Info Is DAN Insurance worthwhile?

[Joneill]

I think it is strange that Woody talks about it for an hour and people want him to answer more questions.

Woody told us exactly what he did, but presumably people feel they need to know WHY he did those things.

Yet, nobody is calling for DAN to answer some of the most basic questions raised in the video:

Like: do you have to fill out and complete an on-line form before any help will be provided? How does that work if you are on a boat from a sat phone?

Is it really normal to expect a delay of 24 hours or more to move somebody when they are a 45 min flight from a metropolitan region of the US?

Is it really going to take DAN 48 hours (or more) to secure oxygen for a medivac flight?

Will DAN not secure a chamber for an injured member even if the treating doctor indicates the patient has neurological problems and believes that the patient needs to be recompressed?

These are all policy issues, seems like they could be verified or refuted or clarified. Are all those real policies?

Those are some of the issues that were raised that DAN really should clear up - since they are policy issues and are not necessarily or directly related to this particular incident. They can and should answer without compromising any privacy issues.

I (actually) signed up for an AMEX Card tonight, but when it was finalized/approved, they issued me a credit limit of $1000, a lot of good that did!

Well… we’ve only heard one side of this story so far and there are 2 sides to EVERY story.

Also, they said they were going to release the transcripts and have a discussion with DAN’s CEO and share that… so, I’d guess most of us are waiting to see what comes out of that.

My personal experience with DAN has been positive so far - granted, I’ve never needed a emergency evacuation but had an equalization injury that required a consult and ER visit in a foreign country and they were super helpful - so I am interested to hear the complete story before I formulate any judgements or look for other coverage.

 

[Tom_Ivan]

T

The current thread...the restriction they went through...the cause of their angst during the dive....

For all you witch hunting folks focusing on the restriction, you understand that the incident didn't actually occur IN the restriction right?

The restriction potentially had absolutely nothing to do with it.

 

[Searcaigh]

i am surprise also they didn't thing about in water recompression

Absolutely, but was a full face mask available and sufficient gas and personnel?

Dan was simply awesome for me. I broke my leg in Fiji, and they paid for everything, including first class flight and transportation to my home in Suwannee County.

But Pete, yours was not a diving accident. And yes I've seen your response later when going through umpteen pages.

Dive Assure won't insure me, I am over their age limit.

What is the age limit?

As for those who didn't watch the whole video, well they shouldn't comment via third party responses in this thread!

 

[Dan]

+1 to that. I broke my fibula a few months ago in Uganda, while on my way to the airport for the flight home. No bones were sticking out so i just got on the plane. Would have been a nightmare if not in first class seating.

+2 to that. I broke my knee cap on a liveaboard in Cendrawasih Bay, Papua, Indonesia. Had knee surgery in Jakarta before flying home to Houston. Bought one way business class ticket for $5000 so I can keep my leg straight while sitting in the airplane for 24 hour flight. DAN reimbursed the $5000 ticket.

+3 to that. I passed out at an airplane on my way home from Koror (Palau) to Honolulu. Doctor on the plane was arranging Medic upon arrival in Honolulu to check on my health condition at the airport and decided that I need treatment and took me to hospital emergency.

It turned out that I caught a flu during diving in Palau, had fever on the plane and passed out. My health insurance paid for the emergency care and DAN reimbursed my deductible. So nothing was coming out of my pocket.

 

[34109411]

e

To be fair, I personaly saw people who were unable to walk, soaked in their own urine who refused to take the (FREE) helicopter ride to the (FREE) chamber because they were convinced they were fine. I'm not making fun of Woody. Anybody can get injured or sick and should not be ashamed of it.

I am seriously doubting the expertise of the dive shop and the guide he was diving with.

the guide was Brian Kakuk if you have no idea who he is read about it before commenting.

 

[Marie13]

The newbie divers are freaking out. From the DT FB group.

 

[ofg-1]

I watched the video, God knows why, and have a few thoughts on this.

First, DAN is an insurance company. In general, insurance companies are not your friends. Doesn't matter if it is home, auto, health, business, or life, they would rather take in money and pay out nothing. As example, the hurricane deductible on my homeowners in Florida is $26,000.

Next, if your are diving out of the country, have a evacuation plan before you go. Have someone in this country that can act as your advocate. Verify chamber locations particularly if you are planning decompression dives. If you have DAN, tell them where and when you are going, before you leave. Just like in this country, not every hospital will take DAN or any other insurance and you may have to pay up front and hope you get reimbursed.

Marsh Harbor airport is no different than most others in the Bahamas. Most close at sunset. There are no instrument procedures published at most airports. IFR traffic is monitored by Miami Center. You have to be on a IFR flight plan to fly at night. You can fly IFR into the Bahamas, but have to cancel and land VFR. If you fly around at night without a fight plan, you may find yourself up close and personal with a DEA Backhawk, particularly in the South.

I am glad he received treatment and appears to be doing better.

 

[34109411]

I watched the video, God knows why, and have a few thoughts on this.

First, DAN is an insurance company. In general, insurance companies are not your friends. Doesn't matter if it is home, auto, health, business, or life, they would rather take in money and pay out nothing. As example, the hurricane deductible on my homeowners in Florida is $26,000.

Next, if your are diving out of the country, have a evacuation plan before you go. Have someone in this country that can act as your advocate. Verify chamber locations particularly if you are planning decompression dives. If you have DAN, tell them where and when you are going, before you leave. Just like in this country, not every hospital will take DAN or any other insurance and you may have to pay up front and hope you get reimbursed.

Marsh Harbor airport is no different than most others in the Bahamas. Most close at sunset. There are no instrument procedures published at most airports. IFR traffic is monitored by Miami Center. You have to be on a IFR flight plan to fly at night. You can fly IFR into the Bahamas, but have to cancel and land VFR. If you fly around at night without a fight plan, you may find yourself up close and personal with a DEA Backhawk, particularly in the South.

I am glad he received treatment and appears to be doing better.

Never been to bahamas. i thought the place was somehow similar to what was offer in the US. it s like what 1 hour flight from miami ? I tought it was a well prime destination like people
from mainland US go there in a breeze on there private boat.

 

[acxc]

They focused a lot on DAN and never really did anything about dissecting the day and what they could have done differnet (besides being dehydrated for which he wants to wear a pink diaper).. Instead it was get an AMEX card and and blame DAN.

I think that's my biggest problem with this. A video that could/should have been about the realities of decision making when faced with the uncertain symptoms of DCS or other post-dive medical event seems to be turning into a crusade against an organization that has done more good for diving than these guys could ever dream of. Scanning this thread, I think I saw one person with a similar complaint against DAN, and maybe a small handful of comments on facebook of people who have had a friend of a distant cousin experience a similar roadblock.

How many have shared postive experiences with DAN where their $100 insurance policy saved them tens of thousands of dollars and/or extended health complications from a dive accident (myself included)? I bet there's many more out there....

I have no doubt that DAN will learn from this and get this right next time, and these guys will make a follow-up video about saving us all, and then a year from now we can all forget Dive Talk when we start a new thread complaining that DAN dues have gone up.

 

[Searcaigh]

I would prefer to hear from other divers that required a chamber ride and their experience in having that organised by DAN where time to get treatment is of importance.

After all, isn't that why we have dive insurance!

All good and well when needing transport to get home after breaking a bone or falling sick due to non-diving reasons, but that's not important or relevant in Woody's case.