The Hyperbaric Medicine Unit at Fiona Stanley Hospital is the Western Australian State Referral Service for Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine.

We operate scheduled hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT) from 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday between, and are available on call after hours 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Our team is made up of specially trained medical, nursing and technical staff who provide HBOT for diving injuries such as decompression sickness (the bends) and for critical care patients through to paediatric patients. Read more about decompression illness (Healthy WA).

We have a consultation facility and a hyperbaric oxygen treatment facility with state-of-the-art triple lock recompression chambers and two monoplace chambers.

It is also useful for a far wider range of conditions including:

• arterial gas embolism (AGE), both as a result of diving and medically induced, such as from some types of surgery
• selected problem wounds, for example diabetic wounds and non-healing ulcers
• radiation damage to both bone and soft tissue
• gas poisoning, for example carbon monoxide
• compromised skin grafts and flaps
• crush injury/compartment syndrome and other acute ischaemia
• clostridial gas gangrene
• necrotising soft tissue infections
• refractory osteomyelitis
• sudden loss of hearing.

What is hyperbaric oxygen treatment?

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) is the administration of 100 per cent oxygen at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure at sea level. Read more about hyperbaric treatment (Healthy WA).

HBOT has multiple effects on the body which include:

• Pressure – any free gas in the body will decrease in volume as pressure exerted on it increases (Boyle’s Law of Physics). This is useful in the treatment of decompression sickness (the bends) and arterial gas embolism.
• Hyper-oxygenation – the elevated pressure increases the amount of oxygen present in the blood 10 to 13 times its normal level (Henry’s Law of Physics). The elevated level of oxygen supports tissues without enough oxygen (usually as a result of marginal blood flow) and enhances connective tissue regeneration through stimulation of fibroblast growth (which require oxygen to replicate) and increased collagen formation. Flooding the body with oxygen also forces out toxins like carbon monoxide.
• Vasoconstriction – elevated oxygen levels cause blood vessels to narrow (vasoconstriction), which causes reduced blood flow, without reducing tissue oxygenation because of the extra oxygen in the blood. This aids by reducing oedema (tissue swelling) in compartment syndrome, crush injuries and in soft tissue infections such as necrotising fasciitis.
• Angiogenesis – HBOT promotes the growth of new micro blood vessels in ischaemic (oxygen-deprived) tissues.
• Bactericidal – saturating the tissues with oxygen slows the production of certain toxins and is effective in killing anaerobic bacteria. Many of the body's bacterial defence mechanisms are oxygen dependent. Increasing tissue oxygen also increases the effectiveness of leucocytes (white blood cells responsible for killing bacteria). Because of this, HBOT is used in the treatment of gas gangrene and necrotising infections.
• Anti-ischaemic – hyperbaric oxygen physically dissolves extra oxygen into the plasma (Henry’s Law). The quantity of oxygen carried to blood-deprived tissue is increased thus promoting healing.

Refer a patient

Patients can be referred via:

• e-Referral
• email
• phoning the Fiona Stanley Hospital Helpdesk on 6152 2222 between 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday. For urgent out of hours referrals call the Fiona Stanley Hospital Helpdesk on 6152 2222.

Contact us

Call the Fiona Stanley Helpdesk on 6152 2222 for all queries between 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday.

For urgent out of hours queries the Fiona Stanley Helpdesk on 6152 2222.

Location

Our Hyperbaric Medicine Unit is located on the lower ground floor of the main hospital building. It can be accessed via lifts near the Allied Health area on the ground floor.

The main entrance to the hospital is accessed off Robin Warren Drive.

See the Fiona Stanley Hospital map (PDF 1MB).

Opening hours

The unit is open 8:00am to 4:00pm, Monday to Friday except for Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day.

A daily 24-hour on call service is available for emergencies throughout the year.