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The Institute of Naval Medicine is the main research centre and training facility of the Royal Navy Medical Service.


History

The site was established in 1969 to research environmental health conditions for submariners in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. At a safety conference on Saturday 25 March 1972 at the
University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
, organised by the National Council of British Mountaineering, with around five hundred climbing experts present, Surgeon Commander Duncan Walters (August 1927 - August 2021) showed a film entitled ''Give Him Air'', about a swimmer in Malta that was accidentally speared in the lung by a
harpoon gun A harpoon cannon is a whaling implement developed in the late 19th century and most used in the 20th century. It would be mounted on the bow of a whale catcher, where it could be easily aimed with a wide field of view at the target. Powered by ...
. The film showed the gruesome after-effects of the harpoon incident, which caused eight conference attendees to faint, and had to be carried outside. In November 1973 a £200,000 environmental medical centre opened, which simulated life inside a
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
. From 12 November 1973, four sailors (medical ratings) were shut inside this for thirty days, to test atmospheric pollution. J and P Engineering Reading Ltd developed a photo-sensitive radiation detector for the institute, later sold to the
National Radiological Protection Board The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) was a public authority_in_the_United_Kingdom.html" ;"title="110. - 6910./ref> is a type of Nonprofit organization">nonprofit corporation chartered by a state governments of the United States, state g ...
(NRPB) in Oxfordshire and for
CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
. At a conference in Aberdeen in September 1988, Surgeon Captain Ramsay Pearson, head of undersea medicine, said that recreational diving in the UK had too many accidents, due to decompression computers, which he claimed did not have built-in safety factors. The National Hyperbaric Centre in Aberdeen (built by the government in 1987) agreed with him. The Channel 5 documentary ''Survivor'' featured the institute, and surviving cold temperatures on the
Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
, on Wednesday 28 January 1998. In August 2000 the site sent four doctors and two staff to the
Kursk submarine disaster The nuclear-powered Project 949A ''Antey'' (''Oscar II'' class) submarine '' APL Kursk'' (Russian: ) sank in an accident on 12 August 2000 in the Barents Sea, during the first major Russian naval exercise in more than 10 years, and all 118 pe ...
in a team of twenty-seven from the UK.


Visits

Sir
Ranulph Fiennes Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet (born 7 March 1944), commonly known as Sir Ranulph Fiennes () and sometimes as Ran Fiennes, is a British explorer, writer and poet, who holds several endurance records. Fiennes served in the ...
visited on Monday 11 October 1999, when he was put in an immersion tank.


Training

It trained medical staff for the Naval Emergency Monitoring Team at three sites at
Gare Loch The Gare Loch or Gareloch ( gd, An Gearr Loch) is an open sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland and bears a similar name to the village of Gairloch in the north west Highlands. The loch is well used for sailing, recreational boating, list of w ...
, Portsmouth and Plymouth, which worked with the Nuclear Accident Response Organisation (NARO) at the Clyde Submarine Base (
HMNB Clyde His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...
) In 1970s, nurses in the navy trained at the navy hospitals in Gosport and Plymouth; the Royal Naval School of Nursing began around 1962, in Gosport. There is longer a navy site at Plymouth, but there is a Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit - MODHU at Plymouth hospital; all medical assistants would complete 22 weeks of training at the RN Hospital in Gosport, followed by another 32 weeks at the RN hospitals at Gosport or Plymouth for naval (ship) medical assistants. Submarine medical assistants (MASM) would be trained at the institute, such as in radiation decontamination. Medical assistants are trained at the
Defence Medical Academy The Defence Medical Academy is based at DMS Whittington. It is the training centre of Defence Medical Services. It trains military personnel to deal with situations that civilian paramedics would be involved with; i.e. more advanced situations t ...
in
Whittington, Staffordshire Whittington is a village and civil parish which lies approximately 3 miles south east of Lichfield, in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,591, increasing to 2,603 at the 2011 C ...
, with nuclear training at the Nuclear Department at
HMS Sultan Four ships and three shore establishments of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Sultan''. Ships * was a schooner purchased in 1768 and sold in 1773. * was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1775, and converted for use as a prison ship in 1797. ...
in Gosport, which will move to Scotland. The Department of Nuclear Science and Technology moved from London in October 1998.


Research


Drowning

The site has done much research into
drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer a ...
, which kills 700–1000 a year in the UK, with a third being males aged 15–35. Surgeon Commander Frank Golden, Director of Research in the 1980s did much important investigations. Many able swimmers died, no more than 10 yards from refuge, from effects of cold water. Frank Golden later worked with Professor Mike Tipton at the
University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...
Robens Institute. So-called 'dry drowning' is caused by the shock of cold water. A possible cause is cold water causing the larynx to spasm. Animals have a 'diving response', but humans hyperventilate, and the heart beats too quickly due to a chemical imbalance. Drowning is the third most common form of accidental death in the UK after road accidents and home injuries. It is often competent swimmers in canals, rivers or flooded quarries in spring or early summer, and there has not been much research on this form of drowning. Most deaths occur in the first three minutes, and those who last 15 minutes mostly last to 30 minutes. Admiral Frank Golden in the 1990s thought that the deaths were linked to the gasp reflex as found in cold showers. There is a big increase in blood pressure and heart rate. Uncontrolled rate breathing makes swimming impossible due to the
cold shock response Cold shock response is a series of neurogenic cardio-respiratory responses caused by sudden immersion in cold water. In cold water immersions, such as by falling through thin ice, cold shock response is perhaps the most common cause of death. Als ...
. Work had neen carried out with the
University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...
on 'immersion hypothermia'.


