Chapter Town Hall 2025: Pacific Chapter: Safety
*YOU FIRST MUST LOG IN OR REGISTER YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION*
Virtual: PT: 9am; MT: 10am: CT:11am; ET: 12pm
FEES:
MEMBER: Physician/PhD or Equivalent - $70
MEMBER: Non-Physician/Resident/Fellow/Student - $50
NON-MEMBER: Physician/PhD or Equivalent - $90
NON-MEMBER: Non-Physician/Resident/Fellow/Student - $70
Sponsorships are welcome. Contact uhms@uhms.org
UHMS Cancellation/Refund Policy: $100 administrative fee will be held on all MEETING(S)/COURSE(S) cancellations from the time you register, until 60 days prior to the meeting/course date. From 59 days to one (1) month prior, 50% of fees will be held on all cancellations. NO REFUNDS will be issued one (1) month before or after the meeting/course date.
Event Properties
| Event Start Date | 08-09-2025 |
| Event End Date | 08-09-2025 |
| Location | Virtual platform |
| Categories | UHMS Directly Provided Meeting |
Andrew Melnyczenko
CHT
Read Bio
Andrew Melnyczenko's combined military and civilian experience in Hyperbaric Medicine spans 23 years. He is the Technical and Safety Director of the Hyperbaric and Altitude Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic. He is also a UHMS member and serves as the chair of the UHMS safety committee. Andrew’s professional interests lie in education, emergency preparedness, and advancing the practical use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Anthony Johnston
ACHRN
Read Bio
RN since 1997, HBO RN since 2000. Hyperbaric Safety Director. Selected for inaugural Publishing chair for Baromedical Nurses Association 2018. Hyperbaric and wound care Registered Nurse at UCHealth, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
Brenda Freymiller
BSN, CWOCN, CWS
Read Bio
Brenda Freymiller is a Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse from Salt Lake City, UT. She has been a WOC Nurse for 20 years.
Chris Allen
MD
Read Bio
Dr. Allen is a physician in the San Francisco Bay Area practicing in Emergency Medicine, hyperbaric medicine and wound care. He is the assistant medical director of hyperbaric medicine at John Muir Walnut Creek, a monoplace inpatient facility.
Gray Ladd
CHT
Read Bio
Gray Ladd is a retired Navy Diver after 24 years of active duty service. He was stationed all over the nation and performed UWSH, Salvage, Readiness and Training, Combat Swimmer, and Special Warfare with an emphasis on Mixed Gas diving, Operational Risk Management, and diving and hyperbaric systems. After the military, he studied Fire Science and NFPA code compliance and worked as a Firefighter/EMT for a year. During that time he kept his foot in the waters of hyperbarics and diving as he worked part time at Virginia Masons' Center for Hyperbaric Medicine (CHM). Gray assumed the full time role as Hyperbaric Engineer and Safety Director at VMMCs' large 24 person multiplace CHM in the summer of 2022 where he continues to work to this day.
Jacquline Hocking
CHT
Read Bio
Jacquline started her career in hyperbaric medicine in 2015 at UCSD. In 2020, she relocated to Portland, where she was the technical and safety director at Legacy Emanuel until they closed in 2024. In 2024, she accepted a job at Intermountain Health-St. George, Utah.
Leo Tanaka
MD
Read Bio
Leo Tanaka is a former Air Force senior flight surgeon, dive medical officer, and pararescue medical director. His interests are in immersion pulmonary edema and special operations dive medicine, with presentations given at the Special Operations Medical Scientific Assembly and posters discussed at the UHMS annual conference. He is also well-versed in medical standards, helping create the first special warfare medical standards for the United States Air Force (USAF). He looks to build further evidence for the UHM field, to include further developments to a hyperbaric registry and to advance acceptance of further indications for HBOT.
