Walking Again
Renewing DAN membership is a once-click process, but one member let lapse accidentally. It wasn’t until an emergency evacuation and 10 much-needed hyperbaric treatments did they realize the true power of DAN membership.
Alert Diver Category: DAN Was There for Me
Arachnid Encounter
While vacationing in Cairns, a tourist suffered delayed-onset symptoms from a poisonous spider bite. Read more about the harrowing story and required evacuation.
Rescue in the Gulf of Thailand
Technical divers regularly push beyond the limits of recreational diving, so we prepare for emergencies with contingencies neatly checked off like a detailed shopping list. Learn more about how DAN handled an incident.
Bent in Baja
A routine dive unfortunately did not go according to plan and resulted in a diver getting bent. Read his story and how DAN helped him every step of the way.
DCS in Cozumel
Our checkout dive was easy, with a maximum depth of 75 feet for 50 minutes. The current was slight, and the visibility was spectacular — an ideal first dive. It closed with a nice, slow ascent and a three-minute safety stop. When we returned to the boat, I felt a sudden tingling in my right foot followed by a dull ache in my knee. I assumed the worst, thinking I had decompression sickness (DCS). When I reviewed the dive in my mind, however, that seemed impossible.
It Can Happen to Anyone
My buddy and I ascended to 20 feet for our safety stop. As soon as we surfaced I thought I saw the boat moving away from me but quickly realized I was disoriented. It felt like vertigo, but I managed to get on board the boat. I removed my gear and was talking to my buddy when I started involuntarily leaning forward until I lost my balance and collapsed face-down on the deck. I felt paralyzed and couldn’t get up.
A Hole in My Heart
I HAVE BEEN A CERTIFIED DIVER since 1986 and have logged hundreds of recreational and technical dives. Since 2014 I have primarily been doing technical rebreather diving with a close […]
Mistakes and Bad Decisions
I WAS ON A TRIP TO TULAMBEN to dive the Liberty wreck for three days. The first day was recreational dives followed by two days of technical diving. I had a cold and sinusitis leading up to the trip, but the conditions had cleared up …
Not in Denial
HAVING DONE THOUSANDS OF DIVES since I started in 1964, primarily off the coast of North Carolina, the shipwrecks and dive profiles there are familiar. Overall conditions couldn’t have been […]
Skin Bends in Cuba
While diving in Cuba, a diver’s itchy rash didn’t seem immediately dire, but the condition quickly deteriorated. Seeking treatment was a complicated process, but the diagnosis was eventually skin bends.