From the Prez

10 January 2008

All Members,

I hope that 2007 has been as great a year for you as it has been for Hyperbaric Medicine, Diving Medicine, Certification and the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology (NBDHMT). Certified Hyperbaric Technologists (CHT’s), Certified Hyperbaric Registered Nurses (CHRN’s) and Certified Diving Technicians (DMT’s) are being recognized, now more than ever, as the “cream of the crop” in their respective fields and are a much sought after professional addition to any medical staff. We now have over 700 active hyperbaric medicine facilities and 78 of those have achieved credentialing through the UHMS facility credentialing program. These numbers speak highly of the respect and recognition that this field continues to achieve throughout the medical community. Staffing, of course, has increased to coincide with these numbers and certified CHT’s, CHRN’s and DMT’s are a much sought after addition to those staffs and in many cases and facilities a basic requirement. Diving companies continue to require Diving Medical Technicians certified through the NBDHMT aboard their diving platforms, ships and ground based facilities. The NBDHMT administered 341 certification examinations during the year with 84% of those “sitting” the exam attaining their certification. That includes 218 CHT’s and 69 CHRN’s. We also certified 161 DMT’s during the same time period. The total number of individuals sitting the certification exams since our inception now total 1542 CHT’s, 574 CHRN’s and 1300 DMT’s.

Planning is now underway to provide certification for those veterinarian personnel practicing hyperbaric medicine in their field. This, not before recognized field of hyperbaric medicine, continues to show an astronomical growth and we hope to recognize that growth during this next calendar year. We continue to work on a certification for hyperbaric safety trained personnel. While this area has had many ups and downs in the past we feel confidant that we can provide this certification during this next calendar year also.

The most immediate job that the NBDHMT has is to update our test question banks and consequently improve our certification examinations. Individuals appointed by the NBDHMT are hard at work on this project and we hope to have the new test banks and certification exams “on line” by summer. Continue to watch this page for a possible change to our recertification due date policy
I hope that you have a great 2008!

Paul C. Baker, CHT
NBDHMT, President