What is the standard initial treatment for suspected decompression sickness in an aeromedical transport patient?

• A. Administer 100% oxygen and arrange for rapid descent; definitive care with hyperbaric recompression.
• B. Administer 50% oxygen and delay descent
• C. Administer IV antibiotics
• D. Administer analgesics only

Answer: (A)

When decompression sickness is suspected during aeromedical transport, the priority is to treat the gas bubble problem quickly with oxygen and re-pressurization. Providing 100% oxygen at high flow speeds nitrogen washout from tissues and bubbles, improves oxygen delivery to impaired areas, and helps the body dissolve inert nitrogen more rapidly. Descending to a lower altitude increases ambient pressure, which compacts and dissolves the bubbles faster and reduces ongoing risk of progression. Hyperbaric recompression is the definitive therapy because placing the patient in a pressurized chamber directly reduces bubble size and promotes dissolution under high oxygen tension, addressing the root cause more effectively than any other intervention.

Options that use partial oxygen, antibiotics, or analgesics alone don’t address the gas bubbles or the pressure dynamics, and delaying descent or definitive care allows the condition to worsen.