The SPUMS was founded on May 3, 1971 in the wardroom of HMAS PENGUIN.[1] The founding members of SPUMS were Carl Edmonds, Bob Thomas, Douglas Walker, Ian Unsworth, and Cedric Deal and they were joined by approximately 20 others as "charter members".[1] The society was incorporated in 1990.[1]
Purpose[]
The aims of SPUMS have never changed since its inception:[1][2]
To promote and facilitate the study of all aspects of underwater and hyperbaric medicine;
To provide information on underwater and hyperbaric medicine;
To publish a journal and;
To convene members of each Society annually at a scientific conference.
Training[]
SPUMS offers a Diploma of Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine. This certification, was the first non-naval certification and for years the only postgraduate education available.[1] The first Diplomas by examination were awarded to Chris Acott, Gavin Dawson, and John Knight in 1975.[1]
Publications[]
In 1971, a newsletter was published by Dr. Carl Edmonds and distributed to diving medical professionals.[3] This newsletter grew to become the in 1975.[3] The journal's name was changed to in 2007 and incorporated the in 2008.
Prior to 2008, 77% of the journal articles were from Australia and New Zealand. After 2008 the journal's two largest contributors have been Australia and the United Kingdom with 44% of the articles and 20 other countries contributing the remainder.[4]
The journal contains original and review articles, case series and reports, educational and general interest material in the form of:
The diving doctor's diary;
The world as it is;
Critical appraisals (CATs) and Cochrane reviews;
Opinion papers and Commentaries;
Reprints of full Articles and Abstracts from the literature;
Letters to the Editor;
Book reviews;
Society News & Notices.
Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine is ISI-indexed on SCIE and indexed on EMBASE. In 2011, Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine was approved for indexation in MEDLINE.[5] The journal also began accepting advertisements from industry to assist with the cost of maintaining a high quality journal but also made clear that advertisements did not represent endorsement of those products or services by the organizations.[6]
SPUMS also publishes many policies to assist clinicians and diving professionals.[7]
Many of the SPUMS publications are available online at the Rubicon Research Repository.