DAN (Divers Alert Network)

A nonprofit dive safety organization providing 24/7 emergency hotlines, dive accident insurance, medical research, and first aid training for divers.

DAN, the Divers Alert Network, is the diving world's best known safety organization. For a diver, DAN matters most in an emergency: its hotline connects you or the people helping you with dive medicine specialists around the clock, who can advise on symptoms of decompression sickness, coordinate evacuation, and locate the nearest hyperbaric chamber. Regional DAN organizations cover America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Southern Africa, and other areas.

Beyond the hotline, DAN sells dive accident insurance that covers chamber treatment and emergency transport, costs that regular travel or health policies often exclude. DAN also runs research programs on decompression illness and diver health, publishes safety statistics and guidelines, and trains divers in oxygen first aid and neurological assessment. Its flying after diving guidelines are the reference most agencies and dive computers rely on.

Many divers save the DAN emergency number in their phone and keep their membership card with their certification cards. The non-emergency medical line is just as useful, answering questions about fitness to dive, medications, and returning to diving after illness or surgery. If you dive more than a few times a year, especially abroad or in remote locations, membership plus insurance is widely considered basic preparation.