EBAss Newsletter

EBAss NEWSLETTER Issue 2

EBAss
Newsletter

Jan-Mar
2017

EBAss is all of you! Calendar of Events

Message from the President

by Angeliki Chandrinou, President of EBAss

Ladies and Gentlemen, 19th International Congress on
Hyperbaric Medicine, 11-14 May 2017
I want to extend my sincere New Year’s greet- Belgrade, Serbia
ings to you personally and I ask you to convey my http://ichm2017.com/
greetings to all your loved ones. Hoping that all of
you had spent a joyful New Year holiday, I would 3rd International Conference on
like to take this occasion to say a few words about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and the
the outset of this year’s business. Brain, 18-20 May 2017, Eilat, Israel
http://www.ishdm2017.com/
This year, European Baromedical Association focus will be on educa-
tion as well as certified and safe work with high quality standards. SPUMS Annual Meeting, 21-27 May
2017, Bali, Indonesia
EBAss has been invited and will participate in the ICHM congress in https://www.spums.org.au/con-
Belgrade, as a competent body. We will present developments regarding tent/2017-spums-asm
the new job of Safety Manager and the European perspective in training
of hyperbaric personnel. UHMS Annual Scientific Meeting,
29 June – 1 July 2017, Naples, Florida
Also, EBAss took part in ECGP reviewing procedures concerning the https://www.uhms.org/
training and certification of non-medical personnel working in Hyperbaric
Medicine Units. HTNA Annual Meeting, 17-19 Au-
gust 2017, Adelaide, Australia
Last year EBAss faced a difficult situation with ECHCO certified per- http://www.htna.com.au/
sonnel who have been with us since the ECHCO certification was first
launched in 2010. Unfortunately, their health has deteriorated, but they 43rd EUBS Annual Meeting, 13-16
are still capable of limited operating the hyperbaric chamber and would September 2017, Ravenna, Italy
like to renew their ECHCO certification. As they are not able to provide http://www.eubs2017.org/en/
basic life support if required, they cannot be eligible to renew their certi-
fication. The EBAss board would like to recognize their obvious expertise, EBAss General Assembly and meet-
but feel that they cannot be issued with a full ECHCO. This is what lies be- ing for the Board of Directors, 21-22
hind our recent decision. To explore the possibility to certify people with October, Portugal (more information to
such difficulties but still capable of working in hyperbaric facilities and ac- be announced soon at www.ebass.org).
tively offer the quality of their service. We felt it would be appropriate to
issue these personnel with “ECHCO (accompanied)”. Meaning they are still
ECHCO registered but are not authorized to run chambers without being

accompanied by fully certified person- Words from the Editor
nel. This year our aim is to move the
processes of that idea of the Board of by Damianos Tzavellas, General Secretary, Presi-
Directors, and together with ECB, to dent of EBAss Communication Committee
implement it, ensuring retention of
skilled personnel in the working force. Dear members,

Meanwhile, ECB helped EBAss Happy New Year with lots of health
to reduce the cost of the Euro- and exciting moments in your personal and
pean certifications so it would be professional life. The coming of 2017 has
more affordable to all members. brought EBAss a new breeze of ideas for
This will be discussed at the next BD future projects that we would like to make
and will be announced immediate- happen. Our last General Assembly (GA) and meeting of the
ly after making the final decision. Board of Directors in Rome was exciting and creative with lots of
input from the participants and lots of fruitful ideas and prom-
Our past activities should be ises for the near future. It remains our main priority to expand
enough to convince you that all to- our network within Europe and outside in order to unite voices,
gether we can do a lot and that we experiences and practices that come from different cultural
have the power to help our colleagues backgrounds but work for the same purpose which is holistic
to give a new impetus to our pro- and evidence-based delivery of care during a hyperbaric thera-
fession based on knowledge, expe- py. We welcome all of you that work as nurses and technicians,
rience and continuing education. in Europe and abroad, to contribute with your interest and
knowledge for the strengthening and expansion of this hyper-
EBAss is growing up and this baric networking. Visit us at our GAs or our EUBS satellite meet-
year I would like to call for thorough ings or communicate with us through our newsletter and email.
and further proposals and ideas from
all our valuable members, by add- As a member, you can apply for a position at the
ing the finishing touches, to find the Board of Directors and be an active participant in devel-
best way to create an association that oping and reforming hyperbaric practices and policies.
is easy to access and learn from it.
This year, for the first time, we will organize a GA in Portu-
Let me conclude my New Year gal thanks to the assistance of our valuable member Mr. Manuel
Greetings by offering my sincere Preto. We hope to see you all there. Stay tuned for more info!
wishes for the continuing health and
prosperity of you and your families. Feel free to send news from your hyperbar-
ic facility or hyperbaric oxygen related articles for pub-
Angeliki Chandrinou lication at our newsletter. You can also send com-
EBAss President
ments for current or previous issues at [email protected]

If you face difficulties in English, please write in your own
language and we will translate it for you.

