not take the 30-minute ambulance ride between hospitals. So it was arranged that she would be transported by helicopter, a ride of only four minutes. A nurse who was a member of the helicopter medical team, after contacting the hospital and learning that Bonnie’s hemoglobin had dropped to 2.2, replied: “You must be mistaken. She should already be dead!”

Hyperbaric treatments were started Monday night and continued all night, one and a half hours in the chamber and two and a half hours out. The first two treatments appeared to revitalize Bonnie and boost her energy. But the close quarters of the chamber began to agitate her. The chamber has an intercom to talk through, so I used it to calm her down....

By Wednesday morning she was disoriented most of the time, and her resting heart rate was 170, way above the normal of about 70. She had wide fluctuations in blood pressure. Her hemoglobin count was 2.2, and the hematocrit (the measure of cells in circulating blood) was an alarming 6. Normal is 40-65.

I’ll never forget that Wednesday morning. Doctors who had been consulting at Bonnie’s bedside asked to see me. “This is it,” they said. “Call the relatives and her friends. Bonnie is definitely going to die today. There is nothing else we can do. She will die from either a heart attack or a stroke. Even a blood transfusion would do nothing at this point. She is beyond all of that. We have changed her to a ‘do not resuscitate’ code status, which means we will not medicate her or try to revive her if her blood pressure drops....

After all had said their good-byes, the doctor had Bonnie maintained in a paralyzed state with a drug called Pavulon. This drug makes it impossible to move any muscles. A person goes into a state of deep sleep. Bonnie looked as though she were in a coma. The doctor said she would feel no pain in this condition if a heart attack ensued and that she would die comfortably. At this point her eyelids were taped shut so that even a twitch would not dr ain what little energy remained in her body....

Wednesday passed, and to the astonishment of the staff, Bonnie was still alive Thursday. Late that afternoon, the doctor came to me and said he wanted to try hyperbaric treatments again. The treatments continued throughout the night....

On Friday morning, I was asleep in the lobby when I was awakened by two doctors. They quickly assured me that the news they brought was good and not bad. Bonnie had stabilized significantly. “You know what? I think we actually have reason for hope,” one doctor said. “If her blood pressure drops, it would now be unfair not to medicate her, so I’ve already changed the instructions on her chart. You have to remember that we are in uncharted waters here because we’ve never gone this far without using blood before.
Saturday night I was by Bonnie’s bedside along with her nurse. We hung a picture of our new baby over Bonnie’s head even though her eyes were still taped shut. This was done so that when her eyes opened, the first thing she would see was a picture of her new baby. It was hoped that this would give her reason to keep fighting for life. Under these circumstances, I revealed to the nurse that the following day would be our 18th wedding anniversary. On hearing this, she wiped tears from her eyes....

The doctor was right, though, when he said not to celebrate too soon. New problems arose. Bonnie next developed two types of pneumonia, and her left lung partially collapsed. Besides this, she tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. Any one of these complications could have killed her. I’m happy to say that none of them did....

After losing 80 percent of her blood, spending 28 days in the hospital (22 of them in intensive care), and undergoing 58 sessions in the hyperbaric chamber, Bonnie was finally released to go home. Astonished, the doctor exclaimed: “She looks great. It’s a miracle, that’s all I can say.”....

Only two months after her grueling ordeal, Bonnie was out in the public preaching work again, doing the work she loves the most. And as an added blessing, she has a new pioneer partner, our baby girl, Allie Lauren.—As told by Steven M. Beaderstadt."

I wasn't sure you all would read the article so I posted excerpts. Reason for hope - right!

 

[OldBiologist]

What about those CPAP machines for snorers? Could those be rigged with an oxygen tank?

I had wondered about that too.

 

[Newtonian]

What about those CPAP machines for snorers? Could those be rigged with an oxygen tank?

I had wondered about that too.

However, here in Louisiana the need for ventilators has gone down - in part because over 70 died in the last day. Of course, that is not a good answer.

Hyperbaric chambers will help people who have little help of surviving on ventilators. I might add that there is no need for a tube down your throat and into your lungs - even if the chance of surviving was equal to going on a ventilator - I personally would prefer being given hyperbaric treatments.

Note, also, that Bonnie had 58 hyperbaric treatments - she was not constantly in a chamber. Another plus!

