The development of hyperbaric and diving medicine in Singapore.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a noninvasive therapy used in the treatment of diving-related medical illnesses. It is an important adjunct in the management of a variety of medical conditions. The Republic of Singapore Navy Medical Service (NMS) is the main driver of the development of hyperbaric and diving medicine in Singapore. The practice of hyperbaric medicine has inherent risks, and unregulated application of this therapy may do more harm than good. NMS and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to combine NMS' experience with the clinical expertise of SGH to provide holistic care for diving and clinical hyperbaric treatment patients. This collaboration would increase the profile of this clinical specialty in Singapore, and help to establish safe clinical practice guidelines, training and accreditation requirements for diving and hyperbaric medicine practitioners in Singapore, thus ensuring that the practice of bona fide hyperbaric medicine is safeguarded and patient care is not compromised.

A tale of three divers: recompression therapy for divers with severe Type II decompression sickness with neurological deficits.

Decompression sickness (DCS) is manifested in a myriad of symptoms, and can affect any part of the body. It is attributed to the formation of inert gas bubbles in the blood and tissues. Following a diving incident, the pathogenesis of DCS is a result of mechanical obstruction caused by the inert gas bubbles and the body's immunological response to the bubbles. Neurological DCS may present with unusual sensory/motor symptoms that may lead to paralysis. This report describes three divers who suffered severe neurological Type II DCS and underwent recompression therapy at the Naval Hyperbaric Centre in 2007.

Bioremediation of eutrophicated water by acinetobacter calcoaceticus.

Removal of phosphorus and nitrogen from eutrophicated water was carried out by in situ bioremediation. With the addition of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, 65.0% +/- 4.0% of total phosphorus (TP), 37.0% +/- 4.0% of total nitrogen (TN), 75.0% +/- 7.0% nitrite (NO(2) (-)-N), and 87.0% +/- 4.0% of ammonia (NH(4) (+)-N) were removed. Furthermore, chlorophyll a removal in the inoculated treatments reached 83.7% +/- 1.5%, and algae in the water was basically controlled.