Em. Med. Annual Report 2011 - Hennepin County Medical Center
Em. Med. Annual Report 2011 - Hennepin County Medical Center
Em. Med. Annual Report 2011 - Hennepin County Medical Center
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Hyperbaric <strong>Med</strong>icine<br />
Two thousand ten was a big year for HCMCʼs Hyperbaric <strong>Med</strong>icine Program. First, the program was<br />
re-accredited by the Undersea and Hyperbaric <strong>Med</strong>ical Society (like JCAHO in this role) with distinction.<br />
There are only 60 UHMS certified programs in the U.S. and just a few certified with distinction.<br />
Second, we had our first Accreditation Council for Graduate <strong>Med</strong>ical Education (ACGME) site visit for the<br />
Undersea and Hyperbaric <strong>Med</strong>icine Fellowship. The bad news is the process is the same for a fellowship<br />
with one fellow as it is for an entire EM residency program. The good news is that it went very well. We<br />
received the longest possible re-accreditation of five years. There are currently only 6 ACGME certified<br />
fellowships in hyperbaric medicine. Hopefully this number will grow, as it is now necessary to do an<br />
ACGME fellowship to sit for the Undersea and Hyperbaric <strong>Med</strong>icine subspecialty boards.<br />
Third and most exciting, 2010 was the year that all prior efforts to get a new hyperbaric facility came<br />
together. The Minnesota State legislature allocated $5M for the renovation of hospital space for a new<br />
hyperbaric facility, which, along with some stimulus money, allowed us to move forward with the $5M<br />
previously allocated for the purchase of a new chamber.<br />
HDR architects have worked very closely with our nurse manager, lead technician and myself on details<br />
of the facility design, which went out for bid in April 2010. Unless the design puts us seriously over<br />
budget, this will result in a superb space for patient care and ongoing head trauma research. With respect<br />
to the chambers, likewise, we have had the opportunity to work very closely over the past 2 years with<br />
Fink Engineering to make the chambers better than any in use around the world.<br />
Groundbreaking on the building renovation, Level I North Block, occured mid-May <strong>2011</strong>. The chambers<br />
will arrive on campus the first week of November 2012. The new facility will open for patient care in April<br />
2012. There will be minimal disruption in patient care, as patients will continue to be treated in our current<br />
facility until the new one is ready. How sweet it is!<br />
With all of this going on in 2010, we maintained our clinical activity during a bad economic year with 3,131<br />
treatments, including 142 emergency treatments (130 in 2009), 128 consultations, and 62 TCO2 procedures.<br />
Cher Adkinson, MD<br />
Director, Underseas and Hyperbaric <strong>Med</strong>icine<br />
HBO 2009 2010<br />
TOTAL treatments 3035 3331<br />
CO poisoning treatments 95 72<br />
Decompression illness 3 5<br />
Life/limb threatening soft tissue infections 32 57<br />
Gas emboli 0 8<br />
20 | Department of <strong>Em</strong>ergency <strong>Med</strong>icine Activities <strong>Report</strong> | 2009-2010
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