OK, I would prefer hyperbaric chamber treatments than being put on a ventilator - how about you all?

I should add that I will be 73 in a few days, and have heart trouble (Atrial fibrilation, tachycardia, mitral valve prolapse, peripheral arterial disease) and in the hospital recently twice for bronchitis to pneumonia - this is not just of academic interest for me! Like Bonnie my heart rate also went up to 170.

In fact, I was rushed to the hospital twice earlier this month - once in a helicopter just like Bonnie.

Oh, btw, cardizem/diltiazem saved my life, along with other helpful treatments. I have nothing but praise for the nurses and doctors and support staff - what a blessing to be in their care! Southwest Mississippi regional medical center in McComb, Mississippi btw. My cardiologist works out of that hospital. But I don't think they have a hyperbaric chamber.

Covid could easily be fatal for me.

 

[MarathonMike]

What about those CPAP machines for snorers? Could those be rigged with an oxygen tank?

I had wondered about that too.

However, here in Louisiana the need for ventilators has gone down - in part because over 70 died in the last day. Of course, that is not a good answer.

Hyperbaric chambers will help people who have little help of surviving on ventilators. I might add that there is no need for a tube down your throat and into your lungs - even if the chance of surviving was equal to going on a ventilator - I personally would prefer being given hyperbaric treatments.

Note, also, that Bonnie had 58 hyperbaric treatments - she was not constantly in a chamber. Another plus!

OK, I would prefer hyperbaric chamber treatmenst than being put on a ventilator - how about you all?

At the risk of being a pest, what do you think about retro-fitting CPAP machines with oxygen tanks?

 

[Newtonian]

What about those CPAP machines for snorers? Could those be rigged with an oxygen tank?

I had wondered about that too.

However, here in Louisiana the need for ventilators has gone down - in part because over 70 died in the last day. Of course, that is not a good answer.

Hyperbaric chambers will help people who have little help of surviving on ventilators. I might add that there is no need for a tube down your throat and into your lungs - even if the chance of surviving was equal to going on a ventilator - I personally would prefer being given hyperbaric treatments.

Note, also, that Bonnie had 58 hyperbaric treatments - she was not constantly in a chamber. Another plus!

OK, I would prefer hyperbaric chamber treatmenst than being put on a ventilator - how about you all?

At the risk of being a pest, what do you think about retro-fitting CPAP machines with oxygen tanks?

A reasonable alternative to ventilators - I posted some research on ths.

I think hyperbaric chamber treatment is better than ventilators or CPAP modified machines.

Btw. the pressure in these chambers is usually just 1.6 atmospheres - less than double normal air pressure. And many aircraft are already built to increase internal air pressure - it would be fairly easy to modify the computer program to pressurize while on the ground A silver lining to thousands of aircraft being grounded - if they are smart enough to use them to save many lives!

See the link I posted on this..

 

[MarathonMike]

What about those CPAP machines for snorers? Could those be rigged with an oxygen tank?

I had wondered about that too.

However, here in Louisiana the need for ventilators has gone down - in part because over 70 died in the last day. Of course, that is not a good answer.

Hyperbaric chambers will help people who have little help of surviving on ventilators. I might add that there is no need for a tube down your throat and into your lungs - even if the chance of surviving was equal to going on a ventilator - I personally would prefer being given hyperbaric treatments.

Note, also, that Bonnie had 58 hyperbaric treatments - she was not constantly in a chamber. Another plus!

OK, I would prefer hyperbaric chamber treatmenst than being put on a ventilator - how about you all?

At the risk of being a pest, what do you think about retro-fitting CPAP machines with oxygen tanks?

A reasonable alternative to ventilators - I posted some research on ths.

I think hyperbaric chamber treatment is better than ventilators or CPAP modified machines.

Btw. the pressure in these chambers is usually just 1.6 atmospheres - less than double normal air pressure. And many aircraft are already built to increase internal air pressure - it would be fairly easy to modify the computer program to pressurize while on the ground A silver lining to thousands of aircraft being grounded - if they are smart enough to use them to save many lives!

See the link I posted on this..

So what I read is that CPAP machines do a reasonably good job for the virus patient but are risky to anyone around them because the device can spread the virus into the room infecting care givers. So if you have an oxygen tent set up then it seems CPAP machines would be a good inexpensive alternative.