Re: Re: HBOT- HYPO Baric Chamber

[Guest guest]

,

Thank you for making that clear to me. It wasn't before. Several of us

thought you were talking about Wayne.

You have a precious dream and you want to protect it. God Bless you for

your good work and good heart! And, I understand everything you say

about maintaining an aura of professionalism in your field. But, some

bozo winning this week's Darwin award does not reflect on anyone other

than the winner. I don't see this as a threat to either HBOT or the type

of " legitimate " operation you are running.

If anything, it seems to me an argument for your side of the issue:

" See? We need freestanding HBOT centers where people can get the

treatment they insist on, and have a right to. If this man had had

access to reasonably priced HBOT, he might be alive today! "

jim

Rapid Recovery Hyperbarics wrote:

>

> again, He did not check the level of oxygen in his tank, HE reduced the

> level of atmosphere with in his " Hypobaric " chamber, then he ran out of

> oxygen, ( he most likely had the oxygen delivered by a mask) and

> suffocated,) Had he been trained, he would have checked his tank before he

> took the last dive in the tank. Training helps it can save life's,

> this poor man loss his life because of his Lack of training and his wife

> left the room, Had she been there the entire time she could have let him out

> and he would be alive today.

> I am sorry he lost his life, I am sorry that it may hurt the field of HBOT

> in the long run. the entire accident could have been befited completely had

> he looked at the level of oxygen with in his tank, How do I prevent this

> from happening? I have a monitor on my tanks that tells me when the tanks

> get below 50 PSI, and I have back up tanks that switch over in that event, I

> check my level of oxygen all day long, this law that says I must do things

> this way is a GOOD law and I will abide by it. IT saves life's.

>

>

> Re: Re: HBOT-

> >

> >

> > Hello All,

> > Here is story on someone who made 49 chamber runs....but...

> > died... but... it shows what can be done and what can go wrong!

> >

> > If you want better info on Hyperbaric info this is page

> > where story is:

> >

> > http://www.hyperbaric-forum.com/ubb/Forum34/HTML/000036.html

> >

> > Thanks

> > Mike Slivinski

> >

> >

> >

> > Deadly hyperbaric chamber to be examined - thestar.com

> > WELLAND - A coroner's jury will get a chance today to examine an

> > antiquated hyperbaric chamber that turned into a death trap for a man

> > obsessed with alternative medicines.

> > The jurors will be taken from the Welland courthouse to a storage

> > facility outside the city where the make-shift device is being kept.

> > The 60-year-old boiler-like chamber - which is made of heavy-gauge

> > steel

> > and weighs 1,600 pounds - is the centrepiece of a coroner's inquest

> > probing the death of 36-year-old Skala.

> > Skala was conducting a hypobaric (low pressure) treatment for his

> > persistent headaches when he suffocated inside the chamber on Jan.

> > 31,

> > 2000.

> > His self-styled experiment involved purging all the ambient air from

> > the

> > chamber and sucking pure oxygen through a tube from a cylinder

> > outside

> > the tank.

> > With conventional hyperbaric treatment, however, the air pressure

> > inside

> > the tank is increased.

> > Originally developed to treat divers suffering from the ''bends,''

> > hyperbaric chambers are now used in hospitals to treat conditions

> > including carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning, and severe

> > burns.

> > The jury heard that Skala had purchased the chamber from retired

> > Grimsby

> > businessman Arthur Bray for $1,500 in the summer of 1999 and

> > installed it

> > in the kitchen of his home.

> > After his death, police found an elaborate system of gauges, tubes,

> > and

> > other devices including an air purifier, vacuum pump and compressor

> > hooked up to the white cylinder.

> > When he went inside for a session, his common-law wife would fasten

> > the

> > door with a number of heavy bolts and monitor the treatment through

> > two

> > small portholes on the hatch.

> > There was also a porthole on the top that allowed Skala to see the

> > gauges

> > on the oxygen tank.

> > He would bang on the chamber or give her hand signals if the wanted

> > her

> > to change the air pressure.

> > Once inside the chamber, there was no way for him to open the hatch

> > and

> > get out on his own.

> > He had conducted 49 sessions - which he recorded in his diary - at

> > the

> > time of his death.

> > Torstar News Service

> > IP: Logged

> > Admin5

> > Administrator

> >

> > Posts: 121

> > From:n/a

> > Registered:

> >

> > posted 04-25-2001 05:33 PM

> >

> > Search for headache cure proved deadly - hamiltonspectator.com

> > Clairmont The Hamilton Spectator

> > Skala said if the 60-year-old jerry-rigged hyperbaric chamber

> > he

> > bought for $1,500 wouldn't stop his headaches, he was " going to die

> > trying " to find a cure.

> > Then on Jan. 31, 2000, he slid inside the 2.7-metre-long,

> > shoulder-wide

> > cylinder wedged between the fridge and stove in his Fonthill kitchen.

> > And, just like she had done 48 times before, his pregnant common-law

> > wife

> > Lorrie Welsh used a power tool to securely bolt shut the air-tight

> > steel

> > hatch. She turned a dial that fed oxygen into her husband's mask,

> > started

> > a vacuum that sucked the rest of the air out of the chamber, waited

> > for

> > his 'thumbs-up' signal, then went into the living room to read a

> > book to

> > her four-year-old son.

> > Twenty minutes later Skala suffocated to death.

> > A coroner's inquest began yesterday in Welland to look at the

> > circumstances of the 32-year-old's death and to make recommendations

> > about the use of hyperbaric chambers outside hospital settings. It is

> > Ontario's first inquest into hyperbaric chambers.

> > Originally designed by the military to stabilize deep-sea divers

> > suffering from the bends, hyperbaric chambers have for years been

> > used by

> > specially trained physicians at hospitals to treat a narrow range of

> > acute conditions. These include thermal burns, problem wounds,

> > decompression sickness, crush injuries and flesh-eating disease.

> > But in recent years, private clinics have expanded the use of the

> > chambers to include treatment of acquired brain injuries, multiple

> > sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

> > Those treatments are controversial.

> > Private clinics are unregulated in Ontario and the established

> > medical

> > community says there is no proof hyperbaric chambers will help any of

> > those conditions.

> > In fact, many doctors warn against using the chambers outside a

> > hospital

> > because they are too dangerous.

> > Skala was always desperately searching for new ways to ease the

> > headaches

> > that plagued him. They began after he seriously injured his neck in

> > a car

> > accident when he was 19.

> > " He said his mind was full of cobwebs, " Welsh testified. " A constant

> > pressure in the middle of his head that he couldn't reach. The only

> > time

> > it changed was when it got worse. "

> > A believer in homeopathic medicine, Skala had tried vitamins and

> > herbs to

> > quell the headaches. In fact, Welsh told the five-member jury, they

> > met

> > more than five years ago at a herbal remedies workshop.

> > But Skala never liked to follow the recommendations of naturopaths.

> > " He was an extremist, " Welsh testified. " If one (pill) was supposed

> > to

> > work, he'd try five. Sometimes he'd take 15 ... He'd say, 'If I

> > don't get

> > healthy, I'm going to die trying.' "

> > When his brother was involved in an accident, Skala became

> > interested in

> > hyperbaric therapy treatment. He talked to a naturopath in St.

> > Catharines

> > about it and began researching it on the Internet. He phoned a

> > clinic in

> > Florida that offers the therapy and tried to phone government

> > offices in

> > Ontario " to find out who was in charge of hyperbaric chambers, " Welsh

> > told the court. " He just got passed from one ministry to another. "

> > Then he bought a used chamber from a former military diver in

> > Grimsby.

> > Skala took the tank to his parent's farm where he worked. He tinkered

> > with it for seven months.

> > Then he installed the 720-kilogram tank in his kitchen.

> > " We put it over a support beam so it wouldn't crash through the

> > floor, "

> > Welsh says.

