Trip Report Why I Won't Be Returning to Cozumel-Part 1,2&3

[South4Scuba]

I don't know how I can be any more clear. My wife had symptoms of DCS (headache, nausea, dizziness, rash) and I told DAN about all of the symptoms. The person on the phone seemed very reluctant to recommend going to an ER. It would have required an ambulance because my wife was too dizzy to walk. Not once did DAN mention oxygen. That is the most basic treatment for DCS. I would have administered oxygen if I could have found some.

I know you have to advocate for yourself but the whole purpose of DAN is to help you navigate through a dive accident in a foreign country where you are not familiar with customs, hotel phone systems, medical payment practices, etc. I expect DAN to do more than answer the phone one time and tell me to decide if I need to call them back if things get worse. I'm an engineer not a doctor or nurse.

 

[drrich2]

I don't know how I can be any more clear. My wife had symptoms of DCS (headache, nausea, dizziness, rash) and I told DAN about all of the symptoms. The person on the phone seemed very reluctant to recommend going to an ER. It would have required an ambulance because my wife was too dizzy to walk. Not once did DAN mention oxygen. That is the most basic treatment for DCS. I would have administered oxygen if I could have found some.

That is being more clear. And your dissatisfaction with DAN's response makes more sense in this context. I'm not judging them one way or the other, but you've provided more explanation for your view.

That said, it sounds like your issue was with a DAN staff person, not Cozumel. When you said as a result of this your wife doesn't want to dive in Cozumel anymore, it reads like Cozumel is getting blamed for something. I don't see any fault in Cozumel.

I get that sometimes when things occur at the same time (e.g.: being in a place, and something bad happening), it creates a negative association and a person might shy away from a destination on those grounds.

 

[morecowbells]

I don't know how I can be any more clear. My wife had symptoms of DCS (headache, nausea, dizziness, rash) and I told DAN about all of the symptoms. The person on the phone seemed very reluctant to recommend going to an ER. It would have required an ambulance because my wife was too dizzy to walk. Not once did DAN mention oxygen. That is the most basic treatment for DCS. I would have administered oxygen if I could have found some.

I know you have to advocate for yourself but the whole purpose of DAN is to help you navigate through a dive accident in a foreign country where you are not familiar with customs, hotel phone systems, medical payment practices, etc. I expect DAN to do more than answer the phone one time and tell me to decide if I need to call them back if things get worse. I'm an engineer not a doctor or nurse.

I only read about your wife getting skin bends. Did I miss a post outlining the other symptoms? I 100% agree that DAN needs to follow up on this and re-evaluate their actions.

 

[ggunn]

That said, it sounds like your issue was with a DAN staff person, not Cozumel. When you said as a result of this your wife doesn't want to dive in Cozumel anymore, it reads like Cozumel is getting blamed for something. I don't see any fault in Cozumel.

Or for the dive op, either, just because they were unresponsive at 1:30AM.

 

[South4Scuba]

That is being more clear. And your dissatisfaction with DAN's response makes more sense in this context. I'm not judging them one way or the other, but you've provided more explanation for your view.

That said, it sounds like your issue was with a DAN staff person, not Cozumel. When you said as a result of this your wife doesn't want to dive in Cozumel anymore, it reads like Cozumel is getting blamed for something. I don't see any fault in Cozumel.

I get that sometimes when things occur at the same time (e.g.: being in a place, and something bad happening), it creates a negative association and a person might shy away from a destination on those grounds.

Correct! I'm not really down on Cozumel but my wife has reason to avoid it. As a matter of fact I love drift diving.

 

[South4Scuba]

Or for the dive op, either, just because they were unresponsive at 1:30AM.

No real issue with Dive Paradise but if I had been at Little Cayman or Roatan or Bonaire at a dedicated dive resort I probably could have gotten oxygen at 1:30 am. It seems that DAN would have been more proactive.

 

[ReefHound]

No real issue with Dive Paradise but if I had been at Little Cayman or Roatan or Bonaire at a dedicated dive resort I probably could have gotten oxygen at 1:30 am. It seems that DAN would have been more proactive.

Do you know that or just guessing? Some large resorts, like Iberostar Cozumel I know for sure, have a 24 hour nurse/doctor available. Has nothing to do with the dive op.

 

[FishWatcher747]

It might help to clarify this issue for those like me who do not know.

Is O2 recommended for skin bends only?

Or do there have to be additional symptoms? As in this case nausea, dizziness and headache?

What about skin bends and fatigue?

 

[rjack321]

Seems like if you want to have 24/7 medical care on site (or closer than the nearest ER) that's something to ask your dive-operation or hotel about ahead of time. Blaming DAN or Cozumel as a destination seems odd to me.

 

[boulderjohn]

This is getting chaotic.

As far as I can figure out, what we know that someone called DAN and described symptoms, and whoever responded from DAN did not believe those symptoms warranted immediate treatment. That decision was evidently correct. We do not know exactly what was said to the DAN responder to lead to that decision.

Oxygen is good initial treatment for pretty much anything like DCS or DCI or drowning. Administering it cannot hurt. My guess--and I want to stress that it is a guess--was that the decision not to recommend it was based on a belief that the symptoms were not significant enough to justify the effort of obtaining oxygen at 1:30 AM.