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Diabetes continues to become increasingly prevalent in
the general population, and it affects some divers and people
who would like to become divers. DAN conducted several
field studies with divers who had diabetes and documented
how diving affected those with the disease. In 2005 DAN’s
Diabetes and Recreational Diving workshop considered the
available evidence and procured specific guidelines for safe
diving for some divers with diabetes.
Breath-hold diving has become more popular in recent
decades, which has resulted in an increased incidence of
injuries. DAN began monitoring breath-hold injuries in
2000 and in 2006 convened experts with relevant experience
to discuss the safety of breath-hold diving. The findings
provided guidelines for safe breath-hold diving practices and
outlined areas for future research.
In 2005 DAN undertook a major analysis of nearly 1,000
dive fatalities reported in the preceding 10 years. The data
showed an obvious increasing trend of fatalities in technical
and, especially, rebreather diving. The Technical Diving
Conference in 2008 summarized current knowledge about
the physiology and medicine of extreme diving and made
suggestions for possible improvements in current practices.
Also in 2005, DAN Research published two major papers
about the causes, incidence and risk factors of diving fatalities:
“Most Common Causes of Diving Fatalities” and “Fatality
Rates Among DAN Members.” The findings presented in
these papers along with similar data from elsewhere in the
world were discussed extensively during the Recreational
Diving Fatalities workshop DAN organized in 2010. The
consensus statement produced by the attendees of the
workshop pointed out a need to address the most common
causes of injuries through training and dive operations.
Health requirements were reviewed and edited to better
address cardiac causes of death.
In 2012, in cooperation with the American Academy of
Underwater Sciences and PADI and with broad support from
the diving industry, DAN organized Rebreather Forum 3 (RF3).
This conference mobilized the diving community to intensify
efforts to foster a culture of safety at all levels of training and in all
diving situations. The forum endorsed the DAN Online Incident
