Author Divers Alert Network (DAN)

The largest association of recreational scuba divers in the world, DAN is supported by membership dues and donations. DAN's mission is to help divers in need of medical emergency assistance and to promote dive safety through research, education, products and diving services.

Image by Stephen Frink

A Free-Flowing Failure

By Divers Alert Network (DAN) on November 18, 2018 Equipment News, Scuba Diving Features

A diver demonstrates the much greater volume of air that escapes from a low-pressure hose (held in his right hand) compared to a high-pressure hose (in his left hand). The Diver The diver was a 24-year-old woman who was first certified to dive the previous year. She was 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighed 140 pounds and had a body mass index (BMI) of 24. Since her certification she had made a total of 50 dives, 30 of those during the preceding 12 months, and had dived to a maximum depth of 130 feet. The Incident The diver was part…

Image courtesy of Divers Alert Network

Insurance protection offered diving professionals

By Divers Alert Network (DAN) on June 26, 2017 Community News, Training News

Divers Alert Network (DAN), in conjunction with its subsidiary Risk Retention Group, is offering liability insurance to scuba diving professionals and dive businesses. Among those who can take advantage of this protection are diving instructors, dive masters and even free diving and swimming instructors. Lloyds of London and Gen Re are backing DAN’s program. July 1 is the first day of the 2017-18 program year, so professional liability insurance will be available then. The cost for instructors who are DAN members is $649 US and $681 US for non-members. For divemasters the rates are $379 for members and $398 for…

Entangled in Kelp

By Divers Alert Network (DAN) on May 22, 2017 Scuba Diving Features

The Divers On his first-ever night dive, Sam, an uncertified and inexperienced diver with fewer than 15 lifetime dives, descended to catch lobsters with two other uncertified divers (Dave and Tim). The three descended, while a fourth diver (Ron) planned to freedive and assist with hauling in the anticipated lobster catch. A fifth diver (Eric) remained on the boat. (Note: All names are fictitious.) The Incident Dave’s tank slipped out of his BCD strap five minutes into the dive. He alerted Tim of the issue and signaled that he was going to surface to adjust his gear. Dave and Tim…

Thirteen-Foot Dive

By Divers Alert Network (DAN) on December 28, 2016 Scuba Diving Features

The diver was a 19-year-old woman in good physical condition. She denied any history of medical problems and did not take any medications regularly. She completed her confined-water training several weeks before with no problems and was now doing her open-water training dives. The Dives The dives took place in South Florida. The diver was accompanied by her father, a certified diver with fewer than 100 lifetime dives. On the first day the dives were uneventful, though the diver admitted to some anxiety related to being in open water and diving from a boat. None of the dives were deeper…

In Denial – Spotting Signs of Decompression Sickness

By Divers Alert Network (DAN) on November 22, 2016 Scuba Diving Features

Small, easy-to-ignore symptoms are often the first signs of decompression sickness. The diver was a 52-year-old female who had been certified for 19 years and logged more than 400 dives in locations throughout the world. She had no known medical history, took no medications and had no previous diving injuries. She and her dive group were on a liveaboard traveling near an archipelago in the northern Indian Ocean. The Incident This diver participated in a series of 10 dives over four days. All her dives were on air and conducted within her computer’s no-decompression limits. The deepest dive of her…

Incident Insights: You Better Get That Examined

By Divers Alert Network (DAN) on October 10, 2016 Scuba Diving Features

The Diver The diver was a generally healthy, 32-year-old woman with 130 lifetime dives. Her medical history included no allergies or other health problems. She had just completed her second dive on the second day of a dive series. The Incident During the dive, the diver’s buddy collected what he thought was an empty moon snail shell. The divers did not realize that a juvenile giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) had taken up residence in the shell. When the octopus crawled out after the dive, the diver picked it up with her bare hands to return it to the water.…

Image Credit: Ed Stetson. Image published courtesy of Divers Alert Network

Incident Insights: Sea Lion Bite

By Divers Alert Network (DAN) on September 12, 2016 Scuba Diving Features

The Diver The diver was a 67-year-old male with 35 years of diving experience. The Incident Early one afternoon near La Paz, Mexico, at Los Islotes, a popular dive site and sea lion rookery, a sea lion bit the diver on the stomach. At the time of the attack he was scuba diving in less than 20 feet of seawater with approximately 50 other divers from several dive boats present. After the attack, fellow divers and the crew helped him back aboard the ship. They removed his 3mm wetsuit to assess the injury and control the bleeding. He was conscious…