Insurance DAN vs. PADI?

[jbisjim]

I personally have seen , when a friend of mine got a hit, the differences from DAN to other carriers. While my friends Carrier was not DAN, he called them due to his carrier not having a 24 hour hotline. DAN not only answered his questions but call and faxed the chamber by the time we got there. While my friends insurance seemed to cover every thing getting information did not seem as easy.

The Drs had a several page document from DAN that they filled out and went back to DAN. Even though Dan was not my friends dive insurance Carrier.

I personlly have always been with DAN, they have always been there when there was a need. My friend told me that he is going back to DAN.

IMHO

 

[miked]

Mike, cold you share with us the dive that caused your hit? It might be helpful to understand what happened so we can avoid the same situtation? Thanks

Hi pilot fish,
There is/was a thread relating what happened to me, it is somewhat lengthy, but contains a lot of info. If you read that and have more questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

The thread title is "Bent Bad in Grand Cayman"; it is in the "Incidents and Accidents" (or vice-versa) forum; the most recent post was , IIRC in early November.

If you go tho that forum and scroll, and scroll...you should be able to find it.

(Sorry, but I don't know how to post a link to a thread (it's probably one of those simple things that I'm too internet UNsavvy to know.)

Take care,
Mike

 

[mjh]

A while back Rodale's had an artical comparing the different plans. We went with the following company after comparing head to head. In part because we travel a fair amount and the coverage for gear.

http://www.diveassure.com/new/usa/

Good luck, any coverage is better than none.

 

[pilot fish]

Hi pilot fish,
There is/was a thread relating what happened to me, it is somewhat lengthy, but contains a lot of info. If you read that and have more questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

The thread title is "Bent Bad in Grand Cayman"; it is in the "Incidents and Accidents" (or vice-versa) forum; the most recent post was , IIRC in early November.

If you go tho that forum and scroll, and scroll...you should be able to find it.

(Sorry, but I don't know how to post a link to a thread (it's probably one of those simple things that I'm too internet UNsavvy to know.)

Take care,
Mike

OK, thanks. I'll try to find it .I'm no genius on the Internet either

 

[pilot fish]

Here it is, Mike. Hope it helps other divers.




bent bad in Grand cayman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi to all,
Well, my number came up, and I lost.

The plan was: Fly to GC on Sat. Aug 14, fly home on Sat Aug 21 with diving in between.

The reality:
After 3 dives on the first day (Sun 8/15/04), I didn’t feel well: fatigue, “rubber legs” etc.
I checked my profiles/computer/etc-and said “no way I could be bent”……..
Well, the ER doctor disagreed, big time. She was a diver, and very well versed in DCI. She examined me, and gave me the bad news. She said, somewhat later, after checking profiles, computer, etc. “you did nothing wrong, but took a bad hit”, followed by “this proves, once again, that sh%$ happens”
In short, I wound up with type 2 spinal DCI, took 6 chamber rides (USN table 6) over the next 6 days, (where, thank God, I went from not being able to walk or urinate, to being able to do both) and was able to fly home on 8/24. I am mostly better, but am under orders to take it easy for several weeks, if not longer. As I type this, I am waiting for the “local” dive doctor (recommended by DAN) to call me back to set up a follow-up
It would seem that my diving days are over.

Some observations/comments:
1) Sometimes sh%$ does happen, even if you “follow the rules”.

2) Thank goodness for DAN- they provided info and assistance in many ways; and for having DAN insurance- my chamber rides alone cost $15,000+


3) My highest praise goes to the Doctor, and to the men and women of the Cayman Hyperbaric Services team. Without their expertise and compassion, I don’t know what shape I’d be in. (“somewhat claustrophobic” and “hyperbaric chambers” is a tough mix.)

4) Sometimes life s#*ks, but it could have been worse. {yeah, I’m feeling sorry for myself}

5) Be extra careful-this could happen to you.

6) I hope any of you that do “get a hit” are as fortunate as I was regarding the quality of care available to you.

Be well and be safe,
Mike

Hi pilot fish,
There is/was a thread relating what happened to me, it is somewhat lengthy, but contains a lot of info. If you read that and have more questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

The thread title is "Bent Bad in Grand Cayman"; it is in the "Incidents and Accidents" (or vice-versa) forum; the most recent post was , IIRC in early November.

If you go tho that forum and scroll, and scroll...you should be able to find it.

(Sorry, but I don't know how to post a link to a thread (it's probably one of those simple things that I'm too internet UNsavvy to know.)

