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Hyperbaric operations are required onboard Space Station Freedom to treat decompression sickness, air embolism, and ebullism. These conditions may be encountered either during the normal course of extravehicular activity (EVA) or following a rapid decompression resulting from loss of pressurized element integrity or loss of space suit integrity. Hyperbaric treatment operations on board Space Station are essential to assure a continuing EVA capability. The Space Station Airlock provides the resources and equipment to accommodate hyperbaric operations, as well as a number of other operations including nominal EVA egress and ingress, prebreathing procedures, and space suit servicing. The Space Station Airlock has two chambers, the crewlock and the equipment lock. The crewlock is used as the hyperbaric chamber and can be pressurized to 41.1 psia for treatment.

Crew medical care will be one of the most essential provisions of the space station of the 1990's. Increased duration in space, reduced crew selectivity, and reduced return to earth capability all speak strongly for a complete set of medical instrumentation and supplies, countermeasures for space adaptation syndrome, and the capability to closely monitor the total environment in which the crew live and work. Foreseeing these needs, NASA has committed to the development of a Crew Health Care Element for Space Station Freedom. It consists of three systems: Health Maintenance Facility, Exercise Countermeasures Facility, and Environmental Health System. For the majority of the equipment to outfit these systems, space flight ready instruments do not exist. Therefore, commercial off the shelf items will have to be converted to flight certification levels and some will even have to be modified to accommodate the microgravity conditions of Space Station Freedom.