Quote Originally Posted by CavePadawan View Post
Yep, DAN will refer direct to us if indicated, and the patient will receive a full consultation, and if diagnosed with DCS will get a chamber treatment if needed. Obviously if the patient has a different diagnosis, then we would treat appropriately and if at any time the physician felt that an ER visit, hospitalization, or admission for inpatient intensive care services was required, the patient would be transferred immediately to a local ER. No need to petition DAN per se, they already refer to us. I would encourage everyone to always have their DAN insurance active if they cave dive. We have had patients that have been diving Trimix for years, even instructing. They do a relatively simple dive that they have done hundreds of times before and get bent. Also, have had patients that do 60 ft open water bounce dives too may times trying to spear fish at 50 yrs old, and they get bent. It can happen to anyone. It has happened to me. Also, another reason to have DAN is that often standard health insurance requires pre-authorization for treatment to get covered. DAN does not. If the patient is diagnosed with DCS, they cover it, almost no questions asked. Really unheard of in todays health care environment. worth every penny.

That's perfect to hear. Being in my backyard is even better. In my case I chose to not undergo treatment because I knew the huge headache of dealing with an ER trying to come up with a diagnosis they rarely make, and then sit for hours while they find a chamber that will take me. The benefit didn't outweigh the headache for simple skin bends. On top of that, the fact that I had a headache got DAN jittery and forced their hand to require an ER visit. Your setup would have been perfect for my needs, as I suspect I would have been diagnosed and halfway through a chamber ride in the same amount of time the ER would have ruled out 80 other causes and finally agreed it could be DCS.