DAN Europe Alarm Centers
Learn what happens in case of a diving accident: the DAN Hotlines and Alarm Centers

DAN operates through an International Network of Diving Emergency Hotlines, staffed by specially trained Emergency and Medical Operators and backed-up by a Network of Diving-Hyperbaric Specialists on call. Diving Accident management and data collection criteria are standardized. A list of over 500 hyperbaric centres and of diving-hyperbaric medicine specialists is regularly checked and updated by the International DAN organisations worldwide.

The five main DAN 24/7 Alarm Centers are based in:

  • Australia
  • Europe
  • Japan
  • United States
  • South Africa

In the DAN Europe territory DAN has activated a Network of Regional Alarm Centers corresponding to the different linguistic areas, directed by leading specialists, working in co-ordination with the DAN Europe Hotline and the IDAN Network.

 

When the DAN Europe Hotline receives an emergency call this is what happens:

 

  1. The National Alarm Center is called (if existent), when in one’s home-country; the case is managed locally from the National Center, according to Standard DAN Europe protocol
  2. The central European Center is called when one is abroad
  3. A diver that calls from abroad, is immediately put into contact via a conference call, whenever possible, with a DAN specialist of the same nation/language as the victim, so that the case may be evaluated and interpreted without lingual difficulties, putting the victim at ease through talking to a doctor of his own country/language
  4. In these cases, if the accident occurred in an area where a National DAN Center exists, this will be given charge to manage the emergency in coordination with the Central DAN Europe Hotline and the specialist of the National Center of the victim

In cases where an accident occurs in a area without a National DAN Center, the intervention is organized directly by the Central DAN Europe Hotline.
To continually ensure an adequate assistance, especially in isolated and remote parts of the world, DAN teams up with various international emergency medical services and rescue groups in order to guarantee its members, in any circumstance, an adequate rescue, the necessary Medical-Hyperbaric treatment and eventual repatriation for medical emergencies.