Bends treatment unit shuts down

Bends treatment unit shuts down

The chamber, on the Albert Pier, has shut following the withdrawal of States funding and difficulty in training staff.

Elaine Le Claire, a technician at the chamber, said: ‘Funding is a major part of it but we also need to be able to train our team and have them certified, which has also proven to be difficult.

‘If our team does not have certification and something goes wrong, then we could be in big trouble. We need to cover our backs.’

Ms Le Claire added that the chamber was also now becoming old, and required regular maintenance and replacement parts.

‘We got it in the 1980s and it was second hand back then,’ she said.

‘We have pressurised air filters that are contained within special metal containers and they cost £2,500 each.

‘We also need to bring a gentleman over from the UK to test and certify the whole chamber, which normally takes about two to three days and can cost £4,000 to £5,000. There are constantly costs involved’.

Ms Le Claire also said that divers suffering from the bends may now be forced to travel to chambers in France, the UK or Guernsey at a cost of around £30,000 per treatment.

She added that many divers were putting themselves at risk, as they did not have insurance and said that symptoms of decompression sickness were best treated early.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the Health Department said that they had had no prior warning about the closure and were looking at how divers could be treated.

They also said they had made ‘considerable effort’ to engage with the staff operating the chamber but had been unable to make contact and resolve the issue.

A spokesman said: ‘Although we do have the option of taking those who need emergency care to Guernsey, where there is an operational chamber, this is not a satisfactory long-term option and we are now working with Ports of Jersey on the feasibility of re-establishing this facility in the Island.’

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