Treating Decompression Sickness: Military Flight Simulation Site-Community Hospital Partnership

High-altitude flight simulation familiarizes military trainees with the symptoms of hypoxia to prepare them for emergency situations. Decompression sickness (DCS) can occur as a result of these simulations. In cases when ground-level supplemental oxygen does not resolve symptoms, hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is indicated. Many military hyperbaric chambers have been closed because of cost reductions, necessitating partnerships with community hospitals to ensure access to treatment.

This article describes the unique arrangement between a community hospital in Colorado and a military training site to treat DCS cases emergently. We gathered cost data from the community hospital to estimate and compare the cost of providing HBO therapy in the hospital versus a standalone chamber similar to the former military hyperbaric chamber.

Since the closure of the military hyperbaric chamber, the community hospital treated an estimated 50 patients with DCS requiring HBO therapy attributed to high-altitude flight simulation between October 2003 and April 2015. Cost to the institution providing HBO treatment varies widely on the basis of patient volume. Assuming a volume of five treatments, per-treatment cost at a standalone center is $95,380. In contrast, per-treatment cost at the hospital assuming a volume of 1,000 treatments commensurate with the hospital's ability to bill for other services is $698 per treatment.

The cost analysis demonstrates that the per-treatment cost of operating a standalone HBO therapy center may be greater than 100 times that of operating a center at a community hospital, suggesting the arrangement is beneficial to the military.