The recompression chamber in Sharm el Sheikh has been in place since March 1993. It was the result of a lot of talks by Dr. Adel Taher and various agencies. Finally the construction and installation of the chamber was funded by USAID, which is an American agency, and the running of the chamber came under the Ministry of Tourism for Egypt. |
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| The chamber itself was build in the USA and already installed in the container when it arrived in Egypt. A second container with the air and oxygen banks was connected to it on site. To finalize the installation, only the power supply from the compressor container was hooked up and some piping and plumbing was necessary. | |
| The location is across the road from the main jetty of Sharm el Mena. When it was first installed it had no access to any water or electric supply, and had to run full time on its emergency generators. The generaotrs were using 2,000L of fuel a month, for which no money had been allocated. | |
| The shortage of money to run the chamber was a major concern for the main dive centres. Which resulted in the voluntary contribution of $1 a day to help. | |
| Donations of medical supplies were always welcome and the introduction of Nitrox filling at the Red Sea Diving College helped with the supply of Oxygen. As the College supplied all the Oxygen for the chamber for years. They added the chambers cylinders to their order from Cairo everytime they went. | |
A few old pictures from the construction days of the chamber. Things are looking a lot better now |
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| The chamber container complex - rear view. You can see the two connected containers in the rear. Towards you is the compressor container and some wood boxes from the last shipment of medical goods from the USA. |  |
| The construction site behind the chamber containers. It now has apartment housings for the diving doctors on call, seminar rooms, more sophisticated medical treatment rooms. |  |
| The chamber inside. If you are so close to the chamber, we really hope that you are on visit here and not because you need it. A single U.S.Navy table 6 treatment plan takes you to 60 feet and takes as long as 4 h and 45 min, while you will breathe pure oxygen during several intervals. Hyperbaric medical treatment is not covered through conventional healthcare insurance plans, so be sure to carry valid diving accident insurance (like the one included in DAN Europe membership) whenever you dive abroad. |
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| From opening to October 2001 the chamber has successfully treated over 550 severe cases of DCI. The staff comprises two full time specialists. Dr Adel Taher, Consultant in diving medicine, led the implementation and development of the chamber. He is the Director of both the chamber and DAN-Egypt/ME and a member of UHMS and EUBS. Dr Ahmed Sakr has been working as Assistant Director and has gained a vast experience in the management of diving accidents. The chamber is working closely together with the new Search and Rescue Center (SAR) which is located just over the road from the chamber. |  |
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