Since 1974 I have been diving in the UK (mainly northwestern Scotland and St. Kilda) and worldwide. Highlights of my diving have been dives in St. Kilda, the White Sea, Alaska, northern Iceland, southern Red Sea, Raja Ampat, and Sulawesi. I have taken part in over a dozen underwater archaeological excavations, the last being with Prof. George Bass (Texas A&M University). I am a member of the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) and hold First Class Diver and Advanced Instructor qualifications, as well as a Divemaster qualification with PADI.

I am a chemist and a consultant anaesthetist, as well as being an Approved Medical Examiner of Divers for the Health and Safety Executive in the UK. I have several research interests: 1. Determining the site and mode of action of small anaesthetic drugs such as propofol and xenon on the GABA(A), NMDA and other receptors; 2. The use of xenon for mitigating the effects of traumatic brain injury; 3. Collecting data on diabetic divers in the UK; 4. Statistical methodology in clinical trials.

In 1987, I joined the BSAC Medical Committee that subsequently morphed into the UK Sport Diving Medical Committee and is now the UK Diving Medical Committee. This body is responsible for providing diving medical advice to individual divers and to the recreational diving agencies in the UK and also to the Health and Safety Executive when considering the medical fitness of professional divers. In 1991 I proposed a set of rules to allow people with diabetes to dive safely. These have subsequently been adopted worldwide. In 1996 we published research examining glucose levels in fit, working diabetic and non-diabetic divers in a hyperbaric environment. A database of divers with diabetes is now maintained in the UK, for which I am responsible.

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Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine

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