ABSTRACT
The medical monitoring of tunnel workers during hyperbaric interventions is part of medical surveillance and assessment of decompression procedures. 24 workers were selected and trained, 3 persons at a time worked under pressure, with a total of 186 records collected from 69 interventions. Working pressure ranged from 0.9 bar to 3.6 bar. The bottom time varied between 0:30 and 7:45 hours. Vital signs showed following changes after the surfacing: blood pressure was slightly reduced, heart rate increased, keeping all parameters within normal limits; psychologically the workers stayed positive. One case of bends was observed and successfully treated. Medical monitoring showed appropriate selection and training of personnel for the compressed air environment, the compression and decompression protocols were adequate.
