What level of DAN insurance to you carry?

[Kharon]

If I called 20 of them right now, except for the two divers, not a single one of them could tell me where the closest chamber is that supports divers. Calling 911 would do almost nothing for you except delay treatment.

I never go on a dive trip without knowing the location of the nearest chamber that handles divers, the contact info, a map (or have GPS set to the location), contact info for transport, etc. I don't go unprepaired even though I consider the posibility of me getting bent remote.

Calling 911 would get EMT's with oxy & other support as well as monitoring during the trip. Also they have lights & sirens that allow faster (safe transport) which you don't have. Sure, you can speed - and possibly get T-boned at an intersection.

Sounds to me like you were unprepaired and pulled a panic response to something unexpected.

 

[nimoh]

I never go on a dive trip without knowing the location of the nearest chamber that handles divers, the contact info, a map (or have GPS set to the location), contact info for transport, etc. I don't go unprepaired even though I consider the posibility of me getting bent remote.

Calling 911 would get EMT's with oxy & other support as well as monitoring during the trip. Also they have lights & sirens that allow faster (safe transport) which you don't have. Sure, you can speed - and possibly get T-boned at an intersection.

Sounds to me like you were unprepaired and pulled a panic response to something unexpected.

What makes you think that he didn't have oxygen? Also, he was on his way to the hospital before the ambulance would have been dispatched, and possibly got to the hospital faster than with an ambulance while obeying all traffic laws. I don't know about you, but I speed anyway whether or not it's an emergency. I do stop at red lights though, which in my opinion has a much greater risk of getting T-boned.

In my opinion, doesn't sound like a panic response at all. Keep in mind this was not a gun shot wound or anything like that. Just needed to get him to a chamber within a few hours.

Your other points about being prepared, I agree with. I don't always do it, in that I have been on dives where I didn't know where the nearest chamber is, but agree that I should have known.

 

[Akimbo]

I never go on a dive trip without knowing the location of the nearest chamber that handles divers, the contact info, a map (or have GPS set to the location), contact info for transport, etc. I don't go unprepaired even though I consider the posibility of me getting bent remote...

Good advice, but of marginal value if you are unable to communicate. I guess we have to add sharing that info with buddies. I have E-mailed DAN several times for this information before leaving home.

Even then, EMTs in the US, and most other places, will still bring you to a hospital instead of the chamber. There aren’t many places in the world that will put you in the barrel on a Table 5 based on your ability to pay alone. I was really spoiled. There was a chamber on deck or I was in one already during the great majority of my decompression diving. Sigh :depressed:

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I have the Guardian plan. I've had the highest level for the last ten years. I also require DAN coverage for all my students. OW coverage is free during training. It's the one thing I do push students towards after ow certification. Before any further training get a DAN policy. As an instructor it's also required for me so I write off the cost as a business expense.

 

[Colo Hippie]

Preferred for us - we have not let the coverage lapse since we first bought it after OW course.

 

[Superlyte27]

Yes I did have oxygen. Which is about the only treatment that can be done without a chamber.

Kharon:

You are laughable... People are laughing at you, not with you.

I know you can't make a horse drink... but I'm bored, so I'll lead you there anyway. Even though I know you're not a technical diver, and don't really have any experience with any of this, I'll lay it out for you. Keep in mind, my best friends are at the highest levels of the medical field, some of them were my business partners in that field. I am at the upper echelon of the insurance world professionally. My 2nd job, diving, puts me at the top levels of the technical diving world. So, please, by all means, keep telling us how you're more qualified to make better assessments of the situation.

Imagine this... Because this was a REAL incident recently.
You've just discovered you are bent. You're literally 20 minutes from the nearest chamber, but what you don't know is that 6 weeks ago, they quit doing diving medicine. But you've already called 911. My clients, some of which are EMT's, Police and Fire Men have no idea that their hospital doesn't serve the diving public anymore. Someone picks you up and drives you to the hospital, with cool flashing lights and loud sirens and everything.... yay! You get to the hospital and the Intake Nurse checks your bp, ekg, etc. She thinks it's a stroke or heart attack. They don't care what YOU think it is, so they keep pursuing stroke/heart attack. It's not until 3 hours later when they've eliminated every other issue, then they finally concede that maybe this is a diving injury. But wait.... they don't treat DCS. So, this hospital which is 3 HOURS AWAY from the nearest chamber that treats DCS arranges an ambulance to take you to Orlando. It takes an hour to get you ready to go, leaving one hospital to go to another hospital. You get in the truck, and head to Orlando where the Hyperbaric staff is waiting. 7 hours have now passed. You get admitted again and almost 9 hours after the initial symptom you are FINALLY receiving treatment in a chamber. Oh and guess what, the neurological hit you took that took so long to treat caused partial paralysis, 6 months later you'll start to regain motion and feeling. Yay.

Yah, in my panic (sarcasm), I decided to forego my buddy spending 9 hours being misdiagnosed, untreated and driven half way across the state while he suffers and faces possible irreversible damage. Instead, I left High Springs and was in the Orlando facility in 90 minutes. Thank God I had DAN to smooth the way and direct the path. Thank DAN for covering the co-payment that Blue Cross and Blue Shield didn't cover.

But go ahead Kharon, your way seems much better.

 

[djtimmy77]

We usually carry the highest level, but last year opted for a lower level as we were not going to be travelling to dive, just at home and wanted chamber coverage.

 

[Ayisha]

I have DAN Preferred insurance, not only because of what is covered and the amount of coverage in Preferred, but because of what is excluded in the Master plan. Preferred is the minimum I have ever considered, and when it comes time to renew, I will look further into the Guardian plan as well.

 

[kelemvor]

Preferred. $75 really is a trivial drop in the bucket compared to what you spend on diving overall for a year. At least, that's true for me.

I'll probably never need it, but you never really know. Last I heard, decompression was just a theory and doctors were all still practicing.

 

[RJP]

Sounds to me like you were unprepaired and pulled a panic response to something unexpected.

Sounds more like he was prepared to do what needed to be done given the circumstances and the accurate knowledge that he had.