EBAss News in Belgrade with oral presentations related to
safety, disinfection and education.
EBAss activities of the last 3 months  Online registration form for new member-
ships and renewals
 The meeting for the Board of Directors of  Formation of online database for publi-
EBAss took place in Rome on the 18th and 19th cations related to hyperbaric practices other
of November 2016. More information about the than medical indications (in progress)
event at the section EBAss News.  Reviewing and proof reading of online
 EBAss General Assembly took place in Rome exams for ECHRN and ECHCO certification (in
on the 19th of November 2016. More information progress).
about the event at the section EBAss News.  Making of a curriculum and program for
 Mrs Chandrinou Angeliki was elected as Presi- the training of the Safety Manager according
dent of EBAss for the next 3 years. to the European Standards (EN norms, ECGP,
 Preparation for the next ICHM conference ECHM/EBAss Resource Manual, etc)

General Assembly (GA) of the 19th November 2016

At the last GA, a total of 13 effective EBAss for the amount and usage of the budget for the
members participated, from several European coming year. The President of the Communica-
countries (incl. Italy, Greece, Sweden, Switch- tion Committee highlighted the importance for
erland, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, the Isle of further development of communication channels

Man) which offered the discussions a pluralistic (website, emails, facebook, etc.) and suggest-
and multicultural character with the expression ed the translation of EBAss announcements in
of different points of view under the common other languages. The use of social media such
template of evidence-based hyperbaric science. as facebook seemed to have been poorly used
In the beginning, the minutes from the last GA by our members whereas minor activities online
which was held in Geneva in 2015 were present- could easily attract the interest of members and
ed for adoption. Following that, the Presidents non-members. Furthermore, the President of
of all ommittees analyzed their intermediate re- the Education Committee announced prelimi-
ports and initiated comments by the audience as nary results of the online questionnaire that is

well as proposal for future actions. The General available on our website and is related to the
Secretary showed the current situation of EBAss participation of healthcare staff in educational
memberships which seemed to increase steadily programs and difficulties that they could face
in all categories (e.g. full, associate, corporate). in publishing of a thesis. Concerning Accredita-
In addition, the Treasurer presented the financial tion, the President of the Committee presented
balance for the year 2016 as well as a proposal figures with the currently certified Nurses and

Technicians (ECHRN and ECHCO respec- As for last, the position of 4 members from
the Board of Directors had expired included that
tively) as well as the number of the ac- of the President of EBAss. All members were
re-elected by the body of the GA and kept their
credited by the ECB Hyperbaric Centers. previous roles and responsibilities except Mrs Va-
The report for the safety commit- leria Campanaro who didn’t wish to be President
anymore. Therefore, the Board of Directors gath-
tee included an update of ongoing proj- ered at a separate meeting to elect a new Presi-
ects for ICU beds, syringe pumps and dis- dent which was Mrs Angeliki Chandrinou (Greece)!
infection for use inside the hyperbaric
chamber. A more detailed report for the More information about the GA you can find
testing and certification of the ICU beds on our website at the section minutes of GAs in our
will hopefully be circulated via email to members area.
all our members within the next months.

Venue for the next GA

It was proposed that the venue for the next GA will be either in Portugal or in Kalymnos is-
land, Greece. Recently, it was decided that our next GA will be held in Portugal. More information
coming soon on our website!

Meeting of the Board of Directors Night out

Participation in Educational
Programs and Thesis Publishing.
An EBAss online survey.

by Konstantina Gaitanou, President of EBAss Education Committee.

During the GA, the prelim- study or thesis that is within ison with doctor and moreover,
inary results from a survey that the field of hyperbaric science. the studies that have already
is still available online on our been published are from En-
website were presented and dis- It is believed that a lot glish-speaking countries. That
cussed. This survey is trying to of training, studying, clini- probably implies difficulty to
investigate the level of participa- cal researching and testing publish, due to language re-
tion for hyperbaric personnel at of practices is happening in strains. In one of the next issues
any type of educational programs many hyperbaric units around of the newsletter, we will present
and any efforts made for con- Europe but very few of them these results with conclusions
tinuous practice development. are known because they are and suggestions for improving
In addition, it investigates the not published in any form. Es- the rate of publishing in our area,
willingness as well as difficulties pecially for hyperbaric nurs- despite the level of evidence.
that have been faced in order to es and technicians, there is a
publish the results of a research significantly lower percentage
of published work in compar-

