Who here has actually been evacuated with DAN?

[dallaskincaid]

Most of my diving now is typically someplace other than the US with access to less than desirable medical care. Although, I know none of us plan on ever using our DAN insurance, I'm wondering what the experience has been like for those of you who have been evacuated from a foreign country. Are you expected to pay out of pocket, then be reimbursed by DAN, or does literally one call to DAN pretty much end your financial responsibilities? (Less your deductible of course)

I've heard nothing but great stories from "someone who knows someone" etc., but I was really curious as to what the experience was like from someone who can tell me first hand?

 

[Kevrumbo]

It took one year and a lot of bureaucratic red tape email/snail-mail before the Australian Healthcare provider (Hyperbaric Health) got their reimbursement from DAN, after my HBOT Table 6 in Truk 2008.

Interestingly, my Employer's health insurance covered the follow-up HBOT Table 6 in Honolulu (Kuakini Medical Center, Hyperbaric Dept), and they got their reimbursement within two months -much faster- probably because the treatment was performed in the USA by an established US Healthcare Provider. . . No out-of-pocket expenses in either of the two treatments.

 

[dallaskincaid]

Did you have to pay out of pocket any money during the incident, or was it just "handled" by DAN for the most part?

 

[Kevrumbo]

Did you have to pay out of pocket any money during the incident, or was it just "handled" by DAN for the most part?

None . . .but I can't say or don't know if that's true for all instances in all countries. Gotta read the fine print on the DAN insurance rider to be sure.

 

[diverkun]

I'm wondering what the experience has been like for those of you who have been evacuated?

http://youtu.be/EeYwa-DCiWk

sorry, just had to......

 

[dallaskincaid]

http://youtu.be/EeYwa-DCiWk

sorry, just had to......

Maybe I DID mean enema?

 

[Wookie]

Capt.Gary Mace was evacuated from Truk. He'll tell you his story.

 

[GrimSleeper]

I'm insured with DAN Europe, and had to be evacuated from a remote spot in the Solomons… It was interesting.

The big mistake we made was to contact DAN Europe directly, rather than go through DAN Asia Pacific. DAN Europe had no real idea of just how remote my location was, we were speaking to someone in Italy at three in the morning their time. It didn't go well - they wouldn't authorise an evacuation until the local hospital (there isn't one) had confirmed that my spinal hit wasn't a mechanical injury, when they did agree to an evacuation (after DAN AP had got involved and explained the facts of life to them) they insisted on protocols that just weren't going to happen - I spent an extra 12 hours waiting to go, because DAN Europe wouldn't let me be evacuated in a chopper I couldn't lie down in. Not great. There was a lot of miscommunication, too.

OTOH, once everyone had worked out what was going on, we had a point of contact whose English was up to the job and they'd worked out that the Solomons is the arse-end of nowhere, DAN were pretty good. Expenses got covered promptly, including some stuff that was really just for my comfort (like my partner accompanying me to Australia) rather than strict medical necessity, and they were OK to deal with once we'd all made friends. I did have to pay some stuff out of pocket, but they picked it up. Oh, and they reinsured me when I wanted to start diving again, which was a big plus.

The one thing i took from my experience is that you MUST contact the local DAN organisation, not the one you're insured with - they have the local knowledge to make things happen and to understand your situation.

 

[dallaskincaid]

Interesting. What, if you don't mind me asking, were the expenses that you ended up having to pay out of pocket and how much was it before you were reimbursed?

 

[DogDiver]

Ya, that's me getting choppered to the Tallahassee chamber after getting bent at Hart Springs cave diving. For most cavers it's not a matter of if your going to get bent, but when you will get bent. Very aggressive dive profiles with mixed gas staged decompression on almost every dive.
The problems that did come up were due to the initial EMS personal misreading my address information that caused a cascade of financial issues. All resolved after a while.
End result $0. Oh I initially got billed $49,500 for that ride. That's right, almost 50K. That will pay for my DAN insurance for years.

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