Every year doctors join us to further their knowledge of hyperbaric & diving medicine. This year dive buddies Daisy and Ash have joined the team.
Daisy: I grew up in Guernsey in the Channel Islands and was always a water baby. I spent a lot of my childhood weekends sailing toppers and Sport 14s around the coastline. I started diving on a family holiday to Sharm el Sheik aged 15 and have been hooked since. Diving in places such as: Guernsey, Madagascar, Fiji, the Cook Islands, and the Gili islands to name a few.
I came to Devon initially for medical school- spending years in Plymouth, Exeter and Torbay until I graduated and came back to start working in Derriford Hospital. Working in their emergency department was the first time I heard of DDRC- as divers presented to hospital. Subsequently I planned to go on my first diving expedition as the medic to Madagascar as so I attended a course to help prepare me for possible problems in the field.
After this I went to Cambridge to start my Emergency Medicine training and have managed to complete two years, and then could not put off applying for the DDRC post any longer! The need to be back in Devon, learning about hyperbaric medicine and going diving myself was too strong to ignore.
Since I have been working at DDRC I have been introduced to diving in English waters with Dr Ash, and hope to spend as much time underwater as possible, both warm and cold waters! I would like to become more knowledgeable of diving pathologies, emergencies and treatments- hopefully not on myself!
Ash: Hi I’m Ash, one of the new junior doctors at DDRC Healthcare. Originally from Cardiff, I stayed in Wales to study, initially reading Medical Pharmacology, before continuing on to post-graduate medicine. After graduating I worked in the Royal Gwent, Newport before working as an Emergency Department doctor in London.
I learnt to dive in Stoney Cove nearly 20 years ago and I’ve been an active UK diver since. Most of my diving now is along the South Coast of England but previously has included Pembrokeshire, Orkney and Shetland. As well as making the most of the local diving during my time here (the James Egan Layne is one of my favourite UK wrecks), I’m also hoping to get involved in teaching and complete my instructor exams.
I’ve known about the DDRC job since being at medical school and it was something I always hoped to do. Learning about diving physiology and gaining practical experience of managing diving injuries is proving fascinating and will be useful during the rest of my career.