Dick Rutkowski – Father of Enriched Air Nitrox & Hyperbaric Medical Training
In this episode of The League of Extraordinary Divers I chat with Dick Rutkowski, legendary pioneer of Enriched Air Nitrox and Hyperbaric Medicine.
Dick is a pioneer in the field of hyperbaric medicine, diving medicine and breathing gases for the treatment of divers and clinical patients. He has taught over 8000 medical and diving professionals worldwide in his clinical and diving medical seminars through his company Hyperbarics International.
Dick joined the Navy in 1950, became a radio operator, and was assigned in both the polar regions of Antarctica and the Canadian northwest territories. He then went on to be with the Environmental Science Services Administration, which became NOAA the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he was part of the NOAA Experimental Diving Lab. In the 1980’s Dick “retired” to Key Largo, but there is nothing retired about him. He has continued to consult and teach diving and clinical hyperbaric medical programs, gases and other life-support systems for the undersea world. He still continues to do science, education, consulting and inventing to this day.
Dick has been the past president of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, and the co-founder of ANDI (American Nitrox Divers International) and IANTD (International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers). He also organized and founded diving safety organizations such as the Florida Underwater Council and the Society of Diving Safety.
He has won numerous awards including a NOAA Public Service Award, the Craig Hoffman Memorial/Charles W. Shilling Award by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, the Dr. Joe Bauer Memorial Award by the History of Diving Museum, the DEMA Reaching Out Award, the NAUI Hall of Honor Award and NAUI Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also been inducted into the DEMA Hall of Fame, the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame, and as a Fellow Emeritus in the Explorers Club. Dick even has a glacier in the Antarctic named after him – the Rutkowski Glacier!
Items in this Podcast
- US Navy Radio School
- Antarctica in 1958 South Pole 90 South
- Commercial diving school in 1965, Divers Training Academy
- PADI, NAUI, YMCA instructor (oldest active PADI Instructor #536)
- The Rutkowski Glacier
- 50 steps around the world
- First scuba dive in Pensacola
- How Nitrox became used in recreational diving
- How green and yellow became the colors for Nitrox
- PADI chamber tour specialty
- “Science always wins over BS”
Resources
- Hyperbarics International
- 2012 DEMA Reaching Out Award Documentary
- International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame
- IANTD
- NAUI
- PADI
- NOAA Diving Manual
- Stephen Frink
- Spencer Slate
- Bob Croft
- Sharky’s
Sponsor
Special thanks to our episode sponsor Aggressor Fleet
Thanks for Listening!
Thank you for joining me again. Do you want to give a shout out to our guest on this podcast? Leave a note in the comments section below!
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.
Please leave a review for The League of Extraordinary Divers podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! And, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS
