HBOT for First Responders
Rocky Mountain Hyperbaric Association for Brain Injuries’ HBOT for First Responders program assists first responders who have suffered a brain injury in the line of duty with grants to help pay for HBOT treatments.
According to the CDC, over 2.8 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) every year. Brain injuries can be mild to severe and those who survive a TBI can have symptoms (headaches and cognition issues, for example) that linger for months or years. First responders (law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and other first responder personnel) are at risk of motor vehicle crashes, assaults, blast, and being struck by on-coming traffic – all of which can result in a brain injury. A TBI can be caused by a direct blow to the head, concussive waves by a blast or shaking or jarring to the head, like whiplash. These assaults to the brain can cause shearing of axions (connections) and tearing of small blood vessels in the brain. This shearing and tearing may not be detected in normal brain imaging. HBOT can assist in the repairing of the axions and blood vessels.
The HBOT for First Responders Program assists first responders, who have suffered a brain injury while in the line of duty, with financial assistance for HBOT treatments.
HBOT For First Responders
HBOT is capable of enhancing the arterial partial pressure of oxygen, improving oxygen delivery and increasing oxygen supply to brain tissue, reducing cerebral edema, alleviating post-concussive neuroinflammation, improving the microcirculation of an anoxic area and reducing cerebral hypoxia-ischemia and is also confirmed favorable to neurogenesis and angiogenesis.
How the Program Works
First responders can face many challenges when responding to a call. Unfortunately, some of those incidents can lead to a responder getting hurt. Whether it’s smoke inhalation, being struck in the head or some other event that causes trauma to the brain, hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be a complementary therapy to existing brain injury treatment protocol. Our HBOT for First Responders program assists those who qualify with scholarships to help pay for HBOT treatments.