Dive Medicine Capability at Rothera Research Station (British Antarctic Survey), Adelaide Island, Antarctica.

Abstract

In December, we published an article titled "Dive Medicine Capability at Rothera Research Station (British Antarctic Survey), Adelaide Island, Antarctica" by Wood FNR, Bowen K, Hartley R, et al. The corresponding author would like to include an additional author, as their contribution was significant but was inadvertently omitted in the initial online publication. While this correction has been made in several versions circulated by the journal, not all have been updated. As a result, we are issuing an errata. The title and abstract are as follows: (Wood FNR, Bowen K, Hartley R, Stevenson J, Warner M, Watts D. Dive medicine capability at Rothera Research Station (British Antarctic Survey), Adelaide Island, Antarctica. Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. 2024 20 December;54(4):320-327. doi: 10.28920/dhm54.4.320-327. PMID: 39675740.) Rothera is a British Antarctic Survey research station located on Adelaide Island adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula. Diving is vital to support a long-standing marine science programme but poses challenges due to the extreme and remote environment in which it is undertaken. We summarise the diving undertaken and describe the medical measures in place to mitigate the risk to divers. These include pre-deployment training in the management of emergency presentations and assessing fitness to dive, an on-site hyperbaric chamber and communication links to contact experts in the United Kingdom for remote advice. The organisation also has experience of evacuating patients, should this be required. These measures, as well as the significant infrastructure and logistical efforts to support them, enable high standards of medical care to be maintained to divers undertaking research on this most remote continent.