July 2012    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 27, No. 7   What's this?

Why Doesn’t DAN Have the Same Insurance Standards Worldwide?

from the July, 2012 issue of Undercurrent  

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Dave Van Rooy, our webmaster who lives in Bali, recently received a letter from the Asia-Pacific branch of Divers Alert Network, requiring that he get a complete physical before it would grant him dive travel insurance. "It's apparently due to my age," says Van Rooy, 67, but he never had to meet that requirement when he was living in the U.S. What gives?

The letter from DAN Asia-Pacific details its reasons. "Our statistics highlight that there has been a significant increase in diving-related deaths involving divers over 45. Many of these result from cardiac-related problems that were precipitated by the numerous cardiac stressors in the diving environment. These incidents often occur in divers who were unaware of any pre-existing problems. As a diving safety initiative, we are encouraging divers over 50 to visit a doctor, preferably one trained in diving medicine, to discuss their diving and health and determine whether any particular testing is advisable."...