> > In August 1999, Skala -- an avid scuba diver -- made his first

> > " dive. "

> > That's the term used for a hyperbaric session. Pure oxygen, at

> > triple the

> > outside air pressure, is pumped into the sealed container. The oxygen

> > fills the blood and flows into parts of the body that have been

> > deprived

> > of oxygen. The extra oxygen is believed to help restore cell growth.

> > Skala's " dives " would last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. He

> > would

> > sometimes do up to five in a day. He'd lie down on a piece of plywood

> > inside the chamber. Welsh did the rest.

> > " I would close the door and I would seal the bolts ... It scared me

> > because I didn't understand it. "

> > She told the jury she relied on her husband to give her instructions.

> > Sometimes, while inside the chamber, he'd write orders and press them

> > against the porthole glass. Other times he'd just use hand signals to

> > indicate he needed more or less oxygen.

> > " He just seemed to know, " said Welsh, who added that he had wanted to

> > take a 10-day hyperbaric chamber course in Florida.

> > Skala took 35 dives between August 1999 and January 2000.

> > He believed the dives gave him energy. But they did nothing for his

> > headaches.

> > So he took a gamble.

> > A skydiver as well as a scuba diver, Skala liked the way his brain

> > felt

> > when he was in the air. The altitude seemed to clear the pain that

> > was so

> > persistent.

> > So using some equipment he bought from a medical supplier, he turned

> > his

> > hyperbaric chamber into a hypobaric chamber. Instead of simulating

> > the

> > pressure of being below sea level, he wanted to replicate the

> > feeling of

> > being at a great height. Using a vacuum, he sucked all of the air

> > out of

> > the chamber, leaving himself to rely completely on an oxygen mask

> > for air

> > supplied by a tank outside the chamber.

> > Thirteen times he tried hypobaric therapy and complained it didn't

> > help

> > his headaches either.

> > On the fourteenth time, he died.

> > Dr. Chitra Rao, a Hamilton pathologist who performed the autopsy,

> > testified that hypobaric chamber therapy wouldn't have made Skala

> > feel

> > better.

> > " It increases intercranial pressure. That's going to aggravate the

> > headache. "

> > In fact, said Rao, no medical treatments at all use hypobaric

> > therapy.

> > Welsh told the jury she still believes in the treatments her husband

> > was

> > giving himself in the chamber.

> > " The chambers work, " she said. " You just shouldn't have one in your

> > kitchen. "

> > Clairmont's commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. You

> > can

> > contact her by e-mail at sclairmont@... or by

> > telephone

> > at 905-526-3539.

> > IP: Logged

> > Admin5

> > Administrator

> >

> > Posts: 121

> > From:n/a

> > Registered:

> >

> > posted 04-26-2001 08:28 AM

> >

> > Private hyperbaric chambers legal, inquest told - thestar.com

> > WELLAND - There is nothing to stop people from building a hyperbaric

> > chamber like the one that killed a southern Ontario man in an

> > ill-fated

> > medical experiment, a coroner's inquest heard yesterday.

> > Despite strict controls in clinical settings, there are no

> > regulations

> > governing the construction or use of hyperbaric chambers in private

> > homes.

> > Even if there were strict laws against private use, medical experts

> > told

> > a coroner's inquest yesterday they probably wouldn't have prevented

> > the

> > death of Skala.

> > On Jan. 31, last year, Skala suffocated in an antiquated diving

> > chamber

> > he had installed in the kitchen of his home. He was using the device

> > to

> > self-administer high- and low-pressure treatments for chronic

> > headaches.

> > He had explored a whole range of conventional and alternative medical

> > cures before buying the boiler-like vessel from a Grimsby, Ont.,

> > businessman.

> > Dr. McLeod, associate registrar of the College of Physicians

> > and

> > Surgeons of Ontario, believes it would take more than strict laws to

> > stop

> > another desperate person from building his or her death trap.

> > McLeod suggested an absolute ban on home-made chambers would only

> > drive

> > the problem further underground.

> > ''At the end of the day, if an individual wants to do his own thing,

> > it

> > can be very difficult to stop them,'' he told the inquest. ''If

> > somebody

> > really wants something, they will find other ways of getting it,'' he

> > said.

> > Instead of a ban, McLeod suggested a study group to explore the

> > risks and

> > medical benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

> > He agreed, however, that hyperbaric chambers - which use pure oxygen

> > -

> > are too dangerous for private home because of the risk of explosions

> > and

> > fires.

> > Leckie, a medical devices inspector for Health Canada,

> > testified hyperbaric chambers can be used to treat only 13 medical

> > conditions in Canada, including severe burns, gangrene, decompression

> > sickness, flesh eating disease, and common monoxide poisoning.

> > There are about 30 chambers in clinics across Canada and an unknown

> > number in private homes.

> > Torstar News Service

> > IP: Logged

> > All times are ET (US)

> > next newest topic | next oldest topic

> > Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic

> >

> > Hop to:

> >

> > Contact Us | Hyperbaric-Forum.com

> > Powered by Infopop www.infopop.com © 2000

> > Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.45c

> > Hyperbaric Information Resource: Click Here

> > We would like to thank everyone who have been sending testimonies,

> > letters, research papers, photos, etc. for the Global Hyperbaric

> > Resource

> > Project. Your efforts are changing peoples lives for the better!

> > Global Hyperbaric Resource Project was recently founded to create a

> > searchable centralized public source of Hyperbaric Information and

> > Patient Testimonies on the Internet. Some Hyperbaric Web sites go

> > off-line or get buried at the bottom of the search engines and

> > valuable

> > information is lost or never found. With the Global Hyperbaric

> > Resource

> > Project we are asking everyone to use www.hyperbaric-forum.com as a

> > staging ground to build a unified location to refer people for

> > Hyperbaric

> > Information. Many volunteers have been adding their information to

> > the

> > database and including a link in that information back to their web

> > site.

> > Until now Hyperbaric Information has been loosely scattered across

> > the

> > internet with not enough in one location for a potential patient to

> > come

> > to an educated decision about Hyperbaric Therapy. The Global

> > Hyperbaric

> > Resource Project hopes to change this and will be a great benefit to

> > anyone considering Hyperbaric Therapy.

> >

> > On Fri, 29 Jun 2001 03:11:27 -0000 naturalhealthway@...

> > writes:

> > > said,> Wayne, Are you out of your mind?

> > > My Dear ,

> > > I've noticed many of your replies seem to have the angle of pushing

> > > your HBOT facility and promoting your " expert skills " .

> > > Someone with engineering and technical abilities like being able to

> > > weld airtight seams and pressure test vessels could make an HBOT if

> > > they really put their mind to it. It doesn't need to have all the

> > > bells and whistles of professional chamber. One could make a

> > > chamber

> > > out of a large propane tank. It is already made to sustain the

> > > pressure. Apparently your capabilities don't allow you to imagine

> > > how

> > > someone might go about this.

> > >

> > >

> > > >

> > > > Re: HBOT

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > > Evening Dr. Saul and the list,

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > > >But I though that you posted previously that there were HBOT

> > > chambers

> > > > sold

> > > > > >for $40,000. Not yours, but other ones.

> > > > >

> > > > > No doubt others have thought of the question I have.

> > > > >

> > > > > Surely a super craftsman with determination could build a home

> > > system from

> > > > > junk he can find here and there to result if a fully functional

> > > HBOT

> > > > system.

> > > > >

> > > > > I have an eight by 10 walk in cooler that is virtually air

> > > tight. It

> > > > could

> > > > > be sealed with any material imaginable.

> > > > >

> > > > > Getting the door to be pressure tight would be the only

> > problem.

> > >

> > > Maybe we

> > > > > could swipe the hatch off a submarine or similar.

> > > > >

> > > > > I am into control systems, at one time manufactured medical

> > > products,

> > > > > designed manifolds and valves. I could certainly build a fully

> > > computer

> > > > > controlled system for the HBOT.

> > > > >

> > > > > Tell me I am crazy.... if you think so. <grin>

> > > > >

> > > > > Wayne

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

[Guest guest]

,

Thank you for making that clear to me. It wasn't before. Several of us

thought you were talking about Wayne.

