2025 UHMS Pacific Chapter Town Hall on Safety

2025 UHMS Pacific Chapter Town Hall on Safety

Originally hosted August 9, 2025

 Schedule:

• Normalization of Deviance in a Safety Culture - Gus Gustavson, MPH, RN, CHRNC-A, CHT-A, CRT, UHMSADS
• Inside Attendant Omitted Decompression in Hyperbaric Treatments - Gray Ladd, CHT
• Field of Safety in HBO2- Soft Chamber to Off-Label and their Effects on our Field Presentation and Panel - Leo Tanaka MD, Jacquline Hocking CHT, Brenda Freymiller,RN, Chris Allen, MD, Anthony Johnston, CHT, Teresa David, DO, Gus Gustavson, RN
• UHMS Accreditation, from A to Z Presentation and Panel - Chris llen MD, Neil Gerst CHT
• Preventing Shallow Water AGE During Scuba Training - Seth Tufvesson, LtCol (USMC), CHT, EMT-P
• Advancing Safety in Hyperbaric Medicine: Recent Projects and Future Initiatives by the UHMS Safety Committee - Andrew Melnyczenko, BSHCA, CHT

Lecture Descriptions and Objectives:

1. Discussion about the concept of lowering safety standards based on a history of no incidents with examples of incidents in space travel, hyperbaric medicine, and aviation that result in deaths and/or serious injury. The learner will have awareness of the concept of normalization of deviance from safety compliance will make hyperbaric medicine safer.
2. What do you do if you have to abort a patient's treatment and the Inside Attendant has a decompression obligation? We will discuss the possible scenarios and best practices to help mitigate decompression sickness risk to your Inside Attendant while providing the best care to your patients. Using the common rules in the US Navy Dive Manual, Gray has developed an easy to use flowchart to manage omitted decompression for your Inside Attendants in the extremely unlikely event they must omit decompression to save a patient's life.
3. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO2) is well-defined by the UHMS in the 15th edition of the Hyperbaric Medicine Indications Manual. Despite this, there are other entities to purport HBO2 even though they do not meet definition of HBO2.  Often called “mild hyperbarics” or “soft chamber hyperbarics,” these proprietors promote the benefits of HBO2 despite not adhering to UHMS safety standards.  There are also facilities that use clinical HBO2 for off-label indications that have little to no support.  This session looks at the state of our field in the Pacific Chapter and discusses the way forward. Learners will be able to fully understand the status of hyperbaric medicine in their communities and will gain knowledge on how to better educate the population on true HBO2.  
4. A brief overview of accreditation with a focus on tips and lessons learned from facilities that have been accredited as well as members of the accreditation team to help YOU consider getting accredited at your facility. The learner will be able to:
   • Understand how to find information about accreditation and prepare at their facility
   • Understand the levels of accreditation and periodicity of renewal
   • Describe the different categories of accreditation requirements
   • Review top tips to prepare for accreditation
5. We explore the causes of arterial gas embolism pertaining to pulmonary over pressurization. It links AGE requirements to potential risk factors during diving training and explores case studies to provide insight that can equip diving professionals with methods to reduce risks. 
6. Delve into the critical work undertaken by the UHMS Safety Committee to enhance safety standards within hyperbaric medicine. We will explore recent projects that have significantly improved safety protocols and practices, highlighting key achievements and lessons learned. Additionally, the presentation will outline future initiatives aimed at further advancing safety measures, ensuring the well-being of both patients and healthcare professionals in hyperbaric environments.

Estimated time to complete this activity: 4 hours

Termination Date: October 7, 2028 

Registration: 
Non-Member: $90
Regular UHMS Member: $70.00
Associate UHMS Member: $50.00

Accreditation Statement: The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Designation Statements:

Physician CME: The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society designates this enduring material for a maximum of 4.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nursing/RRT Contact Hours: Approved for 4.00 contact hours. Wound Care Education Partners is a Florida based company and a licensed CE Provider through the Florida State Board of Nursing and the CE is reciprocal for nurses in the United States. Florida nursing credits are reciprocal and approved for nurses within all states. Receiving credit for Florida providers is simple, attend the course and our staff will upload your credits directly to the Florida State database. For out of state credit, we provide the necessary paperwork for you to file with the respective nursing board.

NBDHMT: This live activity is approved for 4.00 Category A credit credit hours by National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology, P.O. Box 758, Pelion, South Carolina 29123.   

NBDHMT Accreditation Statement: For CHT recertification purposes, the NBDHMT requires a minimum of nine of the minimum 12 required Category A credits relate directly to any combination of hyperbaric operations, related technical aspects and chamber safety.

Full Disclosure Statement: All faculty members and planners participating in continuing medical education activities sponsored by Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society are expected to disclose to the participants any relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies. Full disclosure of faculty and planner relevant financial relationships will be made at the activity.

Disclosure: The following individuals have disclosed a relevant financial relationship with ineligible companies. Financial relationships are relevant if the following three conditions are met for the individual who will control content of the education:

A financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company and;

• The content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship and;
• The financial relationship existed during the past 24 months.
• All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated 

 None of the individuals in control of content (planners/faculty/reviewers/authors) for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

No commercial support was received for this activities:

Disclaimer: The information provided at this CME activity is for Continuing Medical Education purposes only. The lecture content, statements or opinions expressed however, do not necessarily represent those of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society.

CME For MOC Program Guide Designation Statements for ABMS Boards

Required instructions to learners on how to obtain CME for MOC

CME For MOC points are earned through completing a comprehensive evaluation component that assesses individual learner competence, performance, and/or the impact on patient outcomes. Some boards require evaluation feedback that will include a summary of what was discussed and the best next steps for the learner. The evaluation feedback will be provided to you upon submitting the evaluation form.

As an accredited ACCME provider, the UHMS is now responsible to submit physician learner CME credits into the ACCME PARS system. However, it is the physician’s responsibility to submit the necessary information required to match with the ACCME PARS system. It is also the physicians responsibility to check with their respective board(s) to see that the credits were applied accordingly.

American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA)

“This activity contributes to the CME component of the American Board of Anesthesiology’s redesigned Maintenance of Certification in AnesthesiologyTM (MOCA®) program, known as MOCA 2.0®. Please consult the ABA website, www.theABA.org, for a list of all MOCA 2.0 requirements.”

American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)***

“Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 4.00 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.”

American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (ABOHNS) ***

“Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn their required annual part II self-assessment credit in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s Continuing Certification program (formerly known as MOC). It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of recognizing participation.”

American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) ***

“Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery’s Maintenance of Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABOS credit."

American Board of Pathology (ABPath)

This activity has been registered to offer 4.00 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM towards the American Board of Pathology’s Continuing Certification program Lifelong Learning credits.

American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) *** 

“Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn up to 4.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABP MOC credit.”

American Board of Surgery (ABS) ***

“Successful completion of this CME activity [which includes participation in the evaluation component], enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME [and Self-Assessment] requirement(s) of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABS credit."

American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) ***

“Successful completion of this CME activity [which includes participation in the evaluation component,] enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME [and Self-Assessment] of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery’s Maintenance of Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABTS credit."

***Will require evaluation feedback