After October 7, demand surged, with up to fifty soldiers treated daily, making the center one of Israel’s busiest facilities.
By Hezy Laing
Israel’s Navy Institute for Maritime Medicine in Haifa has become one of the most important rehabilitation centers for wounded IDF soldiers since the October 7 war.
The hyperbaric chambers, originally designed in the 1970s by Col. (res.) Dr. Yehuda Melamed to treat diving accidents, now serve dozens of soldiers every day.
Patients spend two hours inside breathing pure oxygen under high pressure, a treatment that accelerates healing of burns, amputations, blast injuries, and hearing damage.
The IDF began systematically expanding the use of hyperbaric medicine after 2019, when Maj. M., an audiologist, developed Israel’s first protocol for acoustic trauma.
This was formally adopted in 2023, just months before Hamas’s attack.
After October 7, demand surged, with up to fifty soldiers treated daily, making the Haifa center one of Israel’s busiest facilities.
The chambers can accommodate twelve patients at a time, and the therapy stimulates blood vessel growth, bone regeneration, and tissue repair while reducing inflammation and infection risk.
The effectiveness of the technique is striking.
A recent study found that eighty‑eight percent of soldiers treated within seven days of injury regained significant hearing, and sixty percent were able to return to combat service.
In amputation cases, hyperbaric therapy has allowed surgeons to perform lower amputations, preserving mobility and improving prosthetic outcomes.
Without this treatment, recovery from severe blast injuries or amputations could take months longer, with higher risks of infection, chronic pain, and permanent disability.
Hearing loss, in particular, is often irreversible without early hyperbaric intervention.
The stories of individual soldiers illustrate the impact.
Staff Sgt. Y., gravely injured in Jenin when a massive explosive detonated beneath his armored vehicle, underwent surgery at Rambam Hospital before being transferred to the hyperbaric chamber.
Although doctors ultimately amputated his leg, the treatments allowed the procedure to be less severe than expected, giving him a better chance at rehabilitation.
Today, fitted with a prosthetic, he has returned to marathon training and plans to rejoin the army.
Staff Sgt. (res.) M., a paramedic from Tel Aviv, nearly lost his hearing after an explosion during a firefight.
After fifteen hyperbaric treatments, his hearing was fully restored, enabling him to return to his unit in March 2024.
Beyond the medical benefits, soldiers describe the chamber as a place of emotional healing.
Sitting together for hours, they share experiences and support one another.
As one soldier explained, the chamber provided perspective and helped him recover mentally as much as physically.
Since October 7, thousands of soldiers have benefited from this therapy, which has become a cornerstone of Israel’s modern military medicine, dramatically improving recovery rates and giving fighters the chance to reclaim their lives.