You have a precious dream and you want to protect it. God Bless you for

your good work and good heart! And, I understand everything you say

about maintaining an aura of professionalism in your field. But, some

bozo winning this week's Darwin award does not reflect on anyone other

than the winner. I don't see this as a threat to either HBOT or the type

of " legitimate " operation you are running.

If anything, it seems to me an argument for your side of the issue:

" See? We need freestanding HBOT centers where people can get the

treatment they insist on, and have a right to. If this man had had

access to reasonably priced HBOT, he might be alive today! "

jim

Rapid Recovery Hyperbarics wrote:

>

> again, He did not check the level of oxygen in his tank, HE reduced the

> level of atmosphere with in his " Hypobaric " chamber, then he ran out of

> oxygen, ( he most likely had the oxygen delivered by a mask) and

> suffocated,) Had he been trained, he would have checked his tank before he

> took the last dive in the tank. Training helps it can save life's,

> this poor man loss his life because of his Lack of training and his wife

> left the room, Had she been there the entire time she could have let him out

> and he would be alive today.

> I am sorry he lost his life, I am sorry that it may hurt the field of HBOT

> in the long run. the entire accident could have been befited completely had

> he looked at the level of oxygen with in his tank, How do I prevent this

> from happening? I have a monitor on my tanks that tells me when the tanks

> get below 50 PSI, and I have back up tanks that switch over in that event, I

> check my level of oxygen all day long, this law that says I must do things

> this way is a GOOD law and I will abide by it. IT saves life's.

>

>

> Re: Re: HBOT-

> >

> >

> > Hello All,

> > Here is story on someone who made 49 chamber runs....but...

> > died... but... it shows what can be done and what can go wrong!

> >

> > If you want better info on Hyperbaric info this is page

> > where story is:

> >

> > http://www.hyperbaric-forum.com/ubb/Forum34/HTML/000036.html

> >

> > Thanks

> > Mike Slivinski

> >

> >

> >

> > Deadly hyperbaric chamber to be examined - thestar.com

> > WELLAND - A coroner's jury will get a chance today to examine an

> > antiquated hyperbaric chamber that turned into a death trap for a man

> > obsessed with alternative medicines.

> > The jurors will be taken from the Welland courthouse to a storage

> > facility outside the city where the make-shift device is being kept.

> > The 60-year-old boiler-like chamber - which is made of heavy-gauge

> > steel

> > and weighs 1,600 pounds - is the centrepiece of a coroner's inquest

> > probing the death of 36-year-old Skala.

> > Skala was conducting a hypobaric (low pressure) treatment for his

> > persistent headaches when he suffocated inside the chamber on Jan.

> > 31,

> > 2000.

> > His self-styled experiment involved purging all the ambient air from

> > the

> > chamber and sucking pure oxygen through a tube from a cylinder

> > outside

> > the tank.

> > With conventional hyperbaric treatment, however, the air pressure

> > inside

> > the tank is increased.

> > Originally developed to treat divers suffering from the ''bends,''

> > hyperbaric chambers are now used in hospitals to treat conditions

> > including carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning, and severe

> > burns.

> > The jury heard that Skala had purchased the chamber from retired

> > Grimsby

> > businessman Arthur Bray for $1,500 in the summer of 1999 and

> > installed it

> > in the kitchen of his home.

> > After his death, police found an elaborate system of gauges, tubes,

> > and

> > other devices including an air purifier, vacuum pump and compressor

> > hooked up to the white cylinder.

> > When he went inside for a session, his common-law wife would fasten

> > the

> > door with a number of heavy bolts and monitor the treatment through

> > two

> > small portholes on the hatch.

> > There was also a porthole on the top that allowed Skala to see the

> > gauges

> > on the oxygen tank.

> > He would bang on the chamber or give her hand signals if the wanted

> > her

> > to change the air pressure.

> > Once inside the chamber, there was no way for him to open the hatch

> > and

> > get out on his own.

> > He had conducted 49 sessions - which he recorded in his diary - at

> > the

> > time of his death.

> > Torstar News Service

> > IP: Logged

> > Admin5

> > Administrator

> >

> > Posts: 121

> > From:n/a

> > Registered:

> >

> > posted 04-25-2001 05:33 PM

> >

> > Search for headache cure proved deadly - hamiltonspectator.com

> > Clairmont The Hamilton Spectator

> > Skala said if the 60-year-old jerry-rigged hyperbaric chamber

> > he

> > bought for $1,500 wouldn't stop his headaches, he was " going to die

> > trying " to find a cure.

> > Then on Jan. 31, 2000, he slid inside the 2.7-metre-long,

> > shoulder-wide

> > cylinder wedged between the fridge and stove in his Fonthill kitchen.

> > And, just like she had done 48 times before, his pregnant common-law

> > wife

> > Lorrie Welsh used a power tool to securely bolt shut the air-tight

> > steel

> > hatch. She turned a dial that fed oxygen into her husband's mask,

> > started

> > a vacuum that sucked the rest of the air out of the chamber, waited

> > for

> > his 'thumbs-up' signal, then went into the living room to read a

> > book to

> > her four-year-old son.

> > Twenty minutes later Skala suffocated to death.

> > A coroner's inquest began yesterday in Welland to look at the

> > circumstances of the 32-year-old's death and to make recommendations

> > about the use of hyperbaric chambers outside hospital settings. It is

> > Ontario's first inquest into hyperbaric chambers.

> > Originally designed by the military to stabilize deep-sea divers

> > suffering from the bends, hyperbaric chambers have for years been

> > used by

> > specially trained physicians at hospitals to treat a narrow range of

> > acute conditions. These include thermal burns, problem wounds,

> > decompression sickness, crush injuries and flesh-eating disease.

> > But in recent years, private clinics have expanded the use of the

> > chambers to include treatment of acquired brain injuries, multiple

> > sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

> > Those treatments are controversial.

> > Private clinics are unregulated in Ontario and the established

> > medical

> > community says there is no proof hyperbaric chambers will help any of

> > those conditions.

> > In fact, many doctors warn against using the chambers outside a

> > hospital

> > because they are too dangerous.

> > Skala was always desperately searching for new ways to ease the

> > headaches

> > that plagued him. They began after he seriously injured his neck in

> > a car

> > accident when he was 19.

> > " He said his mind was full of cobwebs, " Welsh testified. " A constant

> > pressure in the middle of his head that he couldn't reach. The only

> > time

> > it changed was when it got worse. "

> > A believer in homeopathic medicine, Skala had tried vitamins and

> > herbs to

> > quell the headaches. In fact, Welsh told the five-member jury, they

> > met

> > more than five years ago at a herbal remedies workshop.

> > But Skala never liked to follow the recommendations of naturopaths.

> > " He was an extremist, " Welsh testified. " If one (pill) was supposed

> > to

> > work, he'd try five. Sometimes he'd take 15 ... He'd say, 'If I

> > don't get

> > healthy, I'm going to die trying.' "

> > When his brother was involved in an accident, Skala became

> > interested in

> > hyperbaric therapy treatment. He talked to a naturopath in St.

> > Catharines

> > about it and began researching it on the Internet. He phoned a

> > clinic in

> > Florida that offers the therapy and tried to phone government

> > offices in

> > Ontario " to find out who was in charge of hyperbaric chambers, " Welsh

> > told the court. " He just got passed from one ministry to another. "

> > Then he bought a used chamber from a former military diver in

> > Grimsby.

> > Skala took the tank to his parent's farm where he worked. He tinkered

> > with it for seven months.

> > Then he installed the 720-kilogram tank in his kitchen.

> > " We put it over a support beam so it wouldn't crash through the

> > floor, "

> > Welsh says.

> > In August 1999, Skala -- an avid scuba diver -- made his first

> > " dive. "

> > That's the term used for a hyperbaric session. Pure oxygen, at

> > triple the

> > outside air pressure, is pumped into the sealed container. The oxygen

> > fills the blood and flows into parts of the body that have been

> > deprived

> > of oxygen. The extra oxygen is believed to help restore cell growth.

