A hyperbaric stretcher is a lightweight
pressure vessel for human occupancy
A Pressure vessel for human occupancy is a container that is intended to be occupied by one or more persons at a pressure which differs from ambient by at least . Since 1977, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers PVHO committee has published ...
(PVHO) designed to accommodate one person undergoing initial
hyperbaric treatment during or while awaiting transport or transfer to a treatment
chamber
Chamber or the chamber may refer to:
In government and organizations
*Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests
*Legislative chamber, in politics
*Debate chamber, the space or room that houses deliber ...
.
Originally developed as advanced
diving equipment, it has since been used for other medical conditions such as
altitude sickness
Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People can respond to high altitude in different ways. Sympt ...
,
carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...
and
smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation is the breathing in of harmful fumes (produced as by-products of combusting substances) through the respiratory tract. This can cause smoke inhalation injury (subtype of acute inhalation injury) which is damage to the respirator ...
, air and gas
embolism
An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule (fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas ( gas embolism), amniotic fluid (am ...
and is viewed as potentially important equipment for the early treatment of blast related injuries within the combat zone with the anticipated benefit that
traumatic brain injury
A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity (ranging from mild traumatic brain injury TBI/concussionto severe traumatic br ...
may not develop in the ensuing months.
There is currently only one unit approved under the US National Standard - ASME PVHO-1 (2007) and Case 12. This unit, known as the SOS Hyperlite or by the US military as the EEHS (Emergency Evacuation Hyperbaric Stretcher) is, or has been, in service with the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, NOAA and NASA as well as being supplied to other Government Agencies. The EEHS has a length of 2.26 metres (89 inches) and a diameter of 59 cm. (23.5 inches) and operates at a pressure of up to 2.3 bar (33 psi) above ambient pressure with a built-in safety factor of over 6:1. It is pressurised with air and the occupant breathes oxygen or air through a demand mask (BIBS) during treatment.
References
External links
SOS Hyperlite
Pressure vessels
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