Cincinnati - Laurie Beth Gesell, M.D., medical director, The University Hospital Center for Hyperbaric Medicine, has been elected president of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) for 2007. UHMS is an international, non-profit organization composed of diving and hyperbaric scientists and physicians and the advisory arm for insurance and government regulatory and protocol policy. The president acts as chief executive officer of the organization, which has approximately 2,000 members in approximately 60 countries.

Hyperbaric medicine is the use of 100 percent pure oxygen in a pressurized treatment chamber to treat a variety of disorders, including problem wounds and decompression sickness.

As president of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, Dr. Gesell will act as the chairperson of the Board of Directors and oversee the actions of the Society, which include:

-providing a forum for professional scientific communication among individuals and groups involved in basic and applied studies concerned with life sciences and human factors aspects of the undersea environment and hyperbaric medicine

-promoting cooperation between the life sciences and other disciplines concerned with undersea activity and hyperbaric medicine

-developing and promoting educational activities and other programs for the society, as well as physicians and allied health professionals, divers, diver technicians and the public at large

-providing a source of information and support in the clinical practice of hyperbaric medicine and to stay abreast of legislative, legal and regulatory changes in the field

-providing a means by which hyperbaric facility directors/owners will have an opportunity to request an accreditation survey of their facility for safety, staffing and verifying the adequacy of the professional medical application of hyperbaric therapy.

Dr. Gesell is board certified in emergency medicine and is the only physician in Greater Cincinnati to be board certified in hyperbaric medicine. She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Cincinnati and director of the Division of Hyperbaric Medicine.

Dr. Gesell received her medical degree from the University of Medicine & Dentistry in New Jersey. She completed her residency and fellowship in toxicology and hyperbaric medicine at The University Hospital.

The University Hospital Center for Hyperbaric Medicine is the most experienced hyperbaric facility in the Tristate. Since it opened in 1987, the Center has expanded its services to include three new Sechrist hyperbaric oxygen chambers and a full staff of doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and a nurse case manager. The Center treats patients for disorders ranging from radiation injury to wound problems to carbon monoxide poisoning. It is the only hyperbaric center in the area equipped to handle emergency cases.

The University Hospital is part of the Health Alliance, an integrated health care delivery system that also includes The Christ Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital, Drake Center, West Chester Medical Center and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care. To view other Health Alliance news releases, go to www.health-alliance.com/pressroom.

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