Peter B. Bennett (12 June 1931 – 9 August 2022) was the founder and a president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Divers Alert Network Divers Alert Network (DAN) is a group of not-for-profit organizations dedicated to improving diving safety for all divers. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina, United States, in 1980 at Duke University providing 24/7 telephonic hot-line div ...

(DAN), a non-profit organization devoted to assisting

scuba divers Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scuba'' is an acronym for ...

in need. He was a professor of

anesthesiology Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative medicine, perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critica ...

Duke University Medical Center Duke University Hospital is a 1062 -bed acute care facility and an academic tertiary care facility located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1930, it is the flagship teaching hospital for the Duke University Health Sy ...

, and was the Senior Director of the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology at Duke. Bennett is recognized as a leading authority on the effects of high pressure on human physiology. Bennett was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, England. He was employed at the Royal Naval Physiology Laboratory near Portsmouth for 20 years, beginning in 1953. During this time, he formed and headed the Defence and Civil Institute for Environmental Medicine in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

.Platinum Pro 5000 Diver Profile:Peter B. Bennett

Education

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, 1951, B.Sc. *

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

, 1964, Ph.D. * University of Southampton, 1984, D.Sc.

Research

As a researcher, Bennett performed studies of

nitrogen narcosis Nitrogen narcosis (also known as narcosis while diving, 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 ...

oxygen toxicity Oxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen () at increased partial pressures. Severe cases can result in cell damage and death, with effects most often seen in the central nervous system, lung ...

, submarine escape,

decompression illness Decompression Illness (DCI) comprises two different conditions caused by rapid decompression of the body. These conditions present similar symptoms and require the same initial first aid. Scuba divers are trained to ascend slowly from depth to av ...

, ascent rates, and the effects of flying after diving. Bennett described helium tremors in 1965 and coined the name of

high pressure nervous syndrome High-pressure nervous syndrome (HPNS – also known as high-pressure neurological syndrome) is a neurological and physiological diving disorder which can result when a diver descends below about using a breathing gas containing helium. The effe ...

(HPNS), a diving disorder resulting from breathing a high-pressure mixture of

helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...

and

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

known as

heliox Heliox is a breathing gas mixture of helium (He) and oxygen (O2). It is used as a medical treatment for patients with difficulty breathing because this mixture generates less resistance than atmospheric air when passing through the airways of ...

at depths greater than about . Bennett was a consultant on the

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

underwater science fiction film ''

The Abyss ''The Abyss'' is a 1989 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery tea ...

'', in which a character experiences HPNS. Bennett is credited with the invention of trimix breathing gas. In 1981, at Duke University Medical Center, he conducted an experiment called Atlantis III lasting 43 days, which involved compressing divers to an equivalent depth of , and slowly decompressing them to surface pressure, setting a world record in the process. In 45 years, Bennett published over 200 scientific papers and six books.

Retirement

Dr. Bennett received the 2002 Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) Reaching Out Award for his contribution to the diving industry, and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2002 award for contributions to business in the life sciences. He stepped down as President of the Divers Alert Network of America on 30 June 2003, after 23 years at the helm. Bennett was pressured by board members to step down, in reaction to alleged improprieties in his handling of the organization's finances. From 2004 to 2007, Bennett served as Executive Director of the International Divers Alert Network. From 2007 to 2014, Bennett served as the executive director of the

Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) is an organization based in the US which supports research on matters of hyperbaric medicine and physiology, and provides a certificate of added qualification for physicians with an unrestricted li ...

References

External links

Background at Duke University Medical Center
* UHMS and

DAN Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa ** Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivo ...

Publications {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Peter B. 1931 births 2022 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors British medical researchers English chief executives People from Portsmouth Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Southampton Duke University faculty Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Underwater diving physiology and medicine researchrs

Education

Research

Retirement

See also

References

External links