Diving

In the 1990s, Surgeon Commander James Francis found '
nitrogen narcosis Narcosis while diving (also known as nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect) is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while diving at depth. It is caused by the anesthetic effect of certain gas ...
' below 30m of water depth. James Francis became Head of Undersea Medicine and left the Navy in 1996. The INM works with
The Physiological Society The Physiological Society, founded in 1876, is a learned society for physiologists Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organism ...
, and staff have given lectures at the Society in London.


Seasickness

In November 1979 the site tested a new
seasickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...
pill on HMS Broadsword, called
cinnarizine Cinnarizine is an antihistamine and calcium channel blocker of the diphenylmethylpiperazine group. It is prescribed for nausea and vomiting due to motion sickness or other sources such as chemotherapy, vertigo, or Ménière's disease. Cinnariz ...
, with reference to the previous medication hyoscine ( scopolamine), and worked with the
MRC MRC may refer to Government * Medical Research Council (United Kingdom) * Medical Reserve Corps, a US network of volunteer organizations * Municipalité régionale de comté (regional county municipality), Quebec, Canada * Military Revolutionar ...


Women submariners

In 2010 the USA allowed women on its submarines but women submariners were not allowed in the UK as carbon dioxide in a submarine's atmosphere could damage a
foetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...
. In December 2011 women were allowed on submarines, with officers first then all women from 2015. All women would serve on the Astute class submarines from 2016. Women had been on surface ships since 1990. There are around 3420 females in the Royal Navy, about 9%.


Structure

It is situated in the south of Gosport. The Medical Officer-in-Charge is also the Dean of Naval Medicine.


Departments

* Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine, when known as the Undersea Medicine Department, it worked with the
Submarine Escape Training Tank A Submarine Escape Training Tower is a facility used for training submariners in methods of emergency escape from a disabled submarine underwater. It is a deep tank filled with water with at least one underwater entrance at depth simulating an ai ...
and HMS Reclaim * Submarine and Radiation Medicine; the Naval Radiological Protection Service became the Defence R P S in 1982 which became DERA Radiation Protection Services * Environmental and Industrial Hazards Laboratories, investigates drinking water * Environmental Medicine and Science; the EMU - Environmental Medicine Unit had a Fitness
Anthropometric Anthropometry () refers to the measurement of the human individual. An early tool of physical anthropology, it has been used for identification, for the purposes of understanding human physical variation, in paleoanthropology and in various atte ...
Clinic''Navy News'' February 2007, page 40 * Applied Physiology and Human Factors, investigates nutrition and supports the Defence Nutrition Advisory Service * Acoustics and Vibration, has worked with the
Institute of Sound and Vibration Research , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
at the
University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
; the Royal Navy has an exemption from the
Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 are a set of regulations created under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 which came into force in Great Britain on 6 July 2005. The regulations place a duty on employers to reduce the ri ...
* Cold Injury Clinic * RNMS School, works with the Resuscitation Council UK on first aid


Medical Officers in Charge

* Sir
James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...
1969–72 * Sir John Rawlins 1972–77


See also

*
Diving Diseases Research Centre Diving Diseases Research Centre (DDRC Healthcare) is a British hyperbaric medical organisation on Plymouth Science Park adjacent to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon. It is a UK registered charity (no.279652) and was established in 1980 at ...
in
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
*
Diving disorders Diving disorders, or diving related medical conditions, are conditions associated with underwater diving, and include both conditions unique to underwater diving, and those that also occur during other activities. This second group further divid ...
*
RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine The RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine (RAF CAM) is a medical organisation run by the Royal Air Force and based at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire. It is the main organisation conducting aviation medicine research in the UK. History Formation The centr ...
in
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
* Institut de recherche biomédicale des armées, military medical research site in France


References


External links


Institute of Naval Medicine
{{Underwater diving, divmed 1969 establishments in the United Kingdom Diving medicine organizations Education in Hampshire Gosport Medical research institutes in the United Kingdom Medical schools in the United Kingdom Military medical research organizations of the United Kingdom Military medical training establishments Radiation protection organizations Research institutes established in 1969 Research institutes in Hampshire Royal Navy bases in Hampshire Royal Navy Medical Service Submarine education and training Thermal medicine Toxicology in the United Kingdom Toxicology organizations Underwater diving in the United Kingdom