Andrew Fock

• Head Hyperbaric Service at Alfred Hospital

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate compressed gas diving deaths in Australia from 2014-2018 and make comparison to those from 2001-2013 to identify ongoing problems and assess countermeasures. Methods: Media reports and the National Coronial Information System were searched to identify scuba diving deaths for 2014-2018, inclusive. Dat...

Introduction: We aimed to document identified cases of immersion pulmonary edema (IPE) in divers from Oceania (the Indo-Pacific region) from January 2002 to May 2018, inclusive. Method: Cases were identified using various sources, including searches of the Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific (DAN AP) Fatality Database, published case reports, and...

Introduction: An individual case review of known diving-related deaths that occurred in Australia in 2012 was conducted. Method: The case studies were compiled using statements from witnesses and reports of the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident and details from the post-mortem examination, where avai...

Introduction: An individual case review of diving-related deaths reported as occurring in Australia in 2011 was conducted as part of the DAN Asia-Pacific dive fatality reporting project. Method: The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident and, wh...

Introduction: The vast majority of freshwater cave diving in Australia occurs within the limestone caves of the Gambier karst in the south-east of South Australia. The incidence of decompression illness (DCI) in cave divers is presumed to be higher than open-water recreational divers because of the greater depths involved, but has not previously b...

INTRODUCTION: An individual case review was conducted of known diving-related deaths that occurred in Australia in 2010. METHOD: The case studies were compiled using statements from witnesses and reports of the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident and details from the post-mortem examination, where avail...

Dear Editor: The development of anastomotic dehiscence after low and ultra-low anterior resection (ULAR) for treatment of rectal cancer is common, occurring in as many as 10-20 % of cases [1]. Surgeons routinely form a defunctioning loop ileostomy at the time of operation in order to minimise the potentially catastrophic effects of anastomotic dehi...

Central nervous system oxygen toxicity is a recognised risk in recreational open-circuit scuba diving with the use of nitrox (oxygen-enriched air mixtures), but other forms of oxygen toxicity in other diving settings are poorly understood. However, divers using constant partial pressure of oxygen closed-circuit rebreathers (CCRs) for multi-day, mul...

Since the introduction of recreational closed-circuit rebreathers (CCRs) in 1998, there have been many recorded deaths. Rebreather deaths have been quoted to be as high as 1 in 100 users. Rebreather fatalities between 1998 and 2010 were extracted from the Deeplife rebreather mortality database, and inaccuracies were corrected where known. Rebreathe...

Introduction: An individual case review of diving-related deaths, reported as occurring in Australia in 2008, was conducted as part of the DAN Asia-Pacific dive fatality reporting project. Method: The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident and d...

An individual case review of diving-related deaths reported as occurring in Australia in 2007 was conducted as part of the on-going Divers Alert Network (DAN) Asia-Pacific dive fatality reporting project. The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident...

The aim of this review is to identify clinical conditions currently treated in a pediatric population referred to the Alfred hyperbaric unit, to describe outcomes, and detail any complications occurring during treatment or transfer between units. Retrospective, noncontrolled, clinical study. Adult hyperbaric unit in a university hospital. Children...

(Lippmann J, Walker D, Lawrence CL, Fock A, Wodak T, Jamieson S. Provisional report on diving-related fatalities in Australian waters 2006. Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. 2011;41(2):70-84.) Introduction: An individual case review of diving-related deaths reported as occurring in Australia in 2006 was conducted as part of the Divers Alert Network A...

An individual case review of diving-related deaths reported as occurring in Australia in 2006 was conducted as part of the Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific (DAN AP) dive fatality reporting project. The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident and de...

In today's recreational diving climate, diving fitness examinations are not mandatory, and even divers who go for these examinations may not have routine chest X-rays (CXR) done in the absence of respiratory symptoms or a past history of respiratory problems. We present a case of an ultimately fatal cerebral arterial gas embolism in a 14-year-old b...

An individual case review of diving-related deaths reported as occurring in Australia in 2005 was conducted as part of the DAN Asia-Pacific dive fatality reporting project. The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident and details from the post-mortem...

An individual case review of diving-related deaths reported to have occurred in Australia in 2004 was conducted as part of the DAN Asia-Pacific dive fatality reporting project. The case studies were compiled using reports from witnesses, the police and coroners. In each case, the particular circumstances of the accident are provided, and also detai...

It is increasingly common for recreational scuba divers to use breathing mixtures enriched with additional oxygen ('nitrox' or 'enriched air nitrogen') and for technical divers to be exposed to elevated partial pressures of oxygen for prolonged periods of time. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oxygen exposure limits have traditio...

We present two unusual presentations of decompression sickness manifesting at previous injury sites after deep mixed-gas recreational diving. While previous injury is often cited as a predisposing factor in decompression illness, formal case reports of this phenomenon are rare in the diving literature.

Fock A. Deep decompression stops. Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. 2007; 37: 125-32.) Technical divers have adopted widely the practice of either adding deep decompression stops to their decompression profiles or using decompression models that incorporate deep stops in the belief that these techniques will reduce the incidence of decompression sick...

The author participated in a technical diving expedition to the South China Sea primarily to dive several deep World War Two wrecks. During the expedition, diving practices and diver health were observed, and a diver health survey was completed by six of the seven divers at the end of each diving day. This survey showed a slight worsening of health...

The performance of a proprietary dry suction pleural drainage unit was measured under hyperbaric oxygenation conditions. The test pleural drainage unit was connected to pressure gauges that allowed the pressures created in the suction and collection chambers to be measured as well as the pleural drainage catheter pressures under varied suction regu...