> > Skala's " dives " would last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. He

> > would

> > sometimes do up to five in a day. He'd lie down on a piece of plywood

> > inside the chamber. Welsh did the rest.

> > " I would close the door and I would seal the bolts ... It scared me

> > because I didn't understand it. "

> > She told the jury she relied on her husband to give her instructions.

> > Sometimes, while inside the chamber, he'd write orders and press them

> > against the porthole glass. Other times he'd just use hand signals to

> > indicate he needed more or less oxygen.

> > " He just seemed to know, " said Welsh, who added that he had wanted to

> > take a 10-day hyperbaric chamber course in Florida.

> > Skala took 35 dives between August 1999 and January 2000.

> > He believed the dives gave him energy. But they did nothing for his

> > headaches.

> > So he took a gamble.

> > A skydiver as well as a scuba diver, Skala liked the way his brain

> > felt

> > when he was in the air. The altitude seemed to clear the pain that

> > was so

> > persistent.

> > So using some equipment he bought from a medical supplier, he turned

> > his

> > hyperbaric chamber into a hypobaric chamber. Instead of simulating

> > the

> > pressure of being below sea level, he wanted to replicate the

> > feeling of

> > being at a great height. Using a vacuum, he sucked all of the air

> > out of

> > the chamber, leaving himself to rely completely on an oxygen mask

> > for air

> > supplied by a tank outside the chamber.

> > Thirteen times he tried hypobaric therapy and complained it didn't

> > help

> > his headaches either.

> > On the fourteenth time, he died.

> > Dr. Chitra Rao, a Hamilton pathologist who performed the autopsy,

> > testified that hypobaric chamber therapy wouldn't have made Skala

> > feel

> > better.

> > " It increases intercranial pressure. That's going to aggravate the

> > headache. "

> > In fact, said Rao, no medical treatments at all use hypobaric

> > therapy.

> > Welsh told the jury she still believes in the treatments her husband

> > was

> > giving himself in the chamber.

> > " The chambers work, " she said. " You just shouldn't have one in your

> > kitchen. "

> > Clairmont's commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. You

> > can

> > contact her by e-mail at sclairmont@... or by

> > telephone

> > at 905-526-3539.

> > IP: Logged

> > Admin5

> > Administrator

> >

> > Posts: 121

> > From:n/a

> > Registered:

> >

> > posted 04-26-2001 08:28 AM

> >

> > Private hyperbaric chambers legal, inquest told - thestar.com

> > WELLAND - There is nothing to stop people from building a hyperbaric

> > chamber like the one that killed a southern Ontario man in an

> > ill-fated

> > medical experiment, a coroner's inquest heard yesterday.

> > Despite strict controls in clinical settings, there are no

> > regulations

> > governing the construction or use of hyperbaric chambers in private

> > homes.

> > Even if there were strict laws against private use, medical experts

> > told

> > a coroner's inquest yesterday they probably wouldn't have prevented

> > the

> > death of Skala.

> > On Jan. 31, last year, Skala suffocated in an antiquated diving

> > chamber

> > he had installed in the kitchen of his home. He was using the device

> > to

> > self-administer high- and low-pressure treatments for chronic

> > headaches.

> > He had explored a whole range of conventional and alternative medical

> > cures before buying the boiler-like vessel from a Grimsby, Ont.,

> > businessman.

> > Dr. McLeod, associate registrar of the College of Physicians

> > and

> > Surgeons of Ontario, believes it would take more than strict laws to

> > stop

> > another desperate person from building his or her death trap.

> > McLeod suggested an absolute ban on home-made chambers would only

> > drive

> > the problem further underground.

> > ''At the end of the day, if an individual wants to do his own thing,

> > it

> > can be very difficult to stop them,'' he told the inquest. ''If

> > somebody

> > really wants something, they will find other ways of getting it,'' he

> > said.

> > Instead of a ban, McLeod suggested a study group to explore the

> > risks and

> > medical benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

> > He agreed, however, that hyperbaric chambers - which use pure oxygen

> > -

> > are too dangerous for private home because of the risk of explosions

> > and

> > fires.

> > Leckie, a medical devices inspector for Health Canada,

> > testified hyperbaric chambers can be used to treat only 13 medical

> > conditions in Canada, including severe burns, gangrene, decompression

> > sickness, flesh eating disease, and common monoxide poisoning.

> > There are about 30 chambers in clinics across Canada and an unknown

> > number in private homes.

> > Torstar News Service

> > IP: Logged

> > All times are ET (US)

> > next newest topic | next oldest topic

> > Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic

> >

> > Hop to:

> >

> > Contact Us | Hyperbaric-Forum.com

> > Powered by Infopop www.infopop.com © 2000

> > Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.45c

> > Hyperbaric Information Resource: Click Here

> > We would like to thank everyone who have been sending testimonies,

> > letters, research papers, photos, etc. for the Global Hyperbaric

> > Resource

> > Project. Your efforts are changing peoples lives for the better!

> > Global Hyperbaric Resource Project was recently founded to create a

> > searchable centralized public source of Hyperbaric Information and

> > Patient Testimonies on the Internet. Some Hyperbaric Web sites go

> > off-line or get buried at the bottom of the search engines and

> > valuable

> > information is lost or never found. With the Global Hyperbaric

> > Resource

> > Project we are asking everyone to use www.hyperbaric-forum.com as a

> > staging ground to build a unified location to refer people for

> > Hyperbaric

> > Information. Many volunteers have been adding their information to

> > the

> > database and including a link in that information back to their web

> > site.

> > Until now Hyperbaric Information has been loosely scattered across

> > the

> > internet with not enough in one location for a potential patient to

> > come

> > to an educated decision about Hyperbaric Therapy. The Global

> > Hyperbaric

> > Resource Project hopes to change this and will be a great benefit to

> > anyone considering Hyperbaric Therapy.

> >

> > On Fri, 29 Jun 2001 03:11:27 -0000 naturalhealthway@...

> > writes:

> > > said,> Wayne, Are you out of your mind?

> > > My Dear ,

> > > I've noticed many of your replies seem to have the angle of pushing

> > > your HBOT facility and promoting your " expert skills " .

> > > Someone with engineering and technical abilities like being able to

> > > weld airtight seams and pressure test vessels could make an HBOT if

> > > they really put their mind to it. It doesn't need to have all the

> > > bells and whistles of professional chamber. One could make a

> > > chamber

> > > out of a large propane tank. It is already made to sustain the

> > > pressure. Apparently your capabilities don't allow you to imagine

> > > how

> > > someone might go about this.

> > >

> > >

> > > >

> > > > Re: HBOT

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > > Evening Dr. Saul and the list,

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > > >But I though that you posted previously that there were HBOT

> > > chambers

> > > > sold

> > > > > >for $40,000. Not yours, but other ones.

> > > > >

> > > > > No doubt others have thought of the question I have.

> > > > >

> > > > > Surely a super craftsman with determination could build a home

> > > system from

> > > > > junk he can find here and there to result if a fully functional

> > > HBOT

> > > > system.

> > > > >

> > > > > I have an eight by 10 walk in cooler that is virtually air

> > > tight. It

> > > > could

> > > > > be sealed with any material imaginable.

> > > > >

> > > > > Getting the door to be pressure tight would be the only

> > problem.

> > >

> > > Maybe we

> > > > > could swipe the hatch off a submarine or similar.

> > > > >

> > > > > I am into control systems, at one time manufactured medical

> > > products,

> > > > > designed manifolds and valves. I could certainly build a fully

> > > computer

> > > > > controlled system for the HBOT.

> > > > >

> > > > > Tell me I am crazy.... if you think so. <grin>

> > > > >

> > > > > Wayne

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

[Guest guest]

I could see it was getting to be a mess and I hope I have cleared it up.

Thanks for sending it , It was a big Relief to me,

Re: Re: HBOT-

> >

> >

> > Hello All,

> > Here is story on someone who made 49 chamber runs....but...

> > died... but... it shows what can be done and what can go wrong!

