Where Powerful Technology Meets Human Touch
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Duke’s hyperbaric chambers provide a half-century of unique care
ust before the for carbon monoxide poisoning doors close on or decompression sickness, the massive the facility is primarily used to steel chamber in treat patients who breathe 100 Duke’s Center percent oxygen in a pressurized for Hyperbaric environment to heal wounds. Medicine and Environmental A treatment can increase Physiology, Robert Brown oxygen concentration in the recites the items forbidden lungs ten-fold, which improves during treatment. the circulatory delivery of “Can’t have any lighters, oxygen cell phones …” said Brown, a to compromised tissues. hyperbaric chamber specialist, That’s what brings Bob before adding levity to the Amos here. routine. “… bottle rockets, While the 64-year-old cattle prods ...” has beaten cancer five times, The patients and staff radiation treatments from the inside the chamber have heard last bout damaged muscles in that before, but they still crack his jaw, leaving him unable to up. Nearby, Clinical Nurse open his mouth more than a Frank Turcotte asks if anyone fraction of an inch. Prior to needs anything, especially gum, remedying the problem with which helps clear ears as the surgery, he’s undergoing 30 pressure increases. He’s got sessions in the chambers to peppermint, cinnamon and increase blood flow so muscles Juicy Fruit among the seven can heal. flavors. During these sessions, The procedure happens nurses – who are in the Top: Duke’s Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology in its early twice a day in the 50-year chamber during treatment – days. Bottom: The hyperbaric chambers in present day. old facility, tucked deep inside develop bonds with patients Duke Clinics. The center, a such as Amos, while dispensing Duke Hospital-based clinic that’s part of the Anesthesiology hands-on care. Department in the School of Medicine, is where impressive With no electronic devices allowed, nurses take pulses by technology combines with deft human touch for high-level care. touch. And with more than two-hours for each session, they keep About 250 patients are treated in the chambers each year. Built patients at ease any way they can, whether through marathon in 1968, the F.G. Hall Laboratory features seven hyperbaric UNO card games or wide-ranging conversations. chambers, ranging from the roomy Charlie chamber to the small, “We have to make sure their boredom doesn’t turn into sturdy Golf chamber, which housed three volunteers for 43 days anxiety,” said Nurse Manager Kevin Kraft. in 1981 for a then-world record simulated dive, equivalent to When patients leave, they talk not just of the center’s hulking being 2,250 feet below the ocean’s surface. metal chambers but also the caregivers. Much of the early history involves ground-breaking “The procedure is a tiny part of it, the biggest thing is the research around how the human body functions under extreme people,” Amos said. “They are delightful to be around.” atmospheric pressure. Now, in addition to emergency treatments By Stephen Schramm
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Learn more about the hyperbaric chambers at dukehealth.org/treatments/hyperbaric-therapy