Performance Hyperbaric received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its chamber in November 2005. It then granted Oxygen Care (OCL) the rights for worldwide marketing to the underground mining sector. Featuring a large compartment (8' 6" length, 2' 10" diameter), portability and easy storage, the company feels every operation should take the extra step and have hyperbaric chambers on hand for miners’ care following an accident.
“There is a drastic disconnect in the recovery of a miner,” said OCL representative Robert Morris, adding that the response time after cases of carbon monoxide poisoning following an accident is critical.
The key example when talking with the industry, of course, is sole Sago survivor Randal McCloy.
Following his recovery from the mine during the early hours of January 4, 2006, 41 hours after the explosion, he was transported to a triage center, then West Virginia’s St Joseph’s Hospital, then to West Virginia University’s Ruby Memorial Hospital and finally to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh on the evening of January 5.
Because there were no hyperbaric oxygen chambers near the mine – or in the entire state of West Virginia – it took many extra critical hours before Allegheny General, his final transfer hospital, was able to provide McCloy with hyperbaric oxygen treatments. While the young miner has been a success story in his recovery, Morris said it is a scenario that can be avoided through the immediate availability of an onsite hyperbaric tank.
University of Illinois-Chicago pulmonary physiology and rehabilitation medical director Robert A C Cohen recently penned a letter to West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, investigation appointee Davitt McAteer and others expressing the importance of time in such situations: “Miners with severe carbon monoxide intoxication should be considered for transfer to specialized medical centers that have the capability for HBOT as soon as possible.”
He went on to say that the impairment from overexposure could have contributed to the deaths of the 12 workers who did not make it out alive (10 due to CO poisoning). “It is … quite likely that the miners trapped in the Sago disaster had some degree of neurological impairment related to their CO exposure, which may have affected their judgment as it related to their ability to find escape routes.”
While some opinions differ on the use of hyperbaric oxygen for carbon monoxide poisoning, Morris said the general consensus is that it should be strongly considered.
Because of that, he not only feels that the chambers should be purchased and stored by operations for future use, but also that training rescue teams on hyperbaric treatment skills can permit the 71-pound portable units to go underground with them on rescue missions.
“When a stricken miner comes to the surface, he/she is handed over to an EMT or emergency responder, a complete stranger, for care,” Morris said. He believes operators need to take greater responsibility for the lives of their workers by keeping hyperbaric treatment units onsite, or at least near the site, and taking responsibility for overseeing the medical treatment of rescued workers.
The chamber, he said, can fit into an ambulance for the patient’s transport to an emergency facility. It is those key minutes, sometimes hours, that can make a difference to his/her life or death.
Morris said current order turnaround is about four weeks, and the company is available to provide hyperbaric skills training to mines and mine rescue teams.