> >

> > If you want better info on Hyperbaric info this is page

> > where story is:

> >

> > http://www.hyperbaric-forum.com/ubb/Forum34/HTML/000036.html

> >

> > Thanks

> > Mike Slivinski

> >

> >

> >

> > Deadly hyperbaric chamber to be examined - thestar.com

> > WELLAND - A coroner's jury will get a chance today to examine an

> > antiquated hyperbaric chamber that turned into a death trap for a man

> > obsessed with alternative medicines.

> > The jurors will be taken from the Welland courthouse to a storage

> > facility outside the city where the make-shift device is being kept.

> > The 60-year-old boiler-like chamber - which is made of heavy-gauge

> > steel

> > and weighs 1,600 pounds - is the centrepiece of a coroner's inquest

> > probing the death of 36-year-old Skala.

> > Skala was conducting a hypobaric (low pressure) treatment for his

> > persistent headaches when he suffocated inside the chamber on Jan.

> > 31,

> > 2000.

> > His self-styled experiment involved purging all the ambient air from

> > the

> > chamber and sucking pure oxygen through a tube from a cylinder

> > outside

> > the tank.

> > With conventional hyperbaric treatment, however, the air pressure

> > inside

> > the tank is increased.

> > Originally developed to treat divers suffering from the ''bends,''

> > hyperbaric chambers are now used in hospitals to treat conditions

> > including carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning, and severe

> > burns.

> > The jury heard that Skala had purchased the chamber from retired

> > Grimsby

> > businessman Arthur Bray for $1,500 in the summer of 1999 and

> > installed it

> > in the kitchen of his home.

> > After his death, police found an elaborate system of gauges, tubes,

> > and

> > other devices including an air purifier, vacuum pump and compressor

> > hooked up to the white cylinder.

> > When he went inside for a session, his common-law wife would fasten

> > the

> > door with a number of heavy bolts and monitor the treatment through

> > two

> > small portholes on the hatch.

> > There was also a porthole on the top that allowed Skala to see the

> > gauges

> > on the oxygen tank.

> > He would bang on the chamber or give her hand signals if the wanted

> > her

> > to change the air pressure.

> > Once inside the chamber, there was no way for him to open the hatch

> > and

> > get out on his own.

> > He had conducted 49 sessions - which he recorded in his diary - at

> > the

> > time of his death.

> > Torstar News Service

> > IP: Logged

> > Admin5

> > Administrator

> >

> > Posts: 121

> > From:n/a

> > Registered:

> >

> > posted 04-25-2001 05:33 PM

> >

> > Search for headache cure proved deadly - hamiltonspectator.com

> > Clairmont The Hamilton Spectator

> > Skala said if the 60-year-old jerry-rigged hyperbaric chamber

> > he

> > bought for $1,500 wouldn't stop his headaches, he was " going to die

> > trying " to find a cure.

> > Then on Jan. 31, 2000, he slid inside the 2.7-metre-long,

> > shoulder-wide

> > cylinder wedged between the fridge and stove in his Fonthill kitchen.

> > And, just like she had done 48 times before, his pregnant common-law

> > wife

> > Lorrie Welsh used a power tool to securely bolt shut the air-tight

> > steel

> > hatch. She turned a dial that fed oxygen into her husband's mask,

> > started

> > a vacuum that sucked the rest of the air out of the chamber, waited

> > for

> > his 'thumbs-up' signal, then went into the living room to read a

> > book to

> > her four-year-old son.

> > Twenty minutes later Skala suffocated to death.

> > A coroner's inquest began yesterday in Welland to look at the

> > circumstances of the 32-year-old's death and to make recommendations

> > about the use of hyperbaric chambers outside hospital settings. It is

> > Ontario's first inquest into hyperbaric chambers.

> > Originally designed by the military to stabilize deep-sea divers

> > suffering from the bends, hyperbaric chambers have for years been

> > used by

> > specially trained physicians at hospitals to treat a narrow range of

> > acute conditions. These include thermal burns, problem wounds,

> > decompression sickness, crush injuries and flesh-eating disease.

> > But in recent years, private clinics have expanded the use of the

> > chambers to include treatment of acquired brain injuries, multiple

> > sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

> > Those treatments are controversial.

> > Private clinics are unregulated in Ontario and the established

> > medical

> > community says there is no proof hyperbaric chambers will help any of

> > those conditions.

> > In fact, many doctors warn against using the chambers outside a

> > hospital

> > because they are too dangerous.

> > Skala was always desperately searching for new ways to ease the

> > headaches

> > that plagued him. They began after he seriously injured his neck in

> > a car

> > accident when he was 19.

> > " He said his mind was full of cobwebs, " Welsh testified. " A constant

> > pressure in the middle of his head that he couldn't reach. The only

> > time

> > it changed was when it got worse. "

> > A believer in homeopathic medicine, Skala had tried vitamins and

> > herbs to

> > quell the headaches. In fact, Welsh told the five-member jury, they

> > met

> > more than five years ago at a herbal remedies workshop.

> > But Skala never liked to follow the recommendations of naturopaths.

> > " He was an extremist, " Welsh testified. " If one (pill) was supposed

> > to

> > work, he'd try five. Sometimes he'd take 15 ... He'd say, 'If I

> > don't get

> > healthy, I'm going to die trying.' "

> > When his brother was involved in an accident, Skala became

> > interested in

> > hyperbaric therapy treatment. He talked to a naturopath in St.

> > Catharines

> > about it and began researching it on the Internet. He phoned a

> > clinic in

> > Florida that offers the therapy and tried to phone government

> > offices in

> > Ontario " to find out who was in charge of hyperbaric chambers, " Welsh

> > told the court. " He just got passed from one ministry to another. "

> > Then he bought a used chamber from a former military diver in

> > Grimsby.

> > Skala took the tank to his parent's farm where he worked. He tinkered

> > with it for seven months.

> > Then he installed the 720-kilogram tank in his kitchen.

> > " We put it over a support beam so it wouldn't crash through the

> > floor, "

> > Welsh says.

> > In August 1999, Skala -- an avid scuba diver -- made his first

> > " dive. "

> > That's the term used for a hyperbaric session. Pure oxygen, at

> > triple the

> > outside air pressure, is pumped into the sealed container. The oxygen

> > fills the blood and flows into parts of the body that have been

> > deprived

> > of oxygen. The extra oxygen is believed to help restore cell growth.

> > Skala's " dives " would last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. He

> > would

> > sometimes do up to five in a day. He'd lie down on a piece of plywood

> > inside the chamber. Welsh did the rest.

> > " I would close the door and I would seal the bolts ... It scared me

> > because I didn't understand it. "

> > She told the jury she relied on her husband to give her instructions.

> > Sometimes, while inside the chamber, he'd write orders and press them

> > against the porthole glass. Other times he'd just use hand signals to

> > indicate he needed more or less oxygen.

> > " He just seemed to know, " said Welsh, who added that he had wanted to

> > take a 10-day hyperbaric chamber course in Florida.

> > Skala took 35 dives between August 1999 and January 2000.

> > He believed the dives gave him energy. But they did nothing for his

> > headaches.

> > So he took a gamble.

> > A skydiver as well as a scuba diver, Skala liked the way his brain

> > felt

> > when he was in the air. The altitude seemed to clear the pain that

> > was so

> > persistent.

> > So using some equipment he bought from a medical supplier, he turned

> > his

> > hyperbaric chamber into a hypobaric chamber. Instead of simulating

> > the

> > pressure of being below sea level, he wanted to replicate the

> > feeling of

> > being at a great height. Using a vacuum, he sucked all of the air

> > out of

> > the chamber, leaving himself to rely completely on an oxygen mask

> > for air

> > supplied by a tank outside the chamber.

> > Thirteen times he tried hypobaric therapy and complained it didn't

> > help

> > his headaches either.

> > On the fourteenth time, he died.

> > Dr. Chitra Rao, a Hamilton pathologist who performed the autopsy,

> > testified that hypobaric chamber therapy wouldn't have made Skala

> > feel

> > better.

