Mitchell is anauthor and avidtechnical diver. He authored two chapters of the latest edition ofBennett and Elliott's Physiology and Medicine of Diving, is the co-author of the diving textbookDeeper Into Diving with John Lippmann, and co-authored the chapter on Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine inHarrison'sPrinciples of Internal Medicine with Michael Bennett.[4][5][6][7]
Mitchell received a Bachelor of Human Biology (BHB) in 1988 and later a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) in 1990 from theUniversity of Auckland. In 2001, he received a Diploma in Occupational Medicine (DipOccMed) from theSouth Pacific Underwater Medicine Society. Mitchell then went on to complete a Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine (PhD) in 2001[8] and Diploma in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine (DipDHM) in 1995 from the University of Auckland. Mitchell received hisAustralian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Certificate in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine in 2003, and became a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FANZCA) in 2008.[1] He is currently Associate Professor of Anaesthesiology and Head of the Department of Anaesthesiology at theUniversity of Auckland.[citation needed]
Mitchell has dual Australian and New Zealand citizenship. He lives inAuckland, New Zealand, with his wife Siân.[3]
In 2010, Mitchell was awarded theAlbert R. Behnke Award by the UHMS for his outstanding scientific contributions to advances in undersea biomedical activity.[11]
On 23 August 2017, Mitchell delivered his inaugural lecture (as a full professor)[12] at the Grafton Campus, Auckland, New Zealand.
Mitchell began diving in 1972.[3] His diving primarily involves the use ofrebreather technology to exploreshipwrecks at extreme depths.[3]
Mitchell was a member of "The Sydney Project" in 2004 and located the letters U, M, and E that helped with the positive identification of the SSCumberland.[13] In 2007, Mitchell and Pete Mesley were responsible for identification of thePort Kembla including recovery of theship's bell.[14] Mitchell attempted to recover aRobinson 22 helicopter engine from the poor underwater visibility ofLake Wānaka for use in theTransport Accident Investigation Commission investigation of the death of Morgan Saxton.[15][16]
AHS Centaur was ahospital ship which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast ofQueensland,Australia, on 14 May 1943. Of the 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard, 268 were killed. Following World War II, several searches of the waters around North Stradbroke and Moreton Islands failed to revealCentaur’s location. It was believed that she had sunk off the edge of the continental shelf, to a depth the Royal Australian Navy did not, and still does not, have the capability to search for a vessel ofCentaur’s size.[17]
In 1995, it was announced that the shipwreck ofCentaur had been located in waters 9 nautical miles (17 km) from the lighthouse on Moreton Island, a significant distance from her believed last position.[18][19] The finding was reported onA Current Affair, during which footage of the shipwreck, 170 metres (560 ft) underwater, was shown.[18] Discoverer Donald Dennis claimed the identity of the shipwreck had been confirmed by the Navy, theQueensland Maritime Museum, and theAustralian War Memorial.[18] A cursory search by the Navy confirmed that there was a shipwreck at the given location, which wasgazetted as awar grave and added to navigation charts by theAustralian Hydrographic Office.[17][18]
