Depth Blog

Alese Pechter, an icon of the scuba diving industry, has left a legacy of love, joy, and constant wonder at the world around her.  Alese had a profound impact on the diving industry, helping to grow the sport through her underwater photography and environmental advocacy. She was dedicated to educating future generations in exploring and protec

We had entered a dense fog bank! I had a rather helpless feeling, as a boy of 18, guiding 2,300 tons of steel into the unknown at ten knots, with no way of notifying anyone. Fortunately after a few minutes, which seemed like an eternity, the mate returned to the bridge. Flipping on the radar on the port side of the wheelhouse, he remarked, "Looks like we've got a bit of thick weather." He stepped out on the bridge wing and blew his police whistle to alert Kalle Holm, my watch partner. Kalle immediately stuck his head over the top of the bridge ladder and was ordered to the bow to stand lookout. 

When the radar had warmed up, the mate said, "Looks like we've got another ship out there. Give her five degrees starboard."

I heard the ship's bell strike three times . . . It was the other ship's bow lookout and we were directly in his path! I saw a huge bow as high as our wheelhouse loom out of the fog!"

The above is just one of the hair-raising experiences described by Dr. Kindwall as he writes of his time in the merchant marines, and via Yale and Harvard, running a safe-house for the CIA, submarine school, patrol on an early Polaris nuclear submarine, and work with "sandhogs" in compressed air tunnel construction. 

Find more details here about the book, "Unexpected Odyssey, From Merchant Sailor to Hyperbaric Physician" by Eric P. Kindwall, MD

In many hospitals that treat hyperbaric patients, the task at hand is getting the infection control policy makers to understand that many of the hospital-based disinfectants cannot safely be used on the acrylics of both multiplace and monoplace chambers. The most-asked question is, “What can now be used to disinfect acrylic chambers?” Wit

Although the incidence of clostridial myonecrosis infections has dropped precipitously in recent decades, it always remins a threat in injuries where contamination and severe tissue disruption have occurred. The decreased incidence of clostridial myonecrosis is attributed to the increased diligence of clinicians in preventing clostridial organ

Carbon monoxide exposed patients commonly present with nonspecific symptoms that mimic influenza-like illnesses (Table 1). Symptoms typically include headache, dizziness, nausea, vomting, weakness, and fatigue. The most common symptom reports is headache. Because these symptoms are so nonspecific, the treating physician must retain a high level of