> > " It increases intercranial pressure. That's going to aggravate the

> > headache. "

> > In fact, said Rao, no medical treatments at all use hypobaric

> > therapy.

> > Welsh told the jury she still believes in the treatments her husband

> > was

> > giving himself in the chamber.

> > " The chambers work, " she said. " You just shouldn't have one in your

> > kitchen. "

> > Clairmont's commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. You

> > can

> > contact her by e-mail at sclairmont@... or by

> > telephone

> > at 905-526-3539.

> > IP: Logged

> > Admin5

> > Administrator

> >

> > Posts: 121

> > From:n/a

> > Registered:

> >

> > posted 04-26-2001 08:28 AM

> >

> > Private hyperbaric chambers legal, inquest told - thestar.com

> > WELLAND - There is nothing to stop people from building a hyperbaric

> > chamber like the one that killed a southern Ontario man in an

> > ill-fated

> > medical experiment, a coroner's inquest heard yesterday.

> > Despite strict controls in clinical settings, there are no

> > regulations

> > governing the construction or use of hyperbaric chambers in private

> > homes.

> > Even if there were strict laws against private use, medical experts

> > told

> > a coroner's inquest yesterday they probably wouldn't have prevented

> > the

> > death of Skala.

> > On Jan. 31, last year, Skala suffocated in an antiquated diving

> > chamber

> > he had installed in the kitchen of his home. He was using the device

> > to

> > self-administer high- and low-pressure treatments for chronic

> > headaches.

> > He had explored a whole range of conventional and alternative medical

> > cures before buying the boiler-like vessel from a Grimsby, Ont.,

> > businessman.

> > Dr. McLeod, associate registrar of the College of Physicians

> > and

> > Surgeons of Ontario, believes it would take more than strict laws to

> > stop

> > another desperate person from building his or her death trap.

> > McLeod suggested an absolute ban on home-made chambers would only

> > drive

> > the problem further underground.

> > ''At the end of the day, if an individual wants to do his own thing,

> > it

> > can be very difficult to stop them,'' he told the inquest. ''If

> > somebody

> > really wants something, they will find other ways of getting it,'' he

> > said.

> > Instead of a ban, McLeod suggested a study group to explore the

> > risks and

> > medical benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

> > He agreed, however, that hyperbaric chambers - which use pure oxygen

> > -

> > are too dangerous for private home because of the risk of explosions

> > and

> > fires.

> > Leckie, a medical devices inspector for Health Canada,

> > testified hyperbaric chambers can be used to treat only 13 medical

> > conditions in Canada, including severe burns, gangrene, decompression

> > sickness, flesh eating disease, and common monoxide poisoning.

> > There are about 30 chambers in clinics across Canada and an unknown

> > number in private homes.

> > Torstar News Service

> > IP: Logged

> > All times are ET (US)

> > next newest topic | next oldest topic

> > Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic

> >

> > Hop to:

> >

> > Contact Us | Hyperbaric-Forum.com

> > Powered by Infopop www.infopop.com © 2000

> > Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.45c

> > Hyperbaric Information Resource: Click Here

> > We would like to thank everyone who have been sending testimonies,

> > letters, research papers, photos, etc. for the Global Hyperbaric

> > Resource

> > Project. Your efforts are changing peoples lives for the better!

> > Global Hyperbaric Resource Project was recently founded to create a

> > searchable centralized public source of Hyperbaric Information and

> > Patient Testimonies on the Internet. Some Hyperbaric Web sites go

> > off-line or get buried at the bottom of the search engines and

> > valuable

> > information is lost or never found. With the Global Hyperbaric

> > Resource

> > Project we are asking everyone to use www.hyperbaric-forum.com as a

> > staging ground to build a unified location to refer people for

> > Hyperbaric

> > Information. Many volunteers have been adding their information to

> > the

> > database and including a link in that information back to their web

> > site.

> > Until now Hyperbaric Information has been loosely scattered across

> > the

> > internet with not enough in one location for a potential patient to

> > come

> > to an educated decision about Hyperbaric Therapy. The Global

> > Hyperbaric

> > Resource Project hopes to change this and will be a great benefit to

> > anyone considering Hyperbaric Therapy.

> >

> > On Fri, 29 Jun 2001 03:11:27 -0000 naturalhealthway@...

> > writes:

> > > said,> Wayne, Are you out of your mind?

> > > My Dear ,

> > > I've noticed many of your replies seem to have the angle of pushing

> > > your HBOT facility and promoting your " expert skills " .

> > > Someone with engineering and technical abilities like being able to

> > > weld airtight seams and pressure test vessels could make an HBOT if

> > > they really put their mind to it. It doesn't need to have all the

> > > bells and whistles of professional chamber. One could make a

> > > chamber

> > > out of a large propane tank. It is already made to sustain the

> > > pressure. Apparently your capabilities don't allow you to imagine

> > > how

> > > someone might go about this.

> > >

> > >

> > > >

> > > > Re: HBOT

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > > Evening Dr. Saul and the list,

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > > >But I though that you posted previously that there were HBOT

> > > chambers

> > > > sold

> > > > > >for $40,000. Not yours, but other ones.

> > > > >

> > > > > No doubt others have thought of the question I have.

> > > > >

> > > > > Surely a super craftsman with determination could build a home

> > > system from

> > > > > junk he can find here and there to result if a fully functional

> > > HBOT

> > > > system.

> > > > >

> > > > > I have an eight by 10 walk in cooler that is virtually air

> > > tight. It

> > > > could

> > > > > be sealed with any material imaginable.

> > > > >

> > > > > Getting the door to be pressure tight would be the only

> > problem.

> > >

> > > Maybe we

> > > > > could swipe the hatch off a submarine or similar.

> > > > >

> > > > > I am into control systems, at one time manufactured medical

> > > products,

> > > > > designed manifolds and valves. I could certainly build a fully

> > > computer

> > > > > controlled system for the HBOT.

> > > > >

> > > > > Tell me I am crazy.... if you think so. <grin>

> > > > >

> > > > > Wayne

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

[Guest guest]

I could see it was getting to be a mess and I hope I have cleared it up.

Thanks for sending it , It was a big Relief to me,

Re: Re: HBOT-

> >

> >

> > Hello All,

> > Here is story on someone who made 49 chamber runs....but...

> > died... but... it shows what can be done and what can go wrong!

> >

> > If you want better info on Hyperbaric info this is page

> > where story is:

> >

> > http://www.hyperbaric-forum.com/ubb/Forum34/HTML/000036.html

> >

> > Thanks

> > Mike Slivinski

> >

> >

> >

> > Deadly hyperbaric chamber to be examined - thestar.com

> > WELLAND - A coroner's jury will get a chance today to examine an

> > antiquated hyperbaric chamber that turned into a death trap for a man

> > obsessed with alternative medicines.

> > The jurors will be taken from the Welland courthouse to a storage

> > facility outside the city where the make-shift device is being kept.

> > The 60-year-old boiler-like chamber - which is made of heavy-gauge

> > steel

> > and weighs 1,600 pounds - is the centrepiece of a coroner's inquest

> > probing the death of 36-year-old Skala.

> > Skala was conducting a hypobaric (low pressure) treatment for his

> > persistent headaches when he suffocated inside the chamber on Jan.

> > 31,

> > 2000.

> > His self-styled experiment involved purging all the ambient air from

> > the

> > chamber and sucking pure oxygen through a tube from a cylinder

> > outside

> > the tank.

> > With conventional hyperbaric treatment, however, the air pressure

> > inside

> > the tank is increased.

> > Originally developed to treat divers suffering from the ''bends,''

> > hyperbaric chambers are now used in hospitals to treat conditions

> > including carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning, and severe

> > burns.

> > The jury heard that Skala had purchased the chamber from retired

> > Grimsby

> > businessman Arthur Bray for $1,500 in the summer of 1999 and

> > installed it

> > in the kitchen of his home.

> > After his death, police found an elaborate system of gauges, tubes,

> > and

> > other devices including an air purifier, vacuum pump and compressor

> > hooked up to the white cylinder.

