About DAN
History of DAN : 2000-2003

1977-1989 | 1990-1999 | 2000-Present

2000

DAN unveils its Guide to First Aid to Hazardous Marine Life Injuries Program, which provides first aid information for those affected by contact with hazardous marine life.

DAN introduces the DAN Preferred™ Plan, offering new levels of dive insurance coverage. For $70 a year, the DAN Preferred Plan provides one of the most comprehensive dive accident plans available.

The DAN Business Member Program is unveiled in December, offering DAN supporters a greater variety of discounts and benefits than ever available. The Sponsorship Department becomes the Development Department to handle a wider variety of outside revenue sources.

DAN Services rolls out its term life insurance plan. DAN Members in America between the ages of 18 to 64 are eligible to apply for the plan, with a choice of limits up to $200,000.

DAN Continuing Medical Education launched "DAN Divers Days," events that provide expert medical information to its members, delivered in a friendly one-day program and offered in locations around the United States.

DAN and Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort partnered to host the first DAN Beaches Dive Festival 2000 on Providenciales. The festival brought together divers who had first-hand information sessions with DAN headquarters staff.

2001

DAN enters a licensing agreement with Skin Diver magazine, which enables DAN Members to receive Alert Diver magazine monthly as well as Skin Diver magazine. This cooperative effort allows DAN to extend its operating hours for the Medical Information Line, increase funding for the Recompression Chamber Assistance program and provide additional support to DAN dive safety research projects.

The Dive Safety and Medical Information Line extends its hours to 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Due in part to cost savings gained with the DAN-Skin Diver agreement in 2000, DAN was able to hire to off-site medics to handle information calls between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

DAN offers a new equipment insurance plan to its members, with coverage for dive equipment, cameras, housings, lenses and strobes. Administered through Senn, Dunn, Marsh and Roland of Greensboro, N.C., DAN members can read about the plan and purchase it through links on the DAN website.

DAN adds Automated External Defibrillators for Scuba Diving Injuries to its roster of Training courses.

DAN Training revamps all of its educational materials in response to recent revisions in the American Heart Association’s cardiac care guidelines. The overhaul also helps streamline course information, ending duplication and offering a core manual and binder, with space for the addition of all of DAN’s courses. DAN also added CD-ROMs to the Training materials curriculum.

The Industry Membership publication On Board and the Training quarterly Oxygen Window joined forces in a tandem offering to better streamline DAN’s message.

The DAN term life insurance plan broadens to cover 44 of the 50 states in America, as well as the District of Columbia.

DAN launched a separate dedicated 24-hour diving emergency hotline (+1-267-520-1507) to serve Latin American divers. Answered by trained staff fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, the 24-hour number is answered at DAN's contracted TravelAssist assistance provider, International SOS, in Philadelphia, Pa., in the United States, and, like the regular DAN emergency numbers, accepts collect calls from most areas. A toll call, however, may be made from anywhere.

International DAN introduces new system for assessing the safety of hyperbaric chambers for technical staff. Risk Assessment Guide for Recompression Chambers, authored by noted South African chamber designer Francois Burman, is the first publication jointly produced by the international federation of DAN Europe, DAN Japan, DAN Southern Africa and DAN South East Asia Pacific. The guide was specifically developed to assist marginally supported chambers that exist in remote areas for the principal purpose of treating recreational scuba divers.

2002

Dr. Bennett received the 2002 DEMA Reaching Out Award for his contribution to the dive industry and the Carolinas' Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2002 award for contributions to business in the life sciences. He also announced his retirement as DAN President effective June 30, 2003.

DAN Europe announced in April the establishment of a new affiliate, DAN Israel. The affiliate has its own local emergency hotline

The recreational dive community and DAN held a workshop on Flying After Diving to discuss the need of revising guidelines after a six-year study by DAN. The workshop concluded that revised flying after diving guidelines were appropriate, and consensus recommendations will be published in 2003. DAN is helping to conduct a second experimental study on flying after diving, funded by the U.S. Navy, that will test additional dive profiles and evaluate oxygen breathing before flying. Study dates began in the fall of 2002 for the three-year project.

DAN Research began a quarterly newsletter to give updates on the department’s latest activities and projects, including updates of the ongoing Project Dive Exploration (PDE) and work being done by the department’s six summer interns in 2002.

The licensing agreement between DAN and Skin Diver magazine for the latter to distribute Alert Diver ended when Skin Diver went ouf of business. Alert Diver continued to be published and distributed independently but reverted to bimonthly rather than monthly publication at the end of 2002.

DAN Training added Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for Aquatic Emergencies, Advanced Oxygen and Basic Life Support for Dive Professionals (BLSPRO) to its roster of courses it offers for dive safety.

The Spanish version of the Instructor Manual for the Training program came out at the DEMA show in 2002.

