Divers in the Monterey area are extremely fortunate in that they have nearby the only all-volunteer, free-of-charge recompression chamber in the U.S. The chamber is operated by the Pacific Grove Ocean Rescue.
The PGOR was formed in 1963 as an auxiliary of the PG Police Department. As such, their duties were to patrol the coastal area of PG on weekends, warning tourists of dangerous sea conditions, protecting the coastal habitat, and providing marine rescue for people who found themselves in the water and in trouble.
In 1965 they acquired their first recompression chamber. The "coffin" was a one-person single lock chamber that was just big enough for a single victim to lie inside. It looks like a six-and-a-half foot long section of steel sewer pipe with end-caps. The design did not allow for medical treatment to be administered while a diver was being decompressed. If a diver needed medical attention during decompression, he or she was recompressed in the "coffin". The whole chamber was then loaded onto a military C-130 cargo aircraft, flown to San Diego, placed inside a larger chamber used by the Navy SEALs, and compressed. Once the larger chamber was up to pressure, the victim could be removed from the small chamber, and doctors could treat him or her.
Things have changed a lot since then. The team is now under the jurisdiction of the PG Fire Dept. instead of the police, and has a new 2-lock, multi-place chamber. This allows more than one person to be treated at a time, and medical treatment to be carried out inside the chamber.
The team now consists of 30 volunteers, including rescue divers,and nurses and doctors who are trained in the treatment of diving injuries. When a diving accident (or other emergency) is reported, the team is activated by beepers. Besides providing recompression treatment to injured divers, they also perform all variety of ocean rescue.
If you're interested in visiting the chamber (other than as a casualty), tours can be arranged by contacting the PG Fire Dept. Since tours are conducted by the team members, who are all volunteers, with real lives, they prefer that you come as a group, instead of individual tours.
There's one more bit of info, by far the most important, that you should know about the Ocean Rescue. It operates entirely off donations. Even though all the team members donate their time, the equipment costs a lot to acquire and maintain. If you dive in the area (or almost anywhere else in Northern or Central California) the Ocean Rescue and it's chamber are your best chance for life-saving treatment should you suffer a dive injury. For the divers, and participants in any other ocean-activity, of the region this is a resource of immeasurable value. While my purpose for running a web page is not to preach, I really feel every diver in the area should support the team. It doesn't have to be any significant portion of your income. Maybe just drop your pocket change in the donation box when you're in the dive shop, or a few dollars when you get your tax refund. They also sell t-shirts and sweat shirts if you really feel that you need something more for your donation than free rescue services and medical treatment when you need it. Besides, these are a great way to publicize the chamber, and show your support for it.
Donations can be sent to:
Pacific Grove Ocean Rescue
Fund
600 Pine Avenue
Pacific Grove, CA 93950
(408) 648-3110 FAX:(408) 648-3107
You can also visit their
official website