Surgeon warns against use of heat packs in sea diving after freak accident

A SURGEON has warned scuba divers against using heat packs on deep dives after treating a man who received severe burns in a freak accident off the Cork coast last year.

Mr John Curran, a specialist registrar in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Cork University Hospital (CUH) who treated the diver, issued the warning while describing the case in the latest edition of the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery.

He described it as the first documented case of severe burns sustained by a diver as a result of the auto-ignition of air-activated heat packs at high pressure.