Chamber Operators Qualify in the Isle of Man

Mon, 16 Mar 2026

Congratulations to Tommy, Sarah, Linda, Kenneth and John

History was recently made when 5 volunteers undertook the first ever Hyperbaric Chamber Operators training course to be held in the Isle of Man.

The course was conducted by Dave Alcock from the Emergency Services Training Centre in Birkenhead at no cost to HBOT IOM, the charity behind the newly installed hyperbaric chamber in Douglas. Dave has been a long term supporter of the charity and is the Honorary Technical Consultant, regularly visiting the Island to offer his expertise.

The five trainees undertook 5 days of studies in physiology, physics and the practical operation of the Haux Starmed 2200 hyperbaric chamber with all 5 reaching the required level of competence.

All five trainees agreed that it was a tremendous advantage to be able to be trained using their own plant room equipment, chamber and facility and with the excellent teaching of Dave Alcock the whole experience was both very enjoyable and rewarding.

Dave Alcock was very complimentary about the facilities saying, “This Chamber the island has is the Rolls Royce of hyperbaric chambers and at this time the best in the British Isles, and the Island should be very proud of what has been achieved”.

The five newly qualified operators will form one of the key teams needed to operate the chamber when it opens later this year but the charity advises that they still need further volunteers to train as both chamber operators, dive medic technicians and would very much like to hear from retired commercial divers, leisure divers and emergency services personnel, nurses, doctors and anyone with an interest in hyperbaric medicine. In addition, the charity would welcome any volunteers who can assist in general everyday tasks and volunteering fund raising events. If this is something of interest please do get in touch with the charity on hbotiomltd@gmail.com.