Beginning in January, a random student diver in the Student Membership Program was chosen each month to receive a DAN First Aid Kit. Also, the instructor of this student was awarded a DAN Rescue Pak or AED Trainer. Information and photos of these monthly winners are on the DAN website to publicize the program and encourage people to participate.

DAN Continuing Medical Education started a series of Divers Days that are planned to connect with divers in their own communities across the nation called "Safer Diving Through Education with DAN." Internationally known and local experts spend the day with attendees to address diving safety and medical topics and other dive-related topics of interest.

The DAN Development Department had a redesigned presence on the DAN website. DAN Development pages include FAQs, designation of gifts, types of giving plus current fund-raising efforts and news about events.

The first DAN Online Auction took place from Nov. 10-Dec. 10. DAN Members and non-members received a chance to buy more than 100 special items for sale donated by DAN Industry Members, including airplane tickets, dive trips, artwork, books, clothing, equipment and more. All money generated from the event benefited the DAN Endowment Fund and DAN research programs.

DAN wins two awards at the 2002 DEMA Show: Best Annual Report and Best Four-Color Ad for a Non-Profit Organization.

DAN Services Inc. teamed with Med-Care Plus to offer DAN Members and their families access to a medical savings plan that offers up to 25 percent and more savings at physicians' locations, hospitals and medical facilities nationwide. The plan is not insurance nor intended to replace insurance, but it does have access to more than 500,000 physicians' locations, 75,000 medical facilities and more than 70 percent of the hospitals in the United States.

2003

Dr. Peter Bennett resigns as DAN President and CEO, but remains active supervising International DAN activities. DAN Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dan Orr is named acting president and CEO.

All current DAN Instructors and Instructor Trainers were converted to ProMembership. The change consolidates the two separate billing statements for DAN Membership and Instructor Renewal into a single fee. Any DAN Member who holds a professional-level credential from a diver training agency is eligible to participate in the ProMembership program. ProMembership, while required for teaching status for DAN Instructors, does not confer teaching status on a ProMember.

DAN established the Peter B. Bennett Research Fund, honoring the founder and CEO of the dive safety organization, within the Endowment Fund. This fund will support research initiatives, enhancing dive safety far into the future.

The "Just One" campaign began, wherein every DAN Member was encouraged to help spread the word about safe diving by telling just one person about DAN and encouraging them to join.

DAN Training introduces the Diving Emergency Management Provider (DEMP) program, a course integrating the knowledge and skills from the Oxygen First Aid for Scuba Diving Injuries, First Aid for Hazardous Marine Life Injuries, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for Scuba Diving and Advanced Oxygen First Aid for Scuba Diving Injuries programs into a single eight-hour course.

The Recreational Dive Professionals Study began in June by DAN Research. This two-year study seeks to determine if the incidence of DCI identified among Cozumel dive professionals is higher than to recreational divers making their typical dives.

DAN donated an oxygen unit to NASA for the latter’s search and recovery effort for the Columbia space shuttle, which broke up over Texas during its return to Earth Feb. 1.

Members of DAN became eligible to receive savings of up to 20 percent at more than 4,000 Best Western hotels worldwide as part of the chain’s Member Value Program (MVP).

DAN published The DAN Guide to Dive Medical Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), covering dive medical topics from head to toe on topics such as decompression illness, cardiovascular issues; fitness to dive, dental, ear, nose & throat and ocular issues, psychological and pharmaceutical considerations and much more.

The DAN Preferred Plan became available to Canadian members of Divers Alert Network. The plan costs $70 yearly, in addition to the Member’s annual individual or family membership with DAN.

DAN unveiled its new Spanish-language website at http://www.DiversAlertNetwork.org/s/. It is similar in format and content to the English-language version. The main difference is that since it is geared toward Latin America, there is a full listing of medical coordinators for emergencies and their contact information in areas stretching from Mexico and the Caribbean to Chile and Argentina in South America.

DAN term life insurance became available in 46 states plus the District of Colombia, with the most recent addition being Hawaii.

DAN Research placed a nine-question survey on the DAN website for divers who have been recompressed for decompression illness (DCI). The results of the survey will be presented in Sydney, Australia on May 24-25, 2004 at the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) Workshop on the “Management of Mild DCI in Remote Locations.”

The DAN Remote Emergency Medical Oxygen (REMO2) system module went back into effect by the fall with the establishment of a new approved oxygen rebreather system supplier.

In cooperation with Duke University faculty, DAN holds its first ever Diver Medical Technician (DMT) course Nov. 1-8. The seven-day, 65-hour accredited course is sold out, and plans are made to make it an annual event at DAN.

DAN unveils a new line of products in the fall that for the first time include men’s and women’s clothing rather than unisex apparel. Included is the Pro Line for ProMembers.

1977-1989 | 1990-1999 | 2000-Present