> > When he went inside for a session, his common-law wife would fasten

> > the

> > door with a number of heavy bolts and monitor the treatment through

> > two

> > small portholes on the hatch.

> > There was also a porthole on the top that allowed Skala to see the

> > gauges

> > on the oxygen tank.

> > He would bang on the chamber or give her hand signals if the wanted

> > her

> > to change the air pressure.

> > Once inside the chamber, there was no way for him to open the hatch

> > and

> > get out on his own.

> > He had conducted 49 sessions - which he recorded in his diary - at

> > the

> > time of his death.

> > Torstar News Service

> > IP: Logged

> > Admin5

> > Administrator

> >

> > Posts: 121

> > From:n/a

> > Registered:

> >

> > posted 04-25-2001 05:33 PM

> >

> > Search for headache cure proved deadly - hamiltonspectator.com

> > Clairmont The Hamilton Spectator

> > Skala said if the 60-year-old jerry-rigged hyperbaric chamber

> > he

> > bought for $1,500 wouldn't stop his headaches, he was " going to die

> > trying " to find a cure.

> > Then on Jan. 31, 2000, he slid inside the 2.7-metre-long,

> > shoulder-wide

> > cylinder wedged between the fridge and stove in his Fonthill kitchen.

> > And, just like she had done 48 times before, his pregnant common-law

> > wife

> > Lorrie Welsh used a power tool to securely bolt shut the air-tight

> > steel

> > hatch. She turned a dial that fed oxygen into her husband's mask,

> > started

> > a vacuum that sucked the rest of the air out of the chamber, waited

> > for

> > his 'thumbs-up' signal, then went into the living room to read a

> > book to

> > her four-year-old son.

> > Twenty minutes later Skala suffocated to death.

> > A coroner's inquest began yesterday in Welland to look at the

> > circumstances of the 32-year-old's death and to make recommendations

> > about the use of hyperbaric chambers outside hospital settings. It is

> > Ontario's first inquest into hyperbaric chambers.

> > Originally designed by the military to stabilize deep-sea divers

> > suffering from the bends, hyperbaric chambers have for years been

> > used by

> > specially trained physicians at hospitals to treat a narrow range of

> > acute conditions. These include thermal burns, problem wounds,

> > decompression sickness, crush injuries and flesh-eating disease.

> > But in recent years, private clinics have expanded the use of the

> > chambers to include treatment of acquired brain injuries, multiple

> > sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

> > Those treatments are controversial.

> > Private clinics are unregulated in Ontario and the established

> > medical

> > community says there is no proof hyperbaric chambers will help any of

> > those conditions.

> > In fact, many doctors warn against using the chambers outside a

> > hospital

> > because they are too dangerous.

> > Skala was always desperately searching for new ways to ease the

> > headaches

> > that plagued him. They began after he seriously injured his neck in

> > a car

> > accident when he was 19.

> > " He said his mind was full of cobwebs, " Welsh testified. " A constant

> > pressure in the middle of his head that he couldn't reach. The only

> > time

> > it changed was when it got worse. "

> > A believer in homeopathic medicine, Skala had tried vitamins and

> > herbs to

> > quell the headaches. In fact, Welsh told the five-member jury, they

> > met

> > more than five years ago at a herbal remedies workshop.

> > But Skala never liked to follow the recommendations of naturopaths.

> > " He was an extremist, " Welsh testified. " If one (pill) was supposed

> > to

> > work, he'd try five. Sometimes he'd take 15 ... He'd say, 'If I

> > don't get

> > healthy, I'm going to die trying.' "

> > When his brother was involved in an accident, Skala became

> > interested in

> > hyperbaric therapy treatment. He talked to a naturopath in St.

> > Catharines

> > about it and began researching it on the Internet. He phoned a

> > clinic in

> > Florida that offers the therapy and tried to phone government

> > offices in

> > Ontario " to find out who was in charge of hyperbaric chambers, " Welsh

> > told the court. " He just got passed from one ministry to another. "

> > Then he bought a used chamber from a former military diver in

> > Grimsby.

> > Skala took the tank to his parent's farm where he worked. He tinkered

> > with it for seven months.

> > Then he installed the 720-kilogram tank in his kitchen.

> > " We put it over a support beam so it wouldn't crash through the

> > floor, "

> > Welsh says.

> > In August 1999, Skala -- an avid scuba diver -- made his first

> > " dive. "

> > That's the term used for a hyperbaric session. Pure oxygen, at

> > triple the

> > outside air pressure, is pumped into the sealed container. The oxygen

> > fills the blood and flows into parts of the body that have been

> > deprived

> > of oxygen. The extra oxygen is believed to help restore cell growth.

> > Skala's " dives " would last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. He

> > would

> > sometimes do up to five in a day. He'd lie down on a piece of plywood

> > inside the chamber. Welsh did the rest.

> > " I would close the door and I would seal the bolts ... It scared me

> > because I didn't understand it. "

> > She told the jury she relied on her husband to give her instructions.

> > Sometimes, while inside the chamber, he'd write orders and press them

> > against the porthole glass. Other times he'd just use hand signals to

> > indicate he needed more or less oxygen.

> > " He just seemed to know, " said Welsh, who added that he had wanted to

> > take a 10-day hyperbaric chamber course in Florida.

> > Skala took 35 dives between August 1999 and January 2000.

> > He believed the dives gave him energy. But they did nothing for his

> > headaches.

> > So he took a gamble.

> > A skydiver as well as a scuba diver, Skala liked the way his brain

> > felt

> > when he was in the air. The altitude seemed to clear the pain that

> > was so

> > persistent.

> > So using some equipment he bought from a medical supplier, he turned

> > his

> > hyperbaric chamber into a hypobaric chamber. Instead of simulating

> > the

> > pressure of being below sea level, he wanted to replicate the

> > feeling of

> > being at a great height. Using a vacuum, he sucked all of the air

> > out of

> > the chamber, leaving himself to rely completely on an oxygen mask

> > for air

> > supplied by a tank outside the chamber.

> > Thirteen times he tried hypobaric therapy and complained it didn't

> > help

> > his headaches either.

> > On the fourteenth time, he died.

> > Dr. Chitra Rao, a Hamilton pathologist who performed the autopsy,

> > testified that hypobaric chamber therapy wouldn't have made Skala

> > feel

> > better.

> > " It increases intercranial pressure. That's going to aggravate the

> > headache. "

> > In fact, said Rao, no medical treatments at all use hypobaric

> > therapy.

> > Welsh told the jury she still believes in the treatments her husband

> > was

> > giving himself in the chamber.

> > " The chambers work, " she said. " You just shouldn't have one in your

> > kitchen. "

> > Clairmont's commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. You

> > can

> > contact her by e-mail at sclairmont@... or by

> > telephone

> > at 905-526-3539.

> > IP: Logged

> > Admin5

> > Administrator

> >

> > Posts: 121

> > From:n/a

> > Registered:

> >

> > posted 04-26-2001 08:28 AM

> >

> > Private hyperbaric chambers legal, inquest told - thestar.com

> > WELLAND - There is nothing to stop people from building a hyperbaric

> > chamber like the one that killed a southern Ontario man in an

> > ill-fated

> > medical experiment, a coroner's inquest heard yesterday.

> > Despite strict controls in clinical settings, there are no

> > regulations

> > governing the construction or use of hyperbaric chambers in private

> > homes.

> > Even if there were strict laws against private use, medical experts

> > told

> > a coroner's inquest yesterday they probably wouldn't have prevented

> > the

> > death of Skala.

> > On Jan. 31, last year, Skala suffocated in an antiquated diving

> > chamber

> > he had installed in the kitchen of his home. He was using the device

> > to

> > self-administer high- and low-pressure treatments for chronic

> > headaches.

> > He had explored a whole range of conventional and alternative medical

> > cures before buying the boiler-like vessel from a Grimsby, Ont.,

> > businessman.

> > Dr. McLeod, associate registrar of the College of Physicians

> > and

> > Surgeons of Ontario, believes it would take more than strict laws to

> > stop

> > another desperate person from building his or her death trap.

