C
ozumel, Mexico, is one of the world’s top
recreational dive destinations, and a new facility
aims to provide divers there with the highest
level of medical care.
The Costamed Hyperbaric Center, which
opened in November 2013, was immediately
accepted as a Preferred Provider in DAN’s new
Recompression Chamber Network.
“A lot of effort and resources were put into the
project to comply with — and even surpass —
international standards,” said Jorge Dario Gomez
Castillo, M.D., a hyperbaric medicine specialist who
serves as medical director for the chamber at the
Costamed Medical Group’s Cozumel Medical Center
(costamed.com.mx).
This is not Cozumel’s only hyperbaric chamber, but
this new hospital-based multiplace chamber, which
accommodates up to 10 patients, raises the region’s
profile in dive medicine. “There are so many divers in
Cozumel at any given time that knowing there is this
full-service hyperbaric facility instills a great deal of
confidence,” said Matias Nochetto, M.D., director of DAN’s
Recompression Chamber Network. “I would go so far as to
say that of the approximately 40 chambers in the Caribbean
and Central and South America, this one is certainly among
the top five in terms of build quality,” Nochetto said.
While the chamber itself is important, the setting is
crucial because diagnosing decompression sickness is as
much about determining what’s not wrong as what is.
“Many things can happen before, during or after diving
that do not warrant a chamber or a hyperbaric medicine
specialist. Shoulder pain following a dive could be DCS,
but it could also be a heart attack, and it’s the heart attack
that needs to be ruled out first,” Nochetto said.
That’s why DAN advises its members in trouble
go to the closest hospital, not necessarily the closest
hyperbaric chamber. Hospital-based chambers are
the best of both worlds. “Being able to bring in many
different specialists to check a patient and help you
rule things out is a luxury not many recompression
chambers in the Caribbean have. It makes the whole
process much more efficient, and it ensures the best
possible care for the patient,” Nochetto said. Gomez
Castillo concurs, noting the excellence of Costamed’s
staff and training. “The human resources coupled with
the right technology is always the best combination.”
Since the new chamber became operational, 17
divers have been evaluated for possible decompression
sickness and two have received recompression
treatment after DCS was confirmed.
“DAN’s new Recompression Chamber Network Preferred
Provider designation means that not only is the diver at a
facility we trust, but also the hospital administration has
agreed to make the admission and treatment fees a nonissue
for our members. All the member needs to do is walk in,
receive care and walk out,” said Nochetto.
The Preferred Provider designation is important to
the Costamed facility, Gomez Castillo said. “It is a big
honor to be one of the first facilities in the new network
and to represent DAN in a dive destination as popular as
Cozumel. This comes with great responsibility, too, which
makes us work hard every day to provide the best medical
care that DAN members and all our patients deserve.”
— Karen Quist
24
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SPRING 2014
A New Chamber in Cozumel
Cozumel is home to a new, state-of-
the-art chamber. The chamber resides
at Costamed Medical Group’s Cozumel
Medical Center, a full-service medical
facility, which improves divers’ access to
advanced diagnostic capabilities and the
expertise of a variety of specialists.
COURTESY COSTAMED
COURTESY COSTAMED
