What can I claim secondary to pulmonary barotrauma?
1 condition in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list pulmonary barotrauma as a factor. If DVA has accepted your pulmonary barotrauma, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionPulmonary barotrauma
- Conditions it may open1
- SourceRMA SoPs
- Chart Review$600 + GST
How a secondary claim works
Some Statement of Principles factors are not about service at all — they name another condition. Where DVA has already accepted your pulmonary barotrauma, and another condition's SoP lists pulmonary barotrauma as a factor, that part of the next claim is already established on your file. How a secondary claim works, in full →
Conditions that list pulmonary barotrauma as a factor
Quoted from the instrument. A pathway existing is not the same as a claim succeeding — each factor carries thresholds your record has to satisfy.
Cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
RH No. 45 of 2024 · BoP No. 46 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (25): “having one of the following non-cardiac causes of cerebral arterial embolism at the time of the clinical onset: (a) aortic arch atherosclerosis; (b) decompression sickness; (c) endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography; (d) pulmonary barotrauma; (e) severe bone trauma; (f) thrombus formation within the pulmonary vein, or arteries supplying the affected area of the brain” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (22): “having one of the following non-cardiac causes of cerebral arterial embolism at the time of clinical onset; (a) aortic arch atherosclerosis; (b) decompression sickness; (c) endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography; (d) pulmonary barotrauma; (e) severe bone trauma; (f) thrombus formation within the pulmonary vein, or arteries supplying the affected area of the brain” [clinical onset]
Other accepted conditions that also open cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
If any of these is also on your file, it reaches some of the same conditions pulmonary barotrauma does.
What DVA means by pulmonary barotrauma
A claim is tested against the definition first. If the diagnosis on your file does not meet this wording, the factors below never get reached — so it is worth checking that what your doctor wrote matches what the instrument requires.
Pulmonary barotrauma, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, pulmonary barotrauma: (a) means an acute lung injury arising from an abnormal pressure gradient across pulmonary tissues resulting in pulmonary haemorrhage from pulmonary compression, or air leakage into the pleural space (pneumothorax), the pericardial space (pneumopericardium), the peritoneal space (pneumoperitoneum), under the skin (subcutaneous emphysema) or into the blood (arterial gas embolism); and (b) includes: (i) iatrogenic pulmonary barotrauma; (ii) explosive blast injury; (iii) pulmonary barotrauma due to forceful coughing, vomiting, forceful Valsalva or Muller manoeuvres; (iv) pulmonary barotrauma of ascent; (v) pulmonary barotrauma of descent also known as lung or thoracic squeeze; and (vi) pulmonary barotrauma to abnormal pulmonary conditions such as bulla, blebs and cysts; and (c) excludes: (i) decompression sickness; (ii) arterial gas embolism due to decompression sickness; and (iii) pneumothorax, pneumopericardium, pneumoperitoneum, and arterial gas embolism due to non-pressure causes such as lung disease, and penetrating trauma including surgery.
Aggravation-only factors. In this instrument, subsections 9(6) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, pulmonary barotrauma where it was already present before or during service. If service caused pulmonary barotrauma outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 64 of 2023 · BoP No. 65 of 2023 · 5 factors
Reviewed by Dr Thomas Perkins
Founding doctor, Veterans Health Centre · former RAAF aviation medical officer · 13 years working exclusively with ADF members and veterans. Full profile →
Pulmonary barotrauma accepted?
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