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NI diver chamber remains closed | |
(9 minutes later) | |
Northern Ireland's only NHS recompression chamber has still not opened despite being installed at the end of last year. | |
The new facility at Craigavon Area Hospital has been unused because of issues such as staff rotas. | |
Emergency staff had to fly a diver who got into difficulty off the County Down coast to hospital in the Isle of Man as the machine has not been commissioned. | |
The diver, aged in his 50s, is being treated in a hyperbaric chamber. | |
It provides recompression treatment for decompression illness. | |
The Bangor Coastguard said he was at a depth of 16m at Guns Island off Ballyhornan, County Down, when he had to surface quickly. | The Bangor Coastguard said he was at a depth of 16m at Guns Island off Ballyhornan, County Down, when he had to surface quickly. |
He was flown to Noble's Hospital after the incident on Thursday night. | He was flown to Noble's Hospital after the incident on Thursday night. |
Sammy Gordon, from the Portaferry lifeboat which answered the emergency call, said the man was confused and feeling ill. | Sammy Gordon, from the Portaferry lifeboat which answered the emergency call, said the man was confused and feeling ill. |
"He had been unconscious and was feeling rather poorly," he said. | "He had been unconscious and was feeling rather poorly," he said. |
The new recompression chamber at Craigavon was brought into the hospital last year, replacing one which had been in use since the 1970s. | |
The health trust said staff had been trained on the new machine, but cannot use it until operational procedures such as rotas are worked out. | |
It hopes the chamber will be available at the end of August. | |