First Aid Normobaric Oxygen for the Treatment of Recreational Diving Injuries

Details

• Personal Author:
  Denoble PJ ; Freiberger JJ ; Longphre JM ; Moon RE ; Vann RD
• Description:
  Introduction: First aid oxygen (FAO2) has been widely used as an emergency treatment for diving injuries, but there are few studies supporting its efficacy. Methods: 2,231 sequential diving injury reports collected by the Divers Alert Network (DAN) Injury database from 1998 to 2003 were examined. Results: 47% (1,045) of cases received FAO2. The median time to FAO2 treatment after surfacing was four hours and after symptom onset was 2.2 hours. Persistent complete relief (14%) or improvement (51%) was seen with FAO2 alone (65% overall response; n=330). After one recompression treatment 67% of FAO2 patients reported complete relief compared to 58% of the no FAO2 group (OR=1.5, 95% CI=1.2 -1.8). FAO2 given at any time after surfacing significantly reduced the odds of multiple recompression treatments (OR=0.83, 0.70-0.98). When FAO2 was given within 4 hours of surfacing, the OR decreased to 0.50 (0.36-0.69) yielding a number needed to treat of 6. Case severity affected urgency of FAO2 treatment. Individuals with more prominent symptoms received prompt treatment. Cardiopulmonary, skin, and serious neurological symptoms had shorter delays to FAO2 (p<0.001). Conclusions: FAO2 increased recompression efficacy and decreased the number of recompression treatments required if given within four hours after surfacing. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders First Aid Occupational Health Oxygen Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Breathing Divers Diving Emergency Treatment First Aid Respiration Respiratory Function
• ISSN:
  1066-2936
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  43-49
• Volume:
  34
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054199
• Citation:
  Undersea Hyperb Med 2007 Jan/Feb; 34(1):43-49
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine
• End Date:
  20270630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:22513b6a5e310680d9e5fcc01c7d24dd087d2c0f8b065502a8451bcbf21fb1f31da646dd3b9e8bb5fa455bbd0428ec3bcb72058889fd38e412efd01bfa836b9a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216811/cdc_216811_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 112.30 KB ]