PADI Open Water Course, no medical insurance. Injury possibility?

[bracko]

If you are living on this earth and do not have medical insurance, I'm not sure I understand why you are concerned about covering yourself medically just for the OW course and not before or after the course. It is a pretty low risk activity.

Driving to the grocery store for instance is not. Being a person, regardless of age and fitness level, is also not.

If you are not able to obtain medical insurance before and after the course, I certainly wouldn't worry about getting it just for those 4 days.

you didn't read the post, did you....

>travel insurance doesn't cover me during the course

hungrynbored ... who are you doing the course with?

 

[Scott L]

Regardless of what Miss Fancy Boots says, splurge and get a DAN policy for the diving. It could save you a lot of money if you were to have an accident.

If the OP will be making the trip, of course sign-up for the free DAN student coverage. Overall, I believe the OP would be prudent to forgo trips and leisure activities until he can afford to carry proper health insurance. Just my 2psi worth...

 

[Scott L]

Hmm, does anyone have stats about the risks of traveling to and from diving?

Last I checked, in the USA, one was twice as likely to be injured or killed in an auto accident vs, scuba diving, hence Lulubelle's thoughts...

 

[hungrynbored]

To those commenting on medical insurance: I have travel medical insurance. It covers injuries sustained while scuba diving for certified divers. I am not a certified diver. It therefore does not cover me until after I complete a scuba diving course.

Thanks for the info on DAN. From a brief look at it, it looks like the free thing is limited to people who live in Canada/US and whose dive instructor / dive center is located in Canada/US. I'll check into it some more and ask the dive shops here in Sydney.

I was looking at Pro Dive Manly and Abyss Scuba.

 

[lulubelle]

Lulubelle, check the OPs post a bit more carefully, he/she mentions Travel insurance not covering SCUBA. He or She likely does have medical insurance at home, but many/most insurance schemes cover only incidents which happen within the country of residence, or in the case of the EU, within countries with bilateral/multilateral common travel treaties.

Oh, I read it several times but there was some missing information. Had the OP indicated his/her country of origin/residence as being OUS, I would have drawn similar conclusions. But as the headline was "no medical insurance" and as most of the board here are in the US, I assumed the OP to be American, where we either have health coverage or do not. Many do not. Worrying about those particular 4 days versus the other would not make much sense in that case.

My field is healthcare. I see a lot of young people forgoing health coverage (some, for good reason) because they believe their youth to protect them from adverse health outcomes.

Hmm, does anyone have stats about the risks of traveling to and from diving?

No, not that I am aware of. But we have many for the rest of life.

you didn't read the post, did you....

>travel insurance doesn't cover me during the course

hungrynbored ... who are you doing the course with?

But I read the headline which was "no medical insurance" and assumed that the OP did not have general medical insurance and was attempting only to cover the trip.

If the OP will be making the trip, of course sign-up for the free DAN student coverage. Overall, I believe the OP would be prudent to forgo trips and leisure activities until he can afford to carry proper health insurance. Just my 2psi worth...

Agreed.

Last I checked, in the USA, one was twice as likely to be injured or killed in an auto accident vs, scuba diving, hence Lulubelle's thoughts...

Yes, Lulubelle's father bit it in a car 3 miles from home when she was still a young lass.

To those commenting on medical insurance: I have travel medical insurance. It covers injuries sustained while scuba diving for certified divers. I am not a certified diver. It therefore does not cover me until after I complete a scuba diving course.

Thanks for the info on DAN. From a brief look at it, it looks like the free thing is limited to people who live in Canada/US and whose dive instructor / dive center is located in Canada/US. I'll check into it some more and ask the dive shops here in Sydney.

I was looking at Pro Dive Manly and Abyss Scuba.

Please forgive me for my comments. I was not trying to derail your thread in any way. You still do not mention whether or not you have general medical insurance, and if you do not, I would stand by my original comments.

 

[knotical]

Although not relevant to the OP's issue because of geography, a clarification for others reading this thread who are considering the free DAN student insurance.

It covers only recompression treatment, and only during "entry-level" student training. Coverage ends when the student completes the last dive required for certification

By all means get the free insurance if it applies, but also seriously consider getting DAN membership and one of their various paid insurance options.

 

[The Chairman]

It covers only recompression treatment, and only during "entry-level" student training. Coverage ends when the student completes the last dive required for certification

Wow, I did not realize it was only for recompression. I had to go to DAN just to verify. Thanks for providing that.

The most commonly reported injury during Scuba Training is barotrauma to the ear. Its the one thing your instructor can not directly observe that you did it correctly.

 

[Scott L]

Wow, I did not realize it was only for recompression. I had to go to DAN just to verify. Thanks for providing that.

The most commonly reported injury during Scuba Training is barotrauma to the ear. Its the one thing your instructor can not directly observe that you did it correctly.

Can I assume the second leading injury is scrapped or cut knees caused from resting on pool, lake or ocean bottoms whilst over-weighted?

 

[lulubelle]

Can I assume the second leading injury is scrapped or cut knees caused from resting on pool, lake or ocean bottoms whilst over-weight?

Problem is, some people don't get over those habits for many years beyond their initial training. I fondly remember the vertical divers on my last trip.



I carry the Preferred DAN membership for dive travel because imho you get a LOT more coverage for a little more money. It does not, however, provide comprehensive non diving related medical coverage (only 10K) and other trip coverage unless you purchase additional trip insurance via Travel Guard. Both pay as secondaries.

For the broader coverages, I use Dive Assure which pays as primary. DAN makes more sense for a single trip, Dive Assure makes more sense if you have many trips planned. I had to file a claim with Dive Assure last year. I had full reimbursement before the trip even departed.

There is some redundancy in Dive Accident coverage the way I do it. But I'll always keep the DAN coverage.

 

[The Chairman]

Can I assume the second leading injury is scrapped or cut knees caused from resting on pool, lake or ocean bottoms whilst over-weighted?

I've actually seen this. :shocked2: