Board of Directors

Dick Rutkowski - President
Mr. Rutkowski retired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with 33 years of federal service. He served as Deputy Diving Coordinator. He was founder and director of the NOAA Diving/Hyperbaric Training and Diver Treatment Facility from 1973 to 1985 where hundreds of divers have been treated. He also served a co-director for the annual Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) physicians diving and hyperbaric medical training program for the past 21 years. Mr. Rutkowski also served as director of ESSA/NOAA Diver Training from 1965 until he retired. Upon retiring from federal service in 1985, Mr. Rutkowski formed Hyperbarics International, Inc. for the purpose of educating and consulting in the field of hyperbaric medicine, diving gasses and life support systems.

After retiring from NOAA, Mr. Rutkowski has continued the use his vast knowledge conducting training programs for agencies such as NOAA, US Navy, US Air Force, NASA, EPA, US Customs, Panama Canal Commission, various hospitals, commercial diving companies and foreign navies. Mr. Rutkowski is past president/vice president of the UHMS, Gulf Coast Chapter, founder of the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers and co-founder of the American Nitrox Divers Association, International Board of Undersea Medicine, Hyperbarics International, Inc. Undersea Breathing Systems, and the Undersea Research Foundation. He also organized and founded diving safety organizations such as the Florida Underwater Council and Society of Diving Safety (Turks and Caicos Islands). In the early 1970’s Mr. Rutkowski taught the first diving accident management courses, including the importance of emergency oxygen use at the dive site for injured divers. At first this theory was widely criticized but now this concept has become the standard of care and is recommended by all diver certifying agencies and associations.

Mr. Rutkowski has written and lectured extensively on all form of diving life support systems, gases, undersea and hyperbaric medicine, and has installed over 18 hyperbaric facilities in hospitals and field locations. His ongoing training programs have taught thousand s of physicians, allied medical personnel, dive supervisors, and instructors, undersea and hyperbaric medicine including chamber operation. He has written and edited over 60 publications and training films including the NOAA Diving Manual. For his long dedicated service Dick Rutkowski has received many awards from noted organizations including NOAA, UHMS, DAN and National Association of Underwater Divers, Explorers Club, etc. In 1967 he also had a Glacier named after him by the US Board on Geographic Names and in 1995 he was elected to the Explorers Club as a Fellow.

Medical Director - Louis F. James, MD, MPH & TM, FACPM

  • Bachelor of Science with Honors in Zoology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 1957
  • Doctor of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, 1961
  • Rotating Internship, St. Mark’s Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT, 1962
  • Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 1971
  • Residency in Aerospace Medicine Phase II, USAF School of
  • Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, San Antonio, TX, 1972
  • UHMS Physician’s Course in Diving Medicine, Miami, FL, 1986
  • Medical Director, Diver’s Training Academy, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 1964
  • Certified in Aerospace Medicine by the American College of Preventive Medicine, 1974
  • Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, 1974
  • Colonel, USAF (Ret.), 1987
  • Acting Director, Hyperbaric Department, St Mary’s Hospital,
  • West Palm Beach, FL, 1988-1997
  • Co-Director, Hyperbaric Department, Mariner’s Hospital, Tavernier, FL, 1996-1999

Jeffrey Bertsch - Vice President/CFO
Jeff currently serves as the Program Director of Mariners Hospital’s Hyperbaric Department after nearly six years at Divers Alert Network (DAN) and Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Instrumental in the development of the hyperbaric program at Mariners Hospital in the Florida Keys, Jeff has had to call upon all the skills he has developed throughout his career in diving and hyperbaric medicine. While at DAN his duties included providing assistance to divers on diving medical information and emergency calls, collecting data on dive accidents, writing articles and courses, producing multi-media presentations, and teaching dive accident management seminars. He was the co-author and developer of DAN's Oxygen Program and associate producer for DAN's educational videos.

Prior to going to DAN, Jeff worked at the Hyperbaric Department at Virginia Mason Medical Center, in his home town of Seattle, Washington. There he served as a hyperbaric chamber supervisor, medical attendant/advanced diver medic and DAN Northwest associate coordinator. He has logged several thousand hours of chamber time. He worked as an EMT and continuing education instructor for King County EMS in Washington State. Jeff owns Inner Frontier, a company which provides diving and hyperbaric related consulting and instructional services. He is a member of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, South Pacific Undersea Medicine Society and the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology. He is a Diver Medic Instructor, an active scuba diving instructor through multiple agencies, basic life support instructor, and oxygen instructor-trainer examiner for DAN.
http://www.jeffbertsch.com/

Earl Shaw - Secretary
Earle Shaw currently serves as Program Director for the Department of EMS, Fire Science, Hazardous Materials , & Health Education at Wallace Community College in Dothan Alabama. Earle has over 25 years experience in EMS including 19 years in EMS education. He was recognized as EMS Educator of the Year for the state of Alabama in 1995 and was nominated as Junior College Educator of the Year in 1996. Earle is a Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support Affiliate/Faculty Instructor. He is also a Basic Trauma Life Support and Pre-hospital Trauma Life Support National Affiliate Faculty. Earle also serves as a national testing representative for the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.

Earle has been actively involved in diving since 1962 with a primary interest in public safety diving. He currently serves as Training Officer for the Dothan Police Department Dive Team and teaches recreational scuba diving through multiple agencies.

Earle owns Emergency Systems Educational Services (ESESC), a company which provides training in emergency services and develops programs and emergency plans. Through ESESC, Earle, serves as an educational specialist for the State and National Emergency Management Agency. He has also developed and taught programs for McDermitt International Diving Division and the University of North Carolina National Undersea Research Center. ESESC also offers Diver Medical Technician training.

Earle is a member of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technologists, American Heart Association, National Association of EMS Educators, and Professional Association of Diving Instructors.

 

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