Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber Facility at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Cener

The USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber is dedicated to the promotion of underwater diving safety and treatment of Southern California diving casualties and is part of the University of Southern California, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization:

• The USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber’s primary mission is the treatment of scuba diving casualties, and to this end the organization maintains the chamber facility and ensures crew availability 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year

• The USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber provides educational programs focused on the promotion of underwater diving safety

• The USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber gathers information on diving casualties and standard diving practices, and reports unbiased information to the diving communities

• The USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber is a hyperbaric research facility available for underwater diving research projects to improve diving safety and test equipment

   

Karl E. Huggins Bio

Karl Huggins has been the Director of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber Facility at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center since 1992 and has been involved with the treatment of hundreds of divers during that time. He started diving in 1977 and has been a NAUI Instructor since 1980. He is noted for his work in decompression theory and models, which resulted in the Michigan Sea Grant (HUGI) tables and his participation in the development of the EDGE dive computer. Karl enjoys educating divers in the area of decompression (making divers more aware of the limitations of dive tables and computers) and diving safety. To that end he has given hundreds of lectures, seminars, and workshops as a featured speaker at conferences around the world. He has authored many articles and publications on decompression theory including “The Dynamics of Decompression Workbook,” and contributing to “Dive Computers – A Consumer’s Guide to History, Theory, and Performance” and “Women and Pressure – Diving and Altitude.” In 2011 he co-moderated the Validation of Dive Computers Workshop at the annual meeting of the European Underwater and Baromedical Society in Gdansk. Karl is the 1990 recipient of the Leonard Greenstone Diving Safety Award, the DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year for 1993, the 2004 Conrad Limbaugh Memorial Award for Scientific Diving Leadership and the 2008 California Scuba Service Award.