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Chamber offers unique experience
Hyperbaric chambers bring new dimension to pilot training and medical treatments

by Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

More common one-person chambers require patients to lie on their backs. At the Melbourne Center, patients can read or watch television while they undergo therapy. Photo by Craig Rubadoux, © 2003.

On the videotape, young men erupt in giggles as they try to touch their fingertips to a partner's finger, and miss. They appear dazed as they attempt to count back from 100 by sevens.

They're not drunken college students. They're highly educated pilots experiencing the effects of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, in the controlled environment of a hyperbaric chamber.

"It's humbling. They all want a copy," said Rob Salonen, director of marketing and business development for the Brevard Regional Hyperbaric Center in Melbourne. The center videotapes participants as they experience a simulated loss of cabin pressure in flight. Pilots had trouble pointing fingers, an exercise designed to mimic pushing buttons in a cockpit, after less than two minutes. A minute later, counting back from 100 became too difficult.

When an alarm went off at three and a half minutes into the simulation, one pilot was unable to put on his oxygen mask. Pilots are drilled to put on the mask immediately upon hearing the alarm, but one on the tape failed even to recognize the sound.

Pilots learn about hypoxia and its symptoms in flight school. But that's not enough, some say.

"They all have this education. But the only way to recognize how severe it is and how they succumb to it is in a chamber like this," Salonen said. Hypoxia is believed to have been a factor in the October 1999 plane crash that killed golf pro Payne Stewart and four others.

The chamber seats 12 people in a pressurized interior much like an aircraft cabin. By day, it's used mostly to treat patients with medical problems, such as non-healing wounds and tissue injuries that don't respond to primary care. Patients breathe pure oxygen at increased atmospheric pressure. The theory is that hyberbaric oxygen therapy will saturate the body's tissues with increased levels of oxygen and increase the body's ability to heal in some cases.

Dr. Paul Buza, D.O., A.C.N., A.M.E., left, inside the Hyperbaric Chamber as James Briggs, Technical Manager/Safety Officer, prepares the controlled environment for patients. Photo by Craig Rubadoux, © 2003.

The center also treats people with decompression illness, such as from scuba diving incidents or carbon monoxide poisoning.

Salonen groans when Michael Jackson's name comes up. Yes, the gloved one made news when he used a hyperbaric chamber to try to slow the aging process. No, the center makes no such claims and uses the chamber only for medical or training purposes.

Pilot training is a way to get more use out of the center's $2 million investment. After patients leave for the day, the chamber is available for pilot training. The experience has been a popular elective for students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.

"It gives them an awareness of their physical restraints," said Dr. Tim Brady, dean of the college of engineering. The university has offered the elective at the center for a couple years to augment the students' coursework in hypoxia.

Brady, a retired Air Force pilot, was required to use such chambers periodically during his time in the military. "You learned your early symptoms so you didn't let it go too far," he said.

The school used military hyperbaric chambers until a change in rules made getting in more difficult. Officials looked into buying a small chamber, but decided using the Melbourne facility would be more efficient.

James Briggs, Technical Manager/Safety Officer, prepares the controlled environment for patients. Photo by Craig Rubadoux, © 2003.

The center charges $150 for a student lab and $295 for more extensive commercial pilot training.

Neurologist Paul Buza is the driving force behind the company, where he serves as president and CEO. He had investigated locating the center in the Florida Keys, where he had his practice, but choose Melbourne for its central location and receptive business climate.

The center is designed for patient comfort, with upscale décor and a soothing atmosphere. The chamber is much larger than the more common one-person chambers, which require the patient to lie on their backs. At the Melbourne center, patients can sit and read or watch personal television monitors while they undergo therapy.

Salonen sees another potential use for the chamber: testing for companies that want to study how their products behave at higher elevations or different atmospheres. The center also is involved in developing a portable device for use in hypoxia training.

On the Web: www.aeromedicalinstitute.com.