Insurance DAN vs. PADI?

[pilot fish]

Mike, went back and read about 80% of that thread. I can't believe you got bent on those profiles. You sat out the second dive, then had a 3 1/2 hr surface interval and next two dives were on damn X32nitrox, and you got bent? You even hydrated well. Damn, this is really scaring me.

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

 

[miked]

Mike, went back and read about 80% of that thread. I can't believe you got bent on those profiles. You sat out the second dive, then had a 3 1/2 hr surface interval and next two dives were on damn X32nitrox, and you got bent? You even hydrated well. Damn, this is really scaring me.

That seems to be the consensus of the people -diving, medical,etc.that I have spoken to. It was quite a shock to me, too. I'm a purely recreational diver, and not a risk taker- an "old" diver, not a "bold" diver -I try to play it safe,etc....and I still took a bad hit.

Not to add to the "scary" aspect of this, but I still have symptoms ( nearly 5 months later) :the tingling, pins & needles, burning in my feet and lower legs.

One of the reasons I started that thread, besides to tell of the incident, was to show fellow divers that "be careful-it can happen to you, even if you follow all the rules", and to compliment DAN and how good I felt the insurance helped me.

Thanks for your interest,
take care,
Mike

 

[mdsd]

All the divers that I met who are DMs, instructors, commercial divers, etc all have DAN insurance. Guess what, I went out and got it too.

I've heard tales of rescue pilots not lifting off to get someone from a long distance unless they can confirm a DAN number or a credit card with a big limit. Maybe these are tall tales or insurance-generated horror stories. Bottomline, people have received benefits from DAN, it's ubiquitous and insurance is about peace of mind. I have dependents. End of message.

:luxhello:

 

[Buoyant1]

The info I received from a diver friend (who works for an insurance company, and understands the lingo) is that if you go with the top DAN policy then the limits are per incident, otherwise they are lifetime.

PADI's limits is per incident in all of their policy levels.

I grabbed the PADI since I'm A. a new diver and B. not to sure of my frequency of dives will be at this point, so I went conservative. (and therefore haven't even THOUGHT of taking those cave diving courses! hahaha!)

Now if I decide that this "hobby" gets out of hand. (getting there) I'm sure I'll upgrade. To where depends on who offers what at that point in time.

 

[AmyJ]

We have DAN, but are new divers and have not had to use it. WE did get the top level... (whatever it was called) because as someone said.. if you can put out for diving you should be able to do it to insure yourself. We have kids!

Question about the Mexico thing... this does concern me since we do a majority of our diving there. Does this limit only apply to Coz? What about the mainland? (where we dive) Are there chambers on the mainland (Playa del Carmen area?) thanks!

 

[FatCat]

Since this is an international board, I took the liberty of comparing the coverage offered by the DAN collective insurance in the USA and the coverage offered in Europe.

Coverage for European members is far, far more extensive than that offered to US members.

Just so no-one is trying to compare apples with oranges...

 

[pilot fish]

Since this is an international board, I took the liberty of comparing the coverage offered by the DAN collective insurance in the USA and the coverage offered in Europe.

Coverage for European members is far, far more extensive than that offered to US members.

Just so no-one is trying to compare apples with oranges...

Could you provide an example? What is comparative cost?

 

[FatCat]

I'm quitting the net for today, dinner's ready.

Here are the links :

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org (USA)

http://www.daneurope.org (Europe)

 

[AmyJ]

My only comment is that the DAN insurance in Mexico has a cap of $3000 USD due to the less than honest dealings of one particular chamber operator. This cap was based on the average treatment costs of a "normal" hit..

.

Is this cap still in effect? We are heading to Riviera Maya and then to Puerto Vallarta in Feb. What is recommended?? Thanks

 

[RonFrank]

Is this cap still in effect? We are heading to Riviera Maya and then to Puerto Vallarta in Feb. What is recommended?? Thanks

See this thread http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=133546