Hyperbaric Medicine
Director: Jeff Sipsey, MD
The Department of Emergency Medicine operates the Hyperbaric Treatment Chamber at the USC Wrigley Environmental Institute on Santa Catalina Island. This large multi-place facility is dedicated to the treatment of diving injuries such as decompression sickness and arterial gas embolism. The chamber physicians provide on-site treatment as well as consults when requested.
A formal hyperbaric course is held each year for emergency medicine residents matriculating into the PGY-3 year. The course, which takes place over three days and includes several test dives and sham scenarios. This is followed by the first intersession resident retreat, an important part of preparation the new PGY-3 class for its increasing clinical responsibilities in the department.
After successful completion of the hyperbaric course, residents who have met both the academic and physical requirements to treat patients in the decompression chamber are offered the opportunity to participate in the management of dive injuries with on-line supervision by Dr. Sipsey, the chamber director. When the LA County EMS system is notified of a potential diving emergency and the chamber is activated, residents are picked up at LAC+USC and flown out to the chamber by helicopter to meet the patient.
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