{"id":7020,"date":"2025-08-01T22:55:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T22:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regenerated.com\/blog\/can-you-bring-your-phone-in-a-hyperbaric-chamber\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T09:25:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T09:25:41","slug":"can-you-bring-your-phone-in-a-hyperbaric-chamber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regenerated.com\/blog\/can-you-bring-your-phone-in-a-hyperbaric-chamber\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Bring Your Phone in a Hyperbaric Chamber? (Fire Risk Explained)"},"content":{"rendered":"

You cannot bring your phone into a hyperbaric chamber. No exceptions. Smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, Bluetooth headphones, and all other battery-powered electronics are prohibited. Between 1923 and 1996, 77 people died in 35 hyperbaric chamber fires, and every fatal fire occurred in an oxygen-enriched atmosphere. A lithium-ion battery that overheats or sparks inside a pressurized, oxygen-rich chamber is a potential ignition source. The rule exists because people have died.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why can’t you bring electronics into a hyperbaric chamber?<\/h2>\n

Electronics are banned because fire needs three things (fuel, oxygen, ignition) and a clinical chamber supplies two of them in abundance. The chamber atmosphere is up to 100% oxygen at 2.0 to 3.0 times normal pressure, so any spark, short circuit, or overheating battery can ignite materials that would smolder harmlessly in room air.<\/p>\n

The numbers behind the rule come from Sheffield and Desautels, who analyzed 73 years of chamber fires for Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine<\/em> in 1997. Their finding: every fatal chamber fire happened in an atmosphere above 28% oxygen. Chambers pressurized with ordinary air had survivors. Oxygen-enriched chambers did not.<\/p>\n

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77<\/div>\n
Deaths in 35 hyperbaric chamber fires between 1923 and 1996, every one in an atmosphere above 28% oxygen<\/div>\n
Sheffield & Desautels, 1997<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This is why the National Fire Protection Association dedicates an entire chapter of its Health Care Facilities Code (NFPA 99, Chapter 14) to hyperbaric facilities. Battery-powered equipment is only permitted inside a chamber if it has been specifically evaluated for hyperbaric use: sealed batteries, fully enclosed in the device housing, unable to off-gas, and undamaged by chamber pressure. A consumer phone meets none of those criteria. The FDA reinforced the point in an August 2025 letter to health care providers after receiving reports of chamber fires that caused serious injuries and deaths.<\/p>\n

What items are banned in a hyperbaric chamber?<\/h2>\n

Anything that can ignite, feed, or spark a fire stays outside. Facilities screen every patient before each session against a prohibited items list based on NFPA 99 and UHMS risk-assessment guidance. The categories are consistent across clinics:<\/p>\n

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Prohibited Items Checklist<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Item<\/th>\nAllowed?<\/th>\nWhy<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Phones, tablets, e-readers<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nLithium-ion battery ignition risk<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Smartwatches, fitness trackers<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nBattery plus wireless transmitter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bluetooth headphones, earbuds<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nLithium battery worn near the airway<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lighters, matches, e-cigarettes<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nDirect ignition source<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Petroleum products (lip balm, lotions, ointments)<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nFuel source in oxygen-rich air<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Deodorant, perfume, hairspray<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nFlammable ingredients and propellants<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Synthetic fabrics (nylon, polyester, wool blends)<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nStatic electricity generation; cotton garments provided instead<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hand warmers, heating pads<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\nChemical or electrical heat source<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hearing aids, standard<\/td>\nUsually no<\/td>\nBattery-powered; requires facility evaluation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Evaluated medical devices (e.g., Dexcom G6 CGM)<\/td>\nCase by case<\/td>\nTested devices meeting NFPA 99 battery rules may be approved<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Cosmetics and grooming products get patients turned away more often than electronics do. The reasoning is the same fire triangle, which is why facilities also make you remove makeup and skip fragrance on treatment days. Our guide to why you can’t wear deodorant in a hyperbaric chamber<\/a> covers the personal care rules in detail.<\/p>\n

Can you bring a smartwatch or Bluetooth headphones?<\/h2>\n

No. An Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch, Fitbit, or any pair of wireless earbuds contains the same lithium-ion battery chemistry as a phone, in a smaller housing worn against your skin. Facilities treat them exactly like phones: they stay in a locker outside the chamber.<\/p>\n

Two nuances are worth knowing. First, purely mechanical watches with no battery are permitted at some facilities’ discretion, though many clinics simplify enforcement by banning all wrist devices. Second, a small number of battery-powered medical devices have been formally tested for hyperbaric conditions. In a 2020 study in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine<\/em>, Bliss, Huang, and Savaser pressurized six Dexcom G6 glucose transmitters through 11 cycles to a depth equivalent of 45 feet of seawater and found no damage and no malfunction; the transmitter meets the NFPA 99 requirements for battery-operated devices in a hyperbaric environment. The newer G7 has no equivalent published data. If you use a CGM or insulin pump, see our Dexcom G7 hyperbaric guide<\/a> and clear the device with your provider before your first session.<\/p>\n

What about soft-shell home chambers?<\/h2>\n

Soft-shell home chambers at 1.3 ATA operate with either ambient air (about 21% oxygen) or an oxygen concentrator delivering roughly 90 to 95% oxygen through a mask. The fire risk differs depending on which method is used.<\/p>\n

With ambient air only and no concentrator, the oxygen concentration stays close to room air, and the fire risk from a phone is far lower than in a clinical chamber. Electronics still carry electromagnetic interference and general failure risks in a pressurized fabric enclosure, so caution remains appropriate.<\/p>\n

With an oxygen concentrator running, the oxygen concentration around the mask and inside the chamber can rise well above ambient levels. Recall the Sheffield data: fatal fires start above 28% oxygen. When oxygen is actively being delivered, the same electronics prohibitions apply as in a clinic. Fire is only one hazard to weigh, and our overview of hyperbaric chamber side effects<\/a> covers the full safety picture.<\/p>\n

Regardless of setup, UHMS guidance is to follow the same prohibited item protocols at home that clinical facilities require. The consequences of a fire in an enclosed pressurized fabric chamber are severe even at 1.3 ATA. Our report on hyperbaric chamber fires<\/a> documents what happens when these protocols fail.<\/p>\n

What can you do instead of using your phone?<\/h2>\n

Sessions last 60 to 90 minutes, and most patients settle into one of a few routines:<\/p>\n