18th May 2008

Procedure to be Used in the Event of a Diving Accident

Step 1 - Call a DAN Hotline

The numbers for these Hotlines are listed on your membership card, the rear of your DAN Log Book, your Tank Sticker, in Alert Diver, and here on our website.

The general number to call for the Asia-Pacific Region is the DAN-funded Diving Emergency Service (DES) in Australia, however, other local hotlines are available to provide assistance in the countries in which they are based and in local languages.

In addition to the DAN Asia-Pacific supported hotlines there is also DAN America, DAN Europe and DAN Southern Africa that can be contacted if you are within these regions as they may be more accessible.  See the table below for all these numbers.

DAN 24-Hour Emergency Hotline Numbers

DES Australia
(funded by DAN)
1800-088 200
(toll free within Australia – English Only)

+61-8-8212 9242
(from outside Australia – English Only)
DES New Zealand (funded by DAN) 0800-4DES 111 (within New Zealand – English Only)
DAN Asia-Pacific Philippines 02-632 1077(within Philippines – English & Filipino)
DAN Asia-Pacific Malaysian Hotline 05-681 9485 (within Malaysia – English & Malay)
DAN Asia-Pacific Korean Hotline 010-4500 9113 (Korean & English)
DAN Asia-Pacific Chinese Hotline +852-3611 7326 (Chinese & English)
Singapore Naval Underwater Medical Centre 6758 1733 (English & Chinese)
DAN America +1-919-684 8111 (collect)
DAN Europe +39-06-4211 8685
DAN Japan +81-3-3812-4999
DAN Southern Africa 0800 020 111 internal)
+27-11-254 1112

Purpose of This Call?

  • To obtain rapid medical advice from a doctor or medic trained in diving medicine. The doctor/medic will assess the situation and advise what immediate course of action should be taken.
  • The doctor/medic will generally advise whether the person needs to go to a local hospital for assessment or whether an evacuation and/or treatment is required.

Note: It is important to understand that this doctor/medic generally will not make the arrangements for any evacuation or local transportation for most divers.  This doctor will also not be in a position to approve for a particular facility to provide treament for a diver with DAN insurance and guarantee for DAN to cover the cost of treatment. For DAN Members the doctor/medic should assist the injured diver to make contact with DAN Asia-Pacific and/or TravelAssist to arrange an evacuation if required.

To this end it is important to provide the doctor/medic with your DAN Membership details if available and request that they contact DAN.

Calling an Emergency Medical Hotline

  • The Hotlines are generally not toll-free (except for the DES/DAN line within Australia and
    New Zealand).
  • The caller should try to ensure that he/she has ample money or a phone card with sufficient credit for the call.
  • If no money is available, or if there is difficulty in accessing the diving emergency line, a Member can make a collect call to TravelAssist (+1-919-684 3483) who would take the details and may be able to connect the caller to the diving hotline.
  • If the other options are not accessible for some reason, the Member can contact the
    DAN Asia-Pacific Office on +61-3-9886 9166 (BH) or +61-3-8508 9958 (AH) (collect if necessary) and we will endeavour to arrange the necessary contacts.

Go to Step 2 – Call DAN TravelAssist if an Evacuation is Required

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