BOCA RATON, Florida (5 July 2007) -- An injured diver was airlifted to Miami after a scuba diving accident near Boca Raton. The 49-year-old male diver had to be taken to Miami because a local chamber terminated emergency hyperbaric treatment four days ago. The man was scuba diving off a private boat and experienced symptoms consistent with decompression sickness (the bends) shortly after he resurfaced. A rescue helicopter took the injured diver to Mercy Hospital in Miami. According to officials from the Boca Raton Fire Rescue unit, the injured diver is in serious but stable condition. Last week, officials at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach announced that its hyperbaric chamber would no longer be available on an emergency basis, thus closing the facility to divers suffering from decompression sickness. Hospital officials said they could no longer afford the expense of running the facility on an emergency basis. St. Mary's Medical Center lost $5 million last year. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK | 
