South Korea Fatality, Jeju

[skippy311]

A foreigner suffered a heart attack after surfacing and passed away. Jeju, South Korea.

P.E.I. man who died during scuba diving excursion 'one of a kind' | CBC News

 

[coralreefer_1]

Please consider a donation to help this man be repatriated back to Canada.

Support To Get DBell Home, organized by Michael Kaufman

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[DandyDon]

Please consider a donation to help this man be repatriated back to Canada.

Is there some reason that Canadian divers avoid DAN membership? I donated to help return one that was paralyzed in Scotland earlier this year I think it was, even tho his fiance had nagged him to renew his DAN dive insurance which he blew off. Mostly I felt for the fiance who was staying with him over there.

I'm going to keep my DAN membership even after I will someday stop diving mostly for the repatriation benefit.

 

[coralreefer_1]

Is there some reason that Canadian divers avoid DAN membership? I donated to help return one that was paralyzed in Scotland earlier this year I think it was, even tho his fiance had nagged him to renew his DAN dive insurance which he blew off. Mostly I felt for the fiance who was staying with him over there.

I'm going to keep my DAN membership even after I will someday stop diving mostly for the repatriation benefit.

To be honest, I do not know whether the victim had DAN insurance, the correct insurance for this region, whether a claim was even filed or accepted. Just sharing the gofundme at the bottom of the article that may be overlooked.

Cheers to DAN however! This incident and looking at my own coverage made me realize my own membership was with DAN and not Dan World (Asia Pacific)..meaning I would not be covered if this had happened to me.

 

[DandyDon]

To be honest, I do not know whether the victim had DAN insurance, the correct insurance for this region, whether a claim was even filed or accepted. Just sharing the gofundme at the bottom of the article that may be overlooked.

My guess is that he was not a member of DAN America nor insured by them. Both are available to Canadians, but if he had simply been a member then there would be no need to beg funds for repatriation as that's covered in membership. I've read that some Canadian divers don't bother with DAN coverage if they never leave the country as some provinces provide socialized medical coverage that negates the need for coverage, but it becomes important to those divers who do dive outside of the country or even near borders as they might end up in US facilities after an accident. The popular feeling with US divers is "never ever dive without DAN." I didn't think that you would know since you live in Korea but wondered if others might know.

It's a sad loss to be sure and thanks for posting the link. Cremation and transport of cremains would have been much cheaper but it looks like they want to return his remains intact and are close to their goal. Sometimes I donate to people who lost their homes after not bothering to insure them or divers who didn't bother taking DAN or trip insurance, but well.

Cheers to DAN however! This incident and looking at my own coverage made me realize my own membership was with DAN and not Dan World (Asia Pacific)..meaning I would not be covered if this had happened to me.

I'm not clear on that statement. Are you a native Korean? Which DAN coverage do you have? It is indeed important to understand what you have.

 

[skippy311]

My guess is that he was not a member of DAN America nor insured by them. Both are available to Canadians, but if he had simply been a member then there would be no need to beg funds for repatriation as that's covered in membership. I've read that some Canadian divers don't bother with DAN coverage if they never leave the country as some provinces provide socialized medical coverage that negates the need for coverage, but it becomes important to those divers who do dive outside of the country or even near borders as they might end up in US facilities after an accident. The popular feeling with US divers is "never ever dive without DAN." I didn't think that you would know since you live in Korea but wondered if others might know.

It's a sad loss to be sure and thanks for posting the link. Cremation and transport of cremains would have been much cheaper but it looks like they want to return his remains intact and are close to their goal. Sometimes I donate to people who lost their homes after not bothering to insure them or divers who didn't bother taking DAN or trip insurance, but well.


I'm not clear on that statement. Are you a native Korean? Which DAN coverage do you have? It is indeed important to understand what you have.

I'm Irish-Korean living in Seoul. When I signed up to DAN, I had to sign up to their DAN WORLD service through DAN's Australia branch. I believe the difference is with which DAN branch has to deal with the policies.

This whole incident is quite tragic, and my condolences do go to the family and all those effected.

Edit: will have to look at insurance policies for expat divers in Korea in more detail. Thank you for explaining a little about the medical coverage available to Canadians.

 

[DandyDon]

I'm Irish-Korean living in Seoul. When I signed up to DAN, I had to sign up to their DAN WORLD service through DAN's Australia branch. I believe the difference is with which DAN branch has to deal with the policies.

Yes, I believe it's based on where you live. Since you live in Korea, your membership and optional coverage would be furnished by your local DAN organization which is affiliated with but not the same as DAN America.

Edit: will have to look at insurance policies for expat divers in Korea in more detail. Thank you for explaining a little about the medical coverage available to Canadians.

Membership in DAN America includes TravelAssist which in part includes reparation of remains for any trip over 50 miles from home as long as it's arranged thru them. I don't know what your benefits would include, but yes it would be good for you to know.

This whole incident is quite tragic, and my condolences do go to the family and all those effected.

It is indeed a sad loss. After reading a new story and his obituary I see that he had been living in Korea for twenty years while teaching at colleges. That might explain why he was not covered by DAN America, but I'm guessing.

 

[Searcaigh]

Membership in DAN America includes TravelAssist

Is this also valid for DAN Europe?

 

[DandyDon]

Is this also valid for DAN Europe?

My reply for whatever it may be worth: No, that organization is affiliated with DAN America, but it's different. Bear in mind that all of these DANs are member-driven to serve members so their respective benefits will depend in part on what's desired. For example, DAN America offers some optional insurance plans that were requested by members, shopped with insurance companies, and provided if desired - but the only one I find appealing is their dive insurance, which I consider essential. From reading at their site DAN Europe - Membership Benefits, it seems that they do offer much in non-insurance member benefits but not TravelAssist or anything similar. Otherwise, their optional Sport dive insurance does seem to include emergency medical evacuation plus repatriation benefits for surviving or deceased plus much more than in DAN America plans at significantly higher member rates than we pay over here. This may well vary by country of residence.

It would not recommend taking my word for any of this as each member should read and understand the benefits.

After reading a new story and his obituary I see that he had been living in Korea for twenty years while teaching at colleges. That might explain why he was not covered by DAN America, but I'm guessing.

So I donated to the Gofundme. He was the only child, his parents seem to want his remains returned home intact for burial there, and they have my condolences as well.

 

[coralreefer_1]

I'm Irish-Korean living in Seoul. When I signed up to DAN, I had to sign up to their DAN WORLD service through DAN's Australia branch. I believe the difference is with which DAN branch has to deal with the policies.

This whole incident is quite tragic, and my condolences do go to the family and all those effected.

Edit: will have to look at insurance policies for expat divers in Korea in more detail. Thank you for explaining a little about the medical coverage available to Canadians.

From my understanding what we need here in Korea is DAN Asia Pacific. It gets kind of weird because that does not include Australia, and for whatever reason excluded Japan, but covers us residents of Korea and a good portion of S. East Asia.

I contacted the AP info contact guy, and basically even though I already have a DAN membership and policy (2 separate things mind you) with DAN, I was informed that to be covered the way I need to be meant signing up with DAN WORLD (AP) and paying a whole new set of fees as if I wasn't covered at all. He quickly shot down any idea of any time of transfer/discount for the AP policy...so there that is. All my mistake as I should have read in to it more.

As mentioned this man's death was a reminder to make sure my own stuff is in order, and I found it wasn't.