DAN First Aid Courses
Whether it’s being on the scene of an accident or witnessing a medical emergency, most people will be involved in a crisis at some point in their lives. First aid training and incident management skills empower people to step up and take action should these situations arise.
Developed by dive medicine physicians and diving educators, DAN’s courses are easy to understand and designed to provide you with the skills and confidence you need to respond in emergencies. DAN first aid courses prepare people to manage injuries related to scuba diving as well as those that occur in other settings. All courses meet current ILCOR and AHA guidelines. Isn’t it worth a few hours one evening or weekend to learn skills that could save a life?
Courses
Basic Life Support: CPR and First Aid (BLS)
This fundamental course prepares you to provide proper care for life-threatening illnesses or injuries until professional emergency medical care is available. The life-support skills taught in this course include one- and two-rescuer CPR for adults, children and infants. Use of automatic external defibrillators, bleeding management, assisting a choking victims and responding to a person in shock. The first aid skills taught include conducting secondary assessments, splinting and responding to medical emergencies.
Emergency Oxygen for Scuba Diving Injuries (EO2)
Administering emergency oxygen is the preferred first aid for scuba diving injuries, and early administration can drastically improve the outcome for an injured diver. The DAN Emergency Oxygen for Scuba Diving Injuries course teaches you how to administer life-saving oxygen first aid to divers who may be suffering from decompression illness (DCI). Additionally, this course will teach you how to recognize the signs and symptoms of decompression illness and respond to them accordingly. The emergency response skills taught in this course are not unique to scuba diving; they’re applicable to many other watersports and other activities.
Note: Current DAN BLS: CPR & FA, CPR: HCP provider or other nationally recognized full CPR training is prerequisite to this course.
The DAN Oxygen Grant Program allows DAN members who are certified in EO2 or DFA Pro to apply for a low- or no-cost oxygen unit for use during scuba diving emergencies. Find out more or apply here.
Diving First Aid for Professional Divers (DFA Pro)
Professional divers have unique responsibilities and a duty to respond to unique situations; their first aid training should not be any less unique. DAN’s Diving First Aid for Professional Divers course is designed for commercial, professional, aquarium, and scientific divers, and it provides knowledge and first aid skills specifically for these work environments.
DFA Pro includes all elements of the DAN BLS and EO2 courses and includes material on neurological assessment and first aid for hazardous marine life injuries. In the neurological assessment portion of the DFA Pro course, you will learn how to properly manage injuries with neurological implications. You will learn to recognize these injuries and properly perform a neurological assessment. You’ll also learn what information to collect and relay to emergency medical services. Recognizing symptoms and responding quickly can shorten recovery times and improve long-term outcomes. In the hazardous marine life injuries segment, you will gain the knowledge you need to identify specific types of marine life injuries and the first aid skills to treat them.
DFA Pro is the most comprehensive first aid course in the dive industry. While geared toward dive instructors and divemasters, anyone, even nondivers, will learn an indispensable set of first aid and risk-mitigation skills.