Dick Rutkowski donning scuba gear for Project FLARE

Richard Rutkowski is a pioneer in the fields of

hyperbaric medicine Hyperbaric medicine is medical treatment in which an ambient pressure greater than sea level atmospheric pressure is a necessary component. The treatment comprises hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), the medical use of oxygen at an ambient pressure ...

diving medicine Diving medicine, also called undersea and hyperbaric medicine (UHB), is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of conditions caused by humans entering the undersea environment. It includes the effects on the body of pressure on gases, the diag ...

and

diver training Diver training is the set of processes through which a person learns the necessary and desirable skills to safely dive underwater within the scope of the diver training standard relevant to the specific training programme. Most diver training ...

, especially in relation to the use of

breathing gas A breathing gas is a mixture of gaseous chemical elements and compounds used for respiration. Air is the most common and only natural breathing gas, but other mixtures of gases, or pure oxygen, are also used in breathing equipment and enclosed ...

es.

Background

Rutkowski joined the US government service in 1950 and served during the Korean War. As a government civilian he served until 1970 when

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

was established. He worked at NOAA from 1970 until 1985 as Deputy Diving Coordinator, Director of the NOAA Miami Hyperbaric Facility and Director of NOAA Diver Training. While at NOAA he founded the NOAA Diving/Hyperbaric Training and Diver Treatment Facility in 1973, and served as a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

until 1985. He also served as co-director for the Physician's Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Training Program. During this time, hundreds of physicians have completed this program and are presently serving as directors and/or physicians for major hyperbaric facilities in the US and abroad. Rutkowski is a NOAA aquanaut, having undergone

saturation Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to: Chemistry * Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds **Saturated and unsaturated compounds ** Degree of unsaturation **Saturated fat or fatty aci ...

many times. After retiring from NOAA, Rutkowski formed Hyperbaric International, Inc. He is also past president of the

Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society The underwater environment is the region below the surface of, and immersed in, liquid water in a natural or artificial feature (called a body of water), such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, reservoir, river, canal, or aquifer. Some charac ...

, Gulf Coast Chapter. In the 1970s Rutkowski taught the first diving emergency and accident management courses, including stressing the importance of

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

use at the dive site by non-professionals. In 1978, he wrote and published the first diving accident management manual, setting the Divers Alert Network standard. In 1985, Rutkowski began the introduction and popularization of

nitrox Nitrox refers to any breathing gas, gas mixture composed (excepting trace gases) of nitrogen and oxygen. This includes atmospheric air, which is approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases, primarily argon. In the usual applicatio ...

use within the recreational diving community. This opened up some controversy between divers and the scientific community at the time. Rutkowski founded several organizations to focus on diver training and safety including

American Nitrox Divers International American Nitrox Divers International (or ANDI) was founded by Ed Betts and Dick Rutkowski in 1988. ANDI has since expanded to include offices in The United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Sweden, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Greece, Japan, Ta ...

(ANDI), the International Association of Nitrox Divers (IAND) - which later became known as the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD) - and the Undersea Research Foundation (URF). According to a March 2004 edition of Rodale's ''Scuba Diving'' magazine, "In the process of overcoming the negative hype surrounding oxygen-enriched air, he also gave us one of his other significant contributions to diving—a now famous quote—"Science Always Wins Over Bullshit." His publications include ''Instructor/Student Guide for the Use of Nitrogen-Oxygen Mixtures as a Divers' Breathing Gas'', ''The Complete Guide to Nitrox Diving'', ''Introduction to Nitrox Diving'', ''Instructor/Student Guide for the Use of Breathing Gases During Hyperbaric Exposures'', and ''Mixing/Blending for

Nitrox Nitrox refers to any breathing gas, gas mixture composed (excepting trace gases) of nitrogen and oxygen. This includes atmospheric air, which is approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases, primarily argon. In the usual applicatio ...

and Trimix''. He has also been a contributor and editor of the ''NOAA Diving Manual'' and training films. He currently teaches a course titled "Advanced Diving / Hyperbaric Medical Team Training Program with Chamber Operations", which takes place monthly in Key Largo, FL. Mr Rutkowski, known to most as "Hyper-Dick", is known for holding court most afternoons from a table at Sharkeys in the Port Largo subdivision, an area of Key Largo. Rutkowski in 2016 moved his Hyperbarics International operation and gear collection to an office complex at mile marker 98.8 in

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by ...

Honors

Honors and awards that Dick Rutkowski has received include: * having a

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

named after him in 1976 by the US Board of Geographic Names * the 1976 NOAA Public Service Award * nomination for the 1976 Dade County (Florida) Outstanding Citizen Award * National Association of Underwater Instructors Outstanding Service Award: 1977 * National Association of Underwater Instructors Continuing Outstanding Service Award: 1982 * National Fellow of the

Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

* DEMA Reaching Out Award: 2012 *

International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame The International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame (ISDHF) is an annual event that recognizes those who have contributed to the success and growth of recreational scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use bre ...

: 2018.Rosemary E Lun
2018 ISDHOF Inductees Announced
X-Ray Magazine

References

External links

Brief history of IANTD

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutkowski, Dick Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American underwater divers Aquanauts National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel People from Key Largo, Florida Place of birth missing (living people)