A short interview with Dr Joel Hissink discussing issues of scuba diving for those with asthma.
Dr Joel Hissink spent 19 years in the Royal Australian Navy. Among other positions, Dr Hissink was an officer in the navigation branch and a ship’s diving officer before studying medicine at the University of Sydney.
Dr Joel Hissink – BSc (Oceanography) MBBS (Hons) DCH FRACGP
General Practice / Diving & Aviation Medicine – Byron Bay
Dr Hissink LOVES to SCUBA dive, but life as a rural doctor doesn’t always leave a lot of spare time for that. He keeps his flipper in though – he’s lectured extensively on diving medicine and is interested in helping people who have asthma who think they are unable to SCUBA dive.
Life began off the grid
Dr Joel Hissink grew up a long way from anywhere in a small hamlet called Tanja, on the far south coast of NSW, near Bega. ‘We were raised in a tiny mud brick house that my dad built by hand without power tools. We had no running hot water and no electricity aside from a small solar panel and four car batteries that powered a couple of halogen light globes in upside-down aluminium pie tins. Our other lights were kerosene lamps.
’Now I live on a small farm in Mullum with my wife, Abelia, our three children, a couple of dogs, a dozen or so chooks, and a few cows.’
Following in grandfather’s footsteps
A career in medicine is a huge ask of anyone, but Dr Hissink says his family ties pointed him in that direction. ‘My grandfather was a cardiothoracic surgeon in the Dutch Army in Indonesia and later a GP in North Narrabeen in Sydney.
‘He practiced from a converted garage in the front yard of his house and I remember his patients walking up the driveway and into the waiting room where I’d sometimes sit. His patients would turn up to the front door of the house at all hours.
‘I observed my grandfather, who I adored, demonstrating great care and attention to the people that came to him for help. Perhaps this was more influential than I ever considered…
Medicine wasn’t always on the cards
Becoming ‘Dr Hissink’ wasn’t always part of the plan. ‘I joined the military straight out of school as a Navy Officer at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra at 17, where I studied Oceanography. I then worked within the navigation branch on war ships and was also the ship’s diving officer on the guided missile frigate, HMAS Newcastle.
‘Later I gained entry into medicine at Sydney Uni and requested for the Navy to put me through, which they did. Once I finished med school and worked for a couple of years in civilian hospitals in Sydney, I returned to work as a full-time Navy medical officer.’
Dr Hissink then became the Officer in Charge of the Submarine and Underwater Medicine Unit – his work included the medical care and selection of the Navy’s elite Clearance Divers, submarine escape and rescue, as well as the medical management of military and civilian diving accidents, including hyperbarics.
‘Over the years I deployed many times, including to East Timor, the Middle East, Pakistan, Turkey, South East Asia and Papua New Guinea and worked with the UN, NATO and Humanitarian agencies.
A life of adventure
‘I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Navy and experienced some incredible things including being stranded on a beach in East Timor during the INTERFET peace-keeping operations resulting in spending the night in a remote village in the mountains, getting trapped underwater in a damaged US Rescue Submarine in the Mediterranean and, during the same operation, getting stranded on a Russian Submarine Rescue ship overnight in bad weather and sleeping in a small cabin with an old Russian engineer (with his hand-made knife collection) and a young Russian diver.
‘Despite being unable to understand each other we ended up drinking far too much vodka while toasting everyone from our wives to Pushkin.
‘I transferred to the Navy Reserves in 2016 after moving to the Northern Rivers and continue to serve as a medical consultant.’
Still, some diving happens
Dr Hissink does have a busy home and work life, but he still does get some time to dive, and now two of his three children are old enough to go with him!
Dr Hissink has a wonderful code to live by. As he puts it: ‘We spend most of our lives trying to control every aspect of our lives, only to find, in the end, that we have very little control over any of it. That’s not about being defeatist, but rather being grateful for every day, spending time wisely, helping others, seeing the positive things in life and also not being too proud – every decision we make is half chance.
He has some good advice: ‘Remember the Everbody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) song.’
*This story and video was produced with the assistance of the NSW Department of Regional NSW Regional Growth Fund
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