I
n DAN’s 30 years of managing emergency evacuations
and claims for divers around the world, we are proud
to have worked with so many excellent care facilities.
The vast majority of hyperbaric and other medical
facilities that have treated DAN® members are staffed
by consummate professionals, and in most cases care is
exceedingly good. These health-care professionals maintain
constant contact with DAN staff in the United States,
and together we work diligently toward effecting the best
available treatment and/or evacuation for our members.
But DAN members should be aware that there are
emergency-service providers who are more motivated
by profit than patient well-being. People who have just
experienced a dive accident are vulnerable and may not be
thinking as clearly as they otherwise would be. Injured divers
are rarely familiar with the local “system” for hyperbaric
care and may be susceptible to advice from whoever offers
it. In some places bounties are paid to dive operators
or cab drivers to get injured divers into the care of one
medical provider over others. In these cases, divers become
commodities in a revenue machine rather than, as DAN
would prefer, patients to be treated with immediacy and
concern.
Unfortunately, we have discovered serious issues with a
few hyperbaric-chamber facilities outside of DAN’s direct
sphere of influence.
Deceptive Practices
We have seen centers that represent themselves as “DAN
referral facilities” or claim they are approved by DAN. The
display of posters, tank decals or certificates with DAN logos
should not be interpreted as endorsement or certification by
DAN. These materials are readily available to anyone. DAN
does not certify health-care facilities or endorse particular
operations. A DAN logo on a chamber does not prove
legitimacy.
36
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FALL 2012
Dive Medical Services
around the World
The good, the bad and the ugly
B y W i l l i a m Z i e f l e
RESEARCH, EDUCATION & MEDICINE
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D A N W I L L B E T H E R E F O R Y O U