> > McLeod suggested an absolute ban on home-made chambers would only

> > drive

> > the problem further underground.

> > ''At the end of the day, if an individual wants to do his own thing,

> > it

> > can be very difficult to stop them,'' he told the inquest. ''If

> > somebody

> > really wants something, they will find other ways of getting it,'' he

> > said.

> > Instead of a ban, McLeod suggested a study group to explore the

> > risks and

> > medical benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

> > He agreed, however, that hyperbaric chambers - which use pure oxygen

> > -

> > are too dangerous for private home because of the risk of explosions

> > and

> > fires.

> > Leckie, a medical devices inspector for Health Canada,

> > testified hyperbaric chambers can be used to treat only 13 medical

> > conditions in Canada, including severe burns, gangrene, decompression

> > sickness, flesh eating disease, and common monoxide poisoning.

> > There are about 30 chambers in clinics across Canada and an unknown

> > number in private homes.

> > Torstar News Service

> > IP: Logged

> > All times are ET (US)

> > next newest topic | next oldest topic

> > Administrative Options: Close Topic | Archive/Move | Delete Topic

> >

> > Hop to:

> >

> > Contact Us | Hyperbaric-Forum.com

> > Powered by Infopop www.infopop.com © 2000

> > Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.45c

> > Hyperbaric Information Resource: Click Here

> > We would like to thank everyone who have been sending testimonies,

> > letters, research papers, photos, etc. for the Global Hyperbaric

> > Resource

> > Project. Your efforts are changing peoples lives for the better!

> > Global Hyperbaric Resource Project was recently founded to create a

> > searchable centralized public source of Hyperbaric Information and

> > Patient Testimonies on the Internet. Some Hyperbaric Web sites go

> > off-line or get buried at the bottom of the search engines and

> > valuable

> > information is lost or never found. With the Global Hyperbaric

> > Resource

> > Project we are asking everyone to use www.hyperbaric-forum.com as a

> > staging ground to build a unified location to refer people for

> > Hyperbaric

> > Information. Many volunteers have been adding their information to

> > the

> > database and including a link in that information back to their web

> > site.

> > Until now Hyperbaric Information has been loosely scattered across

> > the

> > internet with not enough in one location for a potential patient to

> > come

> > to an educated decision about Hyperbaric Therapy. The Global

> > Hyperbaric

> > Resource Project hopes to change this and will be a great benefit to

> > anyone considering Hyperbaric Therapy.

> >

> > On Fri, 29 Jun 2001 03:11:27 -0000 naturalhealthway@...

> > writes:

> > > said,> Wayne, Are you out of your mind?

> > > My Dear ,

> > > I've noticed many of your replies seem to have the angle of pushing

> > > your HBOT facility and promoting your " expert skills " .

> > > Someone with engineering and technical abilities like being able to

> > > weld airtight seams and pressure test vessels could make an HBOT if

> > > they really put their mind to it. It doesn't need to have all the

> > > bells and whistles of professional chamber. One could make a

> > > chamber

> > > out of a large propane tank. It is already made to sustain the

> > > pressure. Apparently your capabilities don't allow you to imagine

> > > how

> > > someone might go about this.

> > >

> > >

> > > >

> > > > Re: HBOT

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > > Evening Dr. Saul and the list,

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > > >But I though that you posted previously that there were HBOT

> > > chambers

> > > > sold

> > > > > >for $40,000. Not yours, but other ones.

> > > > >

> > > > > No doubt others have thought of the question I have.

> > > > >

> > > > > Surely a super craftsman with determination could build a home

> > > system from

> > > > > junk he can find here and there to result if a fully functional

> > > HBOT

> > > > system.

> > > > >

> > > > > I have an eight by 10 walk in cooler that is virtually air

> > > tight. It

> > > > could

> > > > > be sealed with any material imaginable.

> > > > >

> > > > > Getting the door to be pressure tight would be the only

> > problem.

> > >

> > > Maybe we

> > > > > could swipe the hatch off a submarine or similar.

> > > > >

> > > > > I am into control systems, at one time manufactured medical

> > > products,

> > > > > designed manifolds and valves. I could certainly build a fully

> > > computer

> > > > > controlled system for the HBOT.

> > > > >

> > > > > Tell me I am crazy.... if you think so. <grin>

> > > > >

> > > > > Wayne

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

> > > > >

[Guest guest]

Hello Wayne,

if bolts are on inside...won't this pose a safety hazard,

if person inside feints, how is person out side going to

open door???

unless we have a big door latched /bolts on out side and a smaller

latch / bolts on inside... then either side can gain exit /entrance

from either side in an emergency.

mike slivinski

On Sun, 01 Jul 2001 11:23:58 -0500 Wayne Fugitt <wayne@...>

writes:

> Morning ,

>

>

> At 02:10 AM 07/01/2001 -0700, you wrote:

> >Dear Wayne I was talking about the article which the man died in a

> Hypobaric

> >chamber, NOT a hyperbaric Chamber. I was not speaking to you

> >

>

> Yes, I read that one also. I formed some opinions and ideas

> while

> reading it.

>

> First, I would like the bolts on the inside. It takes much less

> strength

> and pressure to hold the seal if the door opened to the inside, very

> much

> like some valves are designed.

>

> Even my walk in cooler could take a life in a similar manner, if not

> for the

> inside door latch.

>

> Again.... I would trust no one but myself.

>

> My final deduction was that his wife intentionally killed him.

>

> Wayne

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hello Wayne,

if bolts are on inside...won't this pose a safety hazard,

if person inside feints, how is person out side going to

open door???

unless we have a big door latched /bolts on out side and a smaller

latch / bolts on inside... then either side can gain exit /entrance

from either side in an emergency.

mike slivinski

On Sun, 01 Jul 2001 11:23:58 -0500 Wayne Fugitt <wayne@...>

writes:

> Morning ,

>

>

> At 02:10 AM 07/01/2001 -0700, you wrote:

> >Dear Wayne I was talking about the article which the man died in a

> Hypobaric

> >chamber, NOT a hyperbaric Chamber. I was not speaking to you

> >

>

> Yes, I read that one also. I formed some opinions and ideas

> while

> reading it.

>

> First, I would like the bolts on the inside. It takes much less

> strength

> and pressure to hold the seal if the door opened to the inside, very

> much

> like some valves are designed.

>

> Even my walk in cooler could take a life in a similar manner, if not

> for the

> inside door latch.

>

> Again.... I would trust no one but myself.

>

> My final deduction was that his wife intentionally killed him.

>

> Wayne

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Morning Mike,

>if bolts are on inside...won't this pose a safety hazard,

>if person inside feints, how is person out side going to

>open door???

True, a very good point.

>unless we have a big door latched /bolts on out side and a smaller

>latch / bolts on inside... then either side can gain exit /entrance

>from either side in an emergency.

I don't think this would be a hill to climb. Actually I don't like the

idea of bolts any way you cut it.

Many other good latch designs would seems to make the bolts unnecessary.

I would feel relatively safe using magnetic locks. We use these in a

variety of applications. Forces range from 600 lbs to 1200 lbs. Of

course 2 or 4 of these could be used. In reality they were not designed

for this application.

They can be installed as " fail safe " or " fail secure " .

I feel that anyone bolting himself in ..... any airtight container, has in

fact played the first round of " Russian Roulette " .

Wayne

[Guest guest]

Folks,

I find this interesting personally, but this discussion has gone into

engineering & left health issues far behind. Please, no more without

legitimate new health issues.

jim

oxyplus moderator

Wayne Fugitt wrote:

>

> Morning Mike,

>

> >if bolts are on inside...won't this pose a safety hazard,

> >if person inside feints, how is person out side going to

> >open door???

>

> True, a very good point.

>

> >unless we have a big door latched /bolts on out side and a smaller

-----

The TRUTH in 11 words:

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened!

-- anon

jlambert@... http://www.entrance.to/madscience

http://www.entrance.to/poetry