St Kitts and Nevis: PM Drew visits CDA, expects revolutionary change in healthcare

The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew had a tour to CDA Technical Institute of the West Indies on Friday to check on the ‘hyperbaric chambers’. He was accompanied by his advisor, Austin Edinborough.

The tour was hosted by Capt Ray Black, the Owner and Director of the Hyperbaric Chambers, and CEO McClean Hobson.

PM Drew explored the transformative capabilities of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which is a method involving patients breathing in 100% pure oxygen in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber.

The therapy is expected to be one of a kind, considering its potential to cure ailments like diabetic complications such as poor circulation and ulcerated feet.

The chamber will also be able to cater for the curing of conditions like carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, gas gangrene as well as radiation injury.

HBOT is used to speed up healing of the ailments or infections that does not heal normally because the tissues are starved of oxygen. A patient is required to enter these chambers and breathe oxygen 1.5 to 3 times higher hence providing the blood with enough oxygen to fulfil the required need of oxygen for healing. It helps to boost one’s immune system by blocking the action of harmful bacteria and as the cells gets enriched by oxygen, further infections are resisted as well as formation of new collagen and skin cells are encouraged.

Such methods were mainly used earlier as a cure for decompression sickness in navy or scuba divers, but they can also prove to be extremely beneficial for the above-mentioned ailments and have promising scope in changing the methods of medical treatment.

The Institute boasts of the world’s largest collection of hyperbaric chambers and hence has goals to bring about a revolutionizing change in the healthcare industry of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

There were several discussions on collaborating closely with government to achieve the goals of revival of this old used method and using it for the betterment of the healthcare sector in Saint Kitts and Nevis.