Florida Panhandle's ‘dirty little secret’

Pensacola, Fla., has made millions of dollars from having the world's largest artificial reef, according to experts, but also assert that the region does not provide basic medical care for divers lured there by the USS Oriskany and other dive sites. "I call it Florida's dirty little secret," said Julio Garcia, director of the Hyperbaric Medicine Program at Springhill Medical Center in Mobile, Ala. For Florida Panhandle divers, SMC is the closest medical facility with hyperbaric chambers to treat decompression sickness, which may happen when divers surface too quickly. The closest Florida hospital willing to treat people with diving-related issues is 600 miles away in Fort Myers. Richard Clarke, president of the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology, has conducted detailed research that he claims comes down to cost-avoidance, expenses and business models that called for after-hours medical staff to be on call for dive emergencies rather than having 24/7 operations. Navy medical facilities in Panama City and Pensacola have decompression chambers primarily for military personnel. The director of the Defense Health Agency, Air Force Lt. Gen. Douglas Robb, said the two military facilities can treat civilian emergencies, but are not staffed 24/7. "The current focus is on increasing the availability of civilian emergent hyperbaric services," Robb wrote in response to a letter on the subject from U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.). (Source: Pensacola News Journal 08/27/17)