Over the next eight years, there was growing doubt about the position of Dennis' wreck, due to the distance from both Second Officer Rippon's calculation of the point of sinking and where USSMugford found the survivors.[20] During this time, Dennis had been convicted on two counts of deception and one of theft through scams.[20] Twowreck divers,Trevor Jackson and Simon Mitchell, used the location for a four-hour world record dive on 14 May 2002, during which they examined the wreck and took measurements, claiming that the ship was too small to beCentaur.[21] Jackson had been studyingCentaur for some time, and believed that the wreck was actually another, much smaller ship, the 55-metre (180 ft) long MVKyogle, alime freighter purchased by the Royal Australian Air Force and sunk during bombing practice on 12 May 1951.[18][21] The facts gathered on the dive were inconclusive, but the divers remained adamant it was notCentaur, and passed this information onto Nick Greenaway, producer of thenewsmagazine show60 Minutes.[21]
On the 60th anniversary of the sinking,60 Minutes ran a story demonstrating that the wreck was notCentaur.[18] It was revealed that nobody at the Queensland Maritime Museum had yet seen Dennis' footage, and when it was shown to Museum president Rod McLeod and maritime historian John Foley, they stated that the shipwreck could not beCentaur, as the rudder was incorrectly shaped.[18] Following this story, and others published around the same time in newspapers, the Navy sent three ships to inspect the site over a two-month period; HMA ShipsHawkesbury,Melville, andYarra, before concluding that the shipwreck was incorrectly identified asCentaur.[17] An amendment was made to the gazettal, and the Hydrographic Office began to remove the mark from charts.[17]
In April 2008, following thediscovery of HMASSydney, several parties began calling for a dedicated search forCentaur.[22] By the end of 2008, the Australian Federal and Queensland State governments had formed a joint committee and contributed $2 million each towards a search, and by February 2009, thetender for the project had received eleven expressions of interest.[23][24]
^abcd"Dr Simon Mitchell". Eurotek Diving Technologies Conference. 2008. Archived fromthe original on 15 November 2009. Retrieved15 September 2009.
^Lippmann, John; Mitchell, Simon (2005).Deeper into Diving (2nd ed.). Victoria, Australia: J.L. Publications. p. 5.ISBN0-9752290-1-X.OCLC66524750.
^James, T; Francis, R.; Mitchell, Simon (2003). "Pathophysiology of Decompression Sickness". In Brubakk, Alf O.; Neuman, Tom S (eds.).Bennett and Elliott's physiology and medicine of diving (5th ed.). United States: Saunders Ltd. pp. 530–56.ISBN0-7020-2571-2.OCLC51607923.
^James, T; Francis, R; Mitchell, Simon (2003). "Manifestations of Decompression Disorders". In Brubakk, Alf O.; Neuman, Tom S (eds.).Bennett and Elliott's physiology and medicine of diving (5th ed.). United States: Saunders Ltd. pp. 578–99.ISBN0-7020-2571-2.OCLC51607923.
Mitchell SJ, Merry AF, Frampton C, Davies E, Grieve D, Mills BP, Webster CS, Milsom FP, Willcox TW, Gorman DF. Cerebral protection by lidocaine during cardiac operations: a follow-up study. Ann Thorac Surg 87, 820–825, 2009
Mitchell SJ, Doolette DJ. Selective vulnerability of the inner ear to decompression sickness in divers with right to left shunt: the role of tissue gas supersaturation. J Appl Physiol 106, 298–301, 2009
Safe Surgery Save Lives study group. A surgical safety checklist to reduce morbidity and mortality in a global population. N Engl J Med 360, 491–499, 2009
Mitchell SJ. Treatment of decompression sickness in the 21st century: a review. Diving Hyperbaric Med 37, 73–75, 2007
Bennett MH, Lehm JP, Mitchell SJ, Wasiak J. Recompression and adjunctive therapy for decompression illness (Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 2. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2007
Mitchell SJ, Cronje F, Meintjies WAJ, Britz HC. Fatal respiratory failure during a technical rebreather dive at extreme pressure. Aviat Space Environ Med 78, 81–86, 2007
Willcox TW, Mitchell SJ. Arterial bubbles from the venous line (Invited Commentary). J Extracorporeal Technol 38, 214–215, 2006