Maria-Teresa David
MD
Read Bio
Dr. Maria-Teresa David is an experienced primary care provider with medical expertise in preventive care, chronic conditions, undersea and hyperbaric medicine, and wound care. She sees patients ages 18 and up. Dr. David has experience in caring for the most critically ill patients in hospital intensive care settings, as well as veterans and active-duty service members. She is dedicated to providing thorough exams and consultations to every patient, ensuring she understands their needs to help them achieve their health goals. She has a special interest in deep sea diving and the medical conditions that can arise from it. Dr. David received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Nova Southeastern in Miami Beach, Florida. She is board-certified in internal medicine and undersea and hyperbaric medicine.
Richard Gustavson
MPH, RN, CHRNC-A, CHT-A, CRT, UHMSADS
Read Bio
Richard, widely knows by the nickname, "Gus", has over fourty-eight years experience in clinical, supervisory, teaching, staff and middle management positions in acute care hospitals.
This experience includes forty years as a Respiratory Therapist, twenty years as EMT-I, twenty-three years as a Naval Reserve Hospital Corpsman, twenty-three years in Hyperbaric Medicine, eighteen years’ experience in wound and burn care, and nineteen years as a Registered Nurse.
Experience in hyperbaric medicine has included Technical Director, Program Director, Nurse Manager and Critical Care Educator specific to hyperbaric medicine.
Member and Special Expert for the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 99 Technical Committee, Hyperbaric and Hypobaric Facilities –March 20, 2023 to Present
Currently, Gus teaches hyperbaric medicine across the U.S. and beyond, serves as the Principle for R.B. Gustavson Consultants, LLC, and is studying with Walden University Online, looking forward to earning his Doctor of Public Health.
Seth Tufvesson
BS, CHT, DMT
Read Bio
Seth is the Hyperbaric Program Lead and Safety Director for Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, CA.He is an avid diver with more than 5000 logged commercial and recreational dives overthe past 23 years. During his last commercial assignment, he was a minefield maintenance diver contracted by the US Navy. He is an active status Course Director through the Professional Association of Diving Instructors and has certified more than 100 Scuba Instructors and Divemasters. Seth is also a reservist in the US Marine Corps, trained as an unmanned aircraft systems officer and forward air controller; he recently relinquished command of 3D Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company.
| 12:00-12:05 pm |
Introduction/CE Requirements: Leo Tanaka, MD |
| 12:05-12:35 |
Normalization of Deviance in a Safety Culture: Gus Gustavson, MPH, RN, CHRNC-A, CHT-A, CRT, UHMSADSRead Description
Discussion about the concept of lowering safety standards based on a history of no incidents with examples of incidents in space travel, hyperbarics and aviation that result in deaths and/or serious injury.
|
| 12:35-1:05 |
Management of Inside Attendant Omitted Decompression: Gray Ladd, CHTRead Description
What do you do if you have to abort a patient's treatment and the Inside Attendant has a decompression obligation? We will discuss the possible scenarios and best practices to help mitigate decompression sickness risk to your Inside Attendant while providing the best care to your patients. Using the common rules in the US Navy Dive Manual, Gray has developed an easy to use flowchart to manage omitted decompression for your Inside Attendants in the extremely unlikely event they must omit decompression to save a patient's life.
|
| 1:05-2:05 |
Field of Safety in HBO2- Soft Chamber to Off-Label and their Effects on our Field
|
| 3:40-4:10 |
Advancing Safety in Hyperbaric Medicine: Recent Projects and Future Initiatives by the UHMS Safety Committee: Andrew Melnyczenko, BSHCA, CHTRead Description
This lecture will delve into the critical work undertaken by the Committee to enhance safety standards within hyperbaric medicine.
We will explore recent projects that have significantly improved safety protocols and practices, highlighting key achievements and lessons learned. Additionally, the presentation will outline future initiatives aimed at further advancing safety measures, ensuring the well-being of both patients and healthcare professionals in hyperbaric environments.
|
| 2:10-3:10 |
UHMS Accreditation, from A to Z
|
| 3:10-3:40 |
Preventing Shallow Water AGE During Scuba Training: Seth Tufvesson, LtCol (USMC), CHT, EMT-PRead Description
This lecture explores the causes of arterial gas embolism pertaining to pulmonary over pressurization. It links AGE requirements to potential risk factors during diving training and explores case studies to provide insight that can equip diving professionals with methods to reduce risks.
|