Take care,
Mike

 

[pilot fish]

Mike, that is indeed scary. I'm just hearing too much of this lately. You, unlike the other ones we've read lately, were not diving all the time, or employed in diving, so had no nitrogen build up prior to dive. Can you share with us what you did prior to dive , were you hydrated, rested, or that you exercised heavily prior to dive? What were your dives that day, BT and depth?

On a realted matter, you seem to think DAN was real good? You would prefer them to PADI?

 

[RogerL.]

A couple of years ago I was diving with a group in Cozumel, after coming up from a dive that was a disaster from freak currents the whole group of divers, 15 plus went to the local chamber to be checked out. It turned out five of us had recieved a hit and needed to do time in the chamber. What was weird was as we were getting checked out we were all making phone calls to our insurance carriers to get the test and chamber visits covered. I was covered by DAN and my friend who was covered by PADI was sitting right across the desk from me. We were each on different phone lines calling, I got throught and was told with in minutes I was covered not to worry and they would take care of everything. My buddy called the number on his card only to find that the number had been changed and he had to go to another number before finally talking with someone who took his info and said they would look into it. In the end he was fine and needed no further "help?", he was quite shaken at the run around and said next year he was switching to DAN. I on the other hand ran up quite a bill and DAN covered it all. I won't use anyone but them, ever, believe me. Like I said, cool comparision, although I wouldn't want to check it out again. Roger

 

[pilot fish]

We heard on this board that DAN now has a cap on chamber charges,[ only in Cozumel] of $3000 US. Did you encounter any of that? Were all the charges of your friend covered under PADI, as yours were?

A couple of years ago I was diving with a group in Cozumel, after coming up from a dive that was a disaster from freak currents the whole group of divers, 15 plus went to the local chamber to be checked out. It turned out five of us had recieved a hit and needed to do time in the chamber. What was weird was as we were getting checked out we were all making phone calls to our insurance carriers to get the test and chamber visits covered. I was covered by DAN and my friend who was covered by PADI was sitting right across the desk from me. We were each on different phone lines calling, I got throught and was told with in minutes I was covered not to worry and they would take care of everything. My buddy called the number on his card only to find that the number had been changed and he had to go to another number before finally talking with someone who took his info and said they would look into it. In the end he was fine and needed no further "help?", he was quite shaken at the run around and said next year he was switching to DAN. I on the other hand ran up quite a bill and DAN covered it all. I won't use anyone but them, ever, believe me. Like I said, cool comparision, although I wouldn't want to check it out again. Roger

 

[miked]

Mike, that is indeed scary. I'm just hearing too much of this lately. You, unlike the other ones we've read lately, were not diving all the time, or employed in diving, so had no nitrogen build up prior to dive. Can you share with us what you did prior to dive , were you hydrated, rested, or that you exercised heavily prior to dive? What were your dives that day, BT and depth?

On a realted matter, you seem to think DAN was real good? You would prefer them to PADI?

Pilot fish,
The answers to your questions are contained in posts further along in that same thread. there were a number of good Q/A exchanges on theat thread, as well as the usual interesting sidebars, and a whole lot of kind words. If you were to scroll through the thread,and isolate my "answering" posts, you could probably find, by working backwards, the questions that were asked.
As I don't have log books or notes here now-they are packed away for the moment, I'd rather you got the specific numbers from the thread, due to their (probable) greater accuracy and detail, as they came from records, rather than from my memory.


Having said that, to briefly reply (from memory) : I believe I was well hydrated; all I did pre- diving was eat breakfast-several glasses of water/juice-no coffee; certainly no heavy exercise that day -or ever (lugging a gear bag to the boat was about "it")
My dive profiles were typical rec diving, and were "in the green" according to the computers I was carrying.

I really felt that I got a lot of help from DAN-and their insurance. I know very little about the PADI insurance, so I can't compare-but, based on this incident, I have no complaints about DAN- and their insurance-only praise.


If you have other questions, feel free to ask.
Take care,
Mike

 

[matt_unique]

A while back Rodale's had an artical comparing the different plans. We went with the following company after comparing head to head. In part because we travel a fair amount and the coverage for gear.

http://www.diveassure.com/new/usa/

Good luck, any coverage is better than none.

I looked at this too, the data is not completely correct. You need to check the actual websites for DAN and PADI (link to V and B) to get the exact coverage details.

I assesed both DAN and PADI and decided PADI was the best coverage for the cost for me. To get the same coverage in a PADI plan, you need to pay more money with DAN. You have to add the $29 DAN membership cost to the plan cost of course.

--Matt