In the article the author presents the specificity of decompression of deep-sea dives in relation to methods used in underwater works, with particular emphasis on commercial diving in our country. In the 50 - 90 m depth zone in the Polish offshore area, decompression was used in underwater works (works below the depth of 50 m) based on tables designed for bell diving. The technical, organisational and formal conditions of these underwater works corresponded to the national diving potential. The implementation of decompression, particularly in deep-sea dives, provides the possibility of performing it in many different ways. They, in turn, are the result of experience, diving technique, organisation and specificity of underwater works.The article presents the implementation of decompression from the executive side of underwater deep-sea works developed and carried out by the Department of Underwater Works Technology of the Naval Academy in cooperation with the Navy until 2001 and civil companies to date.

In the article the author describes the Polish specificity of deep dives used in underwater deep-sea works. The article briefly discusses the methods of deep diving used in the world to proceed to underwater works in the Polish offshore zone of 50-90m depth (according to the Act; deep water works are works below a depth of 50m). When discussing these methods, the author describes the technical-organisational and formal conditions and the type of conducted works. It then presents the methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of the main element of deep-sea works, i.e. diving. It provides information on deepsea underwater works on the Baltic Sea carried out by the Department of Underwater Works Technology of the Naval Academy in cooperation with the Polish Navy until 2001 and civil companies to date. On the basis of his own data from underwater deep-sea works, the author presents the methodology of evaluation of their effectiveness from the point of view of deep dives. In his conclusions, he puts forward recommendations for improving the efficiency of such works.

Here we present a unique life path of Sergiy Gulyar, a world-known Ukrainian scientist who was overcoming extreme conditions studying them on himself. He has developed his determination and responsibility from his basic experiences as a surgeon and his desire to win from his involvement in sports. His research in underwater laboratories has shown a capacity to find untrodden pathways to understand and explain what others did not even suspect. His physiological studies on the role of sea depths, breathing mixtures, underwater exposures, and diving schemes marked the path to the aquanauts and undersea man. Reaching the hyper depths equivalent to 2,500 m revealed the physiological limits of human being and defined how to handle hyperbaric respiratory failure. Prof. S. Gulyar suggested a usage of natural physiological mechanisms to accelerate the re-adaptation process as a part of the high-mountain rehabilitation of hyperbaria-adapted people. Dissertations were defended, books and articles were written, a scientific school of followers was created. Unfortunately, during the Soviet period, Prof. S. Gulyar faced a set of organizational problems and obstacles from the Soviet regime. In particular, his works were classified or hushed up, his intellectual property was often used without mentioning the author and his scientific team was intimidated by criminal investigations. Main recognition during this period had come from professional societies in Europe and the United States. After the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Prof. S. Gulyar introduced a number of innovations and inventions in electromagnetic medicine and physiology. In particular, he has managed to account for main common features of physiological effects of light stimulation produced by Lasers, Light-Emitted Diodes and Bioptron light sources. By doing so, some mystical dogmas were filtered out and new paths to sensible light-induced treatments were developed. At the same time, Prof. S. Gulyar has preserved the legacy of many generations of medical professionals who used light in their treatments. He has shown in his physiological experiments that stimulation of biologically active zones including acupuncture points light stimulation has a wide spectrum of biological effects including alleviation of pain symptoms. Now mono- and polychromatic visual and transcutaneous light therapy of pain has been recognized scientifically and clinically, and its place in medicine has been firmly established. Prof. S. Gulyar described a new functional system of the organism that regulates the electromagnetic equilibrium. A step into the future was the first experimentally grounded technology for the use of fullerene-modified light. Positive changes have been proven with its percutaneous and ocular use. These first results open the door to complete analysis and future investigations. Prof. S. Gulyar has published 20 monographs, 470 papers and abstracts, and received 11 patents. Many of his inventions have been implemented, the others are still awaiting implementation. This article is based on the data obtained by the authors during many years of their personal cooperation, as well as from the memoirs of Prof. S. Gulyar and the materials he provided.

The article is the first in a series of articles on the research and implementation of saturation diving technology in our country which presents the specific Polish conditions and achievements against the background of economic and historical circumstances. In view of the fact that research and implementation has a history of more than half a century, selected key figures of this period are recalled, some of whom have disappeared in the fogs of history. In the specialized literature of the world, the Polish underwater habitats of Meduza are among top 6 countries that researched and implemented, this high technology of saturation diving. Regarded as the inspirer, pioneer and creator of the first saturation diving, he designed and developed the technique and decompression with the cooperation of a team of enthusiasts from clubs and professional divers, as well as engineering staff from the Tri-City enterprises. In the first part of the article the author characterizes the saturation dives in comparison with short dives with particular emphasis on decompression, which is the key to safe diving. The article also takes into account the technical conditions for the implementation of the first saturation dives. The author discusses the general methodology of validation and verification of the assumed decompression, referring to the Polish conditions. He describes how the medical, technical, and organizational problems of implementation of saturation diving were solved in the pioneering period against the background of world achievements. Furthermore, the author describes Polish habitat constructions of Meduza and Geonur types and their application to underwater work on the Polish shelf and coastal areas. Despite the great progress in the field of medicine and technology, as well as organization, the problems of saturation diving, despite the passage of time, remain relevant, as these are the most difficult dives from the point of view of organization, underwater physiology and safety technology.

This two-part article reviews the current legal situation of professional personnel implementing hyperbaric procedures other than those used for diving. Numerous inconsistencies between the existing legal acts and the lack of legal regulations concerning procedures not financed from the State budget are shown.The first significant problem was the lack of mutual correlation of various regulations of the Minister of Health concerning hyperbaric diseases, as well as incoherence with medical and nursing specialisation programs in force in Poland.The second problem is the lack of requirements in the documents of the Ministry of Health for medical staff other than doctors and nurses, including technical staff, necessary for the implementation of a safe oxybarotherapy procedure.The situation is clearer with respect to technical personnel than in relation to medical personnel. There are provisions which strictly define the qualifications of such staff for a very narrow group of technical personnel. Although they deal with issues related to the use of hyperbaric chambers in diving, to date no other separate regulations have been developed for medical applications of hyperbaric therapy. Unfortunately, both in centres financed by the National Health Fund and in private centres, no-one observes these regulations because there is no such formal requirement.The same applies to occupational research (occupational medicine) for all groups of personnel involved in hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments.It was also found that medical hyperbaric centres not seeking funding from the budget (the National Health Fund) do not have even minimum qualification requirements for the medical staff working there. Furthermore, there is no knowledge of the requirements set out in other legal acts other than those concerning medicine.