Smart DR, Bennett MH, Mitchell SJ. Transcutaneous oximetry, problem wounds and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Diving Hyperbaric Med 36, 72–86, 2006
Mitchell SJ. From trash to leucocytes: what are we filtering and why? J Extracorporeal Technol 38, 58–63, 2006
Trytko B, Mitchell SJ. Extreme survival: a deep technical diving accident. SPUMS J 35, 23–27, 2005
Bennett MH, Lehm JP, Mitchell SJ, Wasiak J. Recompression and adjunctive therapy for decompression illness. (Protocol for a Cochrane Review) In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2005
Mitchell SJ. Children in diving: how young is too young? SPUMS J 33, 81–83, 2003
Bennett MH, Mitchell SJ, Domingues A. Adjunctive treatment of decompression illness with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug reduces compression requirement. Undersea Hyperbaric Med 30, 195–205, 2003
Doolette DJ, Mitchell SJ. A biophysical basis for inner ear decompression sickness. J Applied Physiol 94, 2145–2150, 2003
Mitchell SJ, Gorman DF. The pathophysiology of cerebral arterial gas embolism. J Extracorporeal Technol 34, 18–23, 2002
Taylor LT, Mitchell SJ. Diabetes and diving: should old dogma give way to new evidence? SPUMS J 31, 44–50, 2001
Doolette DJ, Mitchell SJ. The physiological kinetics of nitrogen and the prevention of decompression sickness. Clin Pharmacokinetics 40, 1-14, 2001
Mitchell SJ. Lidocaine in the treatment of decompression illness: a review of the literature. Undersea Hyperbaric Med 28, 165–174, 2001
Mitchell SJ, Benson M. Vadlamudi L, Miller P. Arterial gas embolism by helium: an unusual case successfully treated with hyperbaric oxygen and lidocaine. Ann Emerg Med 35, 300–303, 2000
Mitchell SJ, Willcox T, Milsom FP, Gorman DF. Physical and pharmacological neuroprotection in cardiac surgery. Sem Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 4, 80–85, 2000
Mitchell SJ, Pellett O, Gorman DF. Cerebral protection by lidocaine during cardiac operations. Ann Thorac Surg 67, 1117–1124, 1999
Gorman DF, Mitchell SJ. A history of cerebral arterial gas embolism research: key publications. SPUMS J 29, 34–39, 1999
Willcox TW, Mitchell SJ, Gorman DF. Venous air in the bypass circuit: a source of arterial line emboli exacerbated by vacuum assisted drainage. Ann Thorac Surg 68, 1285–1291, 1999
Grindlay J, Mitchell SJ. Isolated pulmonary oedema associated with scuba diving. Emergency Med 11, 272–276, 1999
Richardson K, Mitchell SJ, Davis MF, Richards M. Decompression illness in New Zealand Divers: the 1996 experience. SPUMS J 28, 50–55, 1998
Mitchell SJ, Holley A, Gorman DF. A new system for scoring severity and recovery in decompression illness. SPUMS J 28, 84–94, 1998
Mitchell SJ, Willcox T, Gorman DF. Bubble generation and venous air filtration by hard- shell venous reservoirs: a comparative study. Perfusion 12, 325–333, 1997
Mitchell SJ, Pellett O, Gorman DF. Open chamber cardiac surgery: a clinical injury model for arterial gas embolism. SPUMS J 27, 230–235, 1997
Mitchell SJ, Willcox T, McDougall C, Gorman DF. Emboli generation by the Medtronic Maxima hardshell adult venous reservoir in cardio-pulmonary bypass circuits: a preliminary report. Perfusion 11, 145–155, 1996
Gardner M, Forbes C, Mitchell SJ. One hundred cases of decompression illness treated in New Zealand during 1995. SPUMS J 26, 222–226, 1996
Mitchell SJ. The role of lignocaine in the treatment of decompression illness - A review of the literature. SPUMS J 25, 182–194, 1995
Mitchell SJ. Assessment of fitness for diving. Practice Nurse 2, 25 – 26, 1995 Mitchell SJ, Gorman DF2. Near Drowning. General Practitioner 2, 8–9, 1994
Gorman DF, Drewry A, Mitchell SJ. A progress report on diving medicine studies in the RNZN. SPUMS J 24, 161–163, 1994
"Sinking of the Centaur - Commemoration".DVA.gov.au - Commemorative Publications. Australian Government - Department of Veteran's Affairs. 2003. Archived fromthe original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved2 June 2009.
