Board of Directors
Dr John Lippmann OAM
Chairman and CEO
Dr John Lippmann began diving over fifty years ago and became a certified instructor with FAUI, NAUI, BSAC and CMAS (3 star). He developed an avid interest in diver rescue and first aid, decompression, deeper diving and marine animal injuries. He has been involved in researching, teaching, writing and consulting on safe diving, decompression and accident management for both divers and the general community for 40 years, specialising in resuscitation, first aid, oxygen administration, diver rescue, various aspects of decompression, and the investigation and reporting of diving accidents.
John has authored, or co-authored, many books that have been published and distributed worldwide. These include The Diving/DAN Emergency Handbook, Deeper Into Diving, The Essentials of Deeper Sport Diving, Scuba Safety in Australia, Oxygen First Aid, First Aid & Emergency Care, Automated External Defibrillators, Advanced Oxygen First Aid, Basic Life Support, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Decompression Illness, Am I Fit To Dive, and others. He is a contributing author/editor of the 5th edition of Diving & Subaquatic Medicine. His articles and research papers on diving safety and accident management have been published in medical, technical, and recreational diving journals throughout the world, with over 60 papers published in peer-reviewed medical or scientific journals.
He was the founder of the Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific (DAN AP) which he established in 1994 to improve the safety of scuba diving within the Asia-Pacific. He was Chairman, Executive Director and Director of Training for DAN AP 20 years, the editor of Alert Diver Asia-Pacific for 13 years and remained as Chairman and Director of Research for the final 5 years. In his time at DAN AP, John was personally involved in the management over 1,400 diving accidents. In 2007, John received an Order of Australia award for services to scuba diving safety, resuscitation and first aid.
After gaining a Masters degree by research for his investigation of first aid training methodologies, John also completed a PhD on Australian diving-related fatalities. He has been involved in the review of more than 500 diving-related deaths and maintains a national database of more than 1,000 recorded Australian diving-related deaths.
John has a position as an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health and Preventative Medicine at Monash University, Victoria; is a Senior Research Fellow for the Royal Lifesaving Society Australia; and has been made a Fellow of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine through the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society. He has also been awarded Life Membership of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society (SPUMS) and Life Saving Victoria. John also acts as a consultant in diving safety, accident prevention and investigation, and as an Expert Witness in diving accident investigations.
Stan Bugg
Stan learned to dive in 1965 while studying Physical Education at Melbourne University, and has dived continuously ever since.
He has logged over 5000 dives.
He qualified as a FAUI Instructor in 1973, and has subsequently attained instructor status with
NASDS, SSI, IANTD and CDAA.
He holds Instructor Trainer qualifications with FAUI, NASDS and IANTD.
Stan has taught diving at all levels including wreck, cave, nitrox, technical and instructor.
Stan taught P.E. history and geography in Victorian government schools for 35 years.
After “retirement” he taught first aid, CPR, and oxygen administration courses via the DAN programmes.
He was a member of the DAN Asia Pacific board of directors 2008-2018.
Stan has been a frequent dive tourist, and he has visited Chuuk, Palau, Guam, PNG, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Malcolm Hill
Malcolm Hill has spent the majority of his working years in the marketing and management of consumer goods and services especially in the areas of publishing, hospitality and retail point of sale. He has a keen and continuing focus on good customer relations, communication and effective marketing. Malcolm’s qualifications include the Marketing component of the Bachelor of Commerce Degree ( University of N.S.W. ), Management Diploma ( 4 Years ) plus Advertising & Marketing Diploma ( 4 Years ) Sydney Institute of Technology.
Malcolm’s love of diving and the underwater environment began in the mid 1960’s during his time in the Australian Navy Reserve where he received his first diving qualification. Over the years he has had the privilege of diving in many different locations in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
He was actively involved with DAN AP from 1999 and served as a Director from 2003 to 2018 at which time he became a Foundation Board Member of the ADSF.
These days Malcolm’s interests include Family and Friends, good food and wine, cars, boating, trekking, travel and the occasional diving trip. Malcolm and his wife, Rhonda, after having lived in Melbourne for many years moved to the northern end of Queensland’s Gold Coast in 2007.
Malcolm has been involved in several volunteering activities over the past ten years that include Body Corporate Chairmanship, Volunteer Driving and since 2015 radio communications with Marine Rescue Southport. In recent times Malcolm and Rhonda have found themselves in a position of being able to increase their travel experiences both within and outside Australia.
Dr David Wilkinson OAM
Recently retired, David was a Senior Consultant Anaesthetist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) and was the Medical Director of the Hyperbaric Medicine Unit for over 20 years. He was the coordinator for the Divers Emergency Service (DES), a telephone service that offered diving medicine advice 24 hours a day.
David was on the board of directors of DAN AP from 2009 to 2018 and was made a lifetime member in 2013. He was made a Fellow of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine (USA) in 2013. He is a long-time member of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society and is their immediate past Academic Censor.
David was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2016 for services to Hyperbaric Medicine. In addition to his clinical work in Anaesthesia and Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine, he was an active researcher with many publications. He lectures to several courses and was a co-director of the Medical Officer’s Course in Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine at the RAH. He was awarded a PhD for research on Hyperbaric Oxygen and insulin sensitivity.
David has been a diver for more than 20 years and has technical diving qualifications. He still enjoys diving today, preferably in warmer water.