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 |
| DES New Zealand (funded by DAN) | 0800-4DES 111 (within New Zealand – English Only) |
| Korean Hotline | 010-4500 9113 (Korean & English) |
| Chinese Hotline | +852-3611 7326 (Chinese & English) |
| DAN America | +1-919-684 9111 (collect) |
| DAN Europe | +39-06-4211 8685 |
| DAN Japan | +81-3-3812-4999 |
| DAN Southern Africa | 0800 020 111 (internal) +27-10-209 8112 |
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 and/or treatment 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 AP or TravelAssist if an Evacuation and/or Treatment is Required
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