The Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) has announced the temporary closure of the hyperbaric chamber at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, citing a shortage of qualified staff required to safely operate the facility. The chamber, which provides life-saving recompression treatment for divers suffering from decompression illness, will remain offline until at least 1 February 2026, according to an official statement from the BHB.
The closure, reported by both the Royal Gazette and Bernews, affects both elective and emergency cases. BHB explained that the temporary shutdown was unavoidable due to the lack of qualified patient-diving attendants, personnel essential to operate the chamber safely during treatments. Recruitment and training efforts are currently underway, but the hospital acknowledged that restoring full service will take time.
The implications for divers are serious. Without a functioning recompression chamber, Bermuda is unable to provide local hyperbaric treatment for diving-related injuries such as decompression sickness (DCS) or arterial gas embolism. In an island nation renowned for its wrecks and coral reefs, this gap in medical capability leaves the local dive community and visiting divers particularly vulnerable.
This situation ties directly into what The Scuba News recently examined in Divers, Be Aware: The Crisis Continues in Emergency Hyperbaric Treatment Availability. Around the world, divers are finding it increasingly difficult to access operational decompression chambers, whether due to funding, maintenance issues, or as seen in Bermuda, shortages of trained staff.
For divers, every minute matters when dealing with decompression illness. Prompt access to recompression therapy can mean the difference between full recovery and permanent injury. In remote or island locations, chamber availability is not a luxury, it is an essential component of dive safety infrastructure.
The Bermuda Hospitals Board has urged divers to plan cautiously and stay informed about current medical support options. Until local capacity is restored, emergency hyperbaric treatment may require medical evacuation overseas, which is costly, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous for symptomatic divers.
This latest closure underscores an urgent, global issue. As the diving industry grows and more divers explore remote destinations, the shrinking network of operational hyperbaric facilities presents a mounting risk. Whether through international cooperation, better funding, or coordinated training programs, the call for sustainable hyperbaric support worldwide has never been clearer.
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