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Le Centre de médecine de plongée du Québec celebrate 5 years of activities.

2009-04-21 18:28 par Administrateur

In 1997, the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) put in place an expert comity in charge of reviewing the rules and regulations for professional diving in Québec. This comity met on several times during the past 10 years and proposed new rules and regulations which were finally adopted in 2007. One of these recommendations proposed was the implementation of a diver’s emergency hotline which would ensure the proper care and services given during an emergency and also during the intervention. The Centre de médecine de plongée du Québec (CMPQ) was implemented in May 2004.  This centre’s objective was to help professional and sport divers alike in need during emergencies and also to give important information during the planning of emergency contingency plan. The CMPQ has a team of 7 level II hyperbaric and diving physicians and a diving and hyperbaric specialist co-ordinator. The Centre is located at the Centre hospitalier affilié universitaire Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis and it is associated with l’hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal and their hyperbaric medicine services.

Since its implementation, the CMPQ’s team has successfully put in place numerous services available to the sport diving community and the professional divers. Here are some of the services provided:

  • an emergency hotline available 24/7, 365 days a year for diving emergencies;
  • emergency contingency plans;
  • hyperbaric treatment protocols;
  • the rapid response and coordination of municipal, regional and provincial emergency services in the event of a diving emergency;
  • a delegated medical act for hyperbaric chamber operator, allowing them to initiate a hyperbaric treatment for professional divers in remote area;
  • a basic training on hyperbaric medicine for physicians;
  • the implementation of the first hyperbaric stretcher in Canada at Les Escoumins;
  • the acquisition of the first rectangular triple lock hyperbaric chamber in Canada.

Since its opening, the CMPQ answered over 900 demands, from general information to medical evacuation for a stricken diver in need of a hyperbaric treatment. The CMPQ has also coordinate the repatriation a young female diver needing immediate medical help from a major medical condition which she recovered without any sequels.

Another tool that is providing essential information to the diving community is our internet web site www.cmpq.org. This web site offers all the necessary documentation and information in order to implement emergency contingency plans. It also offers general information on diving and hyperbaric medicine and the lastest CMPQ news. This web site is visited over 21 000 times a year and has visitor form everywhere around the world. 

The CMPQ offers free information and emergency services to every diver in Quebec and outside the province. The information given to divers are essentials for the implementation of their emergency contingency plans; moreover, it gives them a sense of insurance and confidence towards our services.

The essential financial partnership between the CSST and MSSS allows the CMPQ to operate. Our quality professional medical coverage is guaranteed with the support of the provincial healthcare communication centres providing response time for emergency services, Air Médic and the Fédération québécoise des activités subaquatiques.  The CMPQ would not be able to operate without the full support of the CHAU Hôtel Dieu de Lévis. The CMPQ physicians and the co-ordinator are always seeking the better themselves in order to be ahead in diving and hyperbaric medicine.

 

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