Recent Publications by external factors other than
pressure and gas. This might be
abstracts of articles related to Hyperbaric Nurses and of importance for training to
Technicians, excl. medical indications or interventions avoid any over- or underestima-
tion of the severity of narcosis
keywords: Hyperbaric, oxygen based only on subjective symp-
search machine: Medline toms.
period of search: 9/2016 – 1/2017
5. The effect of general anaes-
1. Shorter sleep onset latency in CONCLUSION: thesia and neuromuscular block-
patients undergoing hyperbaric Impairment of memory, at- ade on Eustachian tube com-
oxygen treatment tention, and planning, but not pliance: a prospective study.
Uezato A et al. 2016 motor tasks, was associated Mungur A et al. 2016
with N2 partial pressures >4.5
CONCLUSION: ATA. Sea level O2 at 0.925 CONCLUSION:
The modified system provides ATA partially rescued motor The findings of this trial suggest
safe, stable, continuous non-in- and memory reaction time that the administration of hyp-
vasive blood pressure trends impaired by 0.075-ATA CO2; notic drugs associated with opi-
under both normobaric and however, at hyperbaric pres- oids improves ET compliance.
hyperbaric conditions. sures an unexpectedly strong Therefore it may have favour-
interaction between CO2, N2, able prophylactic effects on MEBt
2. Pre-dive Whole-Body Vi- and exercise caused incapaci- in ventilated intensive care unit
bration Better Reduces De- tating narcosis with amnesia, patients scheduled for HBOT.
compression-Induced Vascular which was augmented by O2
Gas Emboli than Oxygenation Perception of narcosis was not 6. Safety of transport and hyper-
or a Combination of Both. correlated with actual scores. baric oxygen treatment in criti-
Balestra C et al. 2016 The relative contributions of cally-ill patients from Padua hos-
factors associated with div- pitals into a centrally-located,
CONCLUSION: ing narcosis will be useful to stand-alone hyperbaric facility.
The precise mechanism that in- predict the effects of gas mix- Bosco G et al. 2016
duces the decrease in post-dive tures and exercise conditions
VGE and thus makes the diver on the cognitive performance CONCLUSION:
more resistant to decompression of divers. The O2 effects are With meticulous monitoring,
stress is still not known. However, consistent with O2 narco- efficient transport and well-
it seems that a pre-dive mechan- sis or enhanced O2 toxicity. trained personnel, the risks
ical reduction of existing gas nu- associated with transportation
clei might best explain the bene- 4. Do Environmental Condi- and HBOT can be acceptable for
ficial effects of this strategy. The tions Contribute to Narcosis the referring physician.
apparent non-synergic effect of Onset and Symptom Severity?
oxygen and vibration has proba- Lafère P et al. 2016
bly to be understood because of
different mechanisms involved. CONCLUSION:
When objectively measured
3. Assessment of the inter- narcosis may not be influenced
action of hyperbaric N2,
CO2, and O2 on psychomo-
tor performance in divers.
Freiberqer JJ et al. 2016

7. Tympanic membrane bleeding complications 8. Design and Human Factors of Therapeutic Hy-
during hyperbaric oxygen treatment in patients perbaric Chambers.
with or without antiplatelet and anticoagulant Bitterman N and Bonen A. 2016
drug treatment.
Fijen VA et al. 2016 CONCLUSION:

CONCLUSION: It is suggested that adopting a user-centered de-
Low-grade MEBt is common during HBOT, how- sign rather than an engineering focus will increase
ever, high-grade barotrauma is rare with cur- satisfaction and overall ‘user experience’ of the
rent chamber operating procedures. Patients patients, alleviate psychological issues, and lessen
using antiplatelet/anticoagulant drugs poten- workload and improve functionality of the staff.
tially may be prone to MEBt-associated haem- This study could be applicable and easily adapted to
orrhagic complications, but we did not observe other confined therapeutic environments in which
any such increase in this cohort. Only mild patients are restrained for several hours on a reg-
epistaxis occurred in patients using anticoagu- ular basis in receiving treatment, such as dialysis
lant drugs. or chemotherapy rooms, and for confined nonmed-
ical situations such as aircrafts and rapid trains.

Attention!!

The registration form for becoming a new EBAss member or renew your existing membership

you can find online at http://ebass.org/registration-form/

The process for members to be part of the Board of Directors can be found in part IV of the

EBAss statutes at http://ebass.org/satutes/

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