Divers Alert Network

02/25/2026

What’s a safety tip you wish you knew at the start of your diving journey?

DAN’s Giant Stride guide helps new divers enhance their safety knowledge. Designed as a companion to any entry-level course, it covers dive planning, physiology, gear, etiquette, and more.

🔗 Giant Stride: https://issuu.com/divers-alert-network/docs/dan_giant_stride_new_divers_guide

If you know a diver in open-water training or who’s newly certified, consider sharing Giant Stride as a resource for safe and responsible diving.

02/20/2026

Flu season reminder: Don't dive while congested. 🤧 Sinus barotraumas are among the most common diving injuries — and can occur during descent or ascent:

⬇️ DESCENT (SQUEEZE) | Failure to equalize pressures on the gas-filled paranasal sinuses while descending results in a relative negative pressure (vacuum). This squeeze can cause swelling or bleeding within the sinuses.

⬆️ ASCENT (REVERSE BLOCK) | Congestion can compromise the sinuses’ ability to vent. Gas trapped in the sinuses expands as you ascend, and the pressure buildup can even cause a sinus wall to burst into an adjacent sinus to relieve the pressure.

• SYMPTOMS | Symptoms include facial pain in the affected sinus region. For example, a sharp pain above the eyebrows — often described as a severe "ice cream headache" — is associated with frontal sinus barotrauma. Other key symptoms are nosebleeds and postnasal drip (including the thick, black, bloody discharge that can emerge days after diving).

• PREVENTION | Use proper equalization techniques and abort the dive if you struggle to equalize your sinuses during descent. Never dive with a cold or any condition that may cause inflammation or mucus to block the sinuses. Be wary of using decongestants before a dive: the rebound effect of the medication wearing off at depth can lead to a reverse block on the way up. When in doubt, sit the dive out and consider seeking medical evaluation.

Learn more about sinus barotrauma:

The causes, symptoms and complications of sinus barotrauma. Find out how to prevent and treat sinus barotrauma while diving.

02/17/2026

Award-winning underwater photographer Allison Vitsky Sallmon combines her love of diving with her passion for breast cancer awareness. Inspired by fundraising walks during Breast Cancer Awareness Month — October, her favorite time to dive — she founded Dive Into the Pink, a nonprofit that engages the dive community to raise funds for breast cancer research and survivor support.

Watch the full episode of The DANcast: https://youtu.be/4hTMMEW-T2U

02/16/2026

While rare, acute lung conditions are among the most serious diving injuries. 🫁 Understanding the symptoms can aid in recognizing these emergencies:

• Pulmonary Overinflation Syndrome is often linked to rapid ascents or breath-holding during ascent. Symptoms may include chest pain, breathing difficulty, coughing, hemoptysis, vocal changes, discomfort swallowing, and a feeling of fullness in the throat, as well as additional symptoms of subcutaneous or mediastinal emphysema, arterial gas embolism, and pneumothorax.

• Immersion Pulmonary Edema (IPE) is triggered by immersion and worsened by factors like overhydration or overexertion. Symptoms may include dyspnea and wheezing, as well as pink frothy sputum while submerged or shortly after emerging from the water.

• Pulmonary Embolism (PE) is not always dive-related but can mimic dive injuries. Symptoms may include chest pain, fainting, low blood pressure, distension of the neck veins, and swollen calves.

These conditions require prompt care, and it's important for divers to quickly recognize and react to them. Learn more about acute lung conditions: dan.org/safety-prevention/diver-safety/divers-blog/recognizing-lung-conditions/

02/14/2026

DAN medics share the most common reasons divers call our medical hotline: decompression sickness, ear injuries, cardiac concerns, and those “something isn't right” moments after a dive.

Cases escalated to Dr. Camilo Saraiva, VP of medical and assistance services at DAN, often involve oncology, emergency medical transportation, and fitness to dive evaluations for minors.

Do you have a nonemergency medical question for DAN Medical Services? Submit it at dan.org/ask-a-medic, or call the Medical Information Line at +1-919-684-2948 (select Option 4) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET on weekdays.

02/12/2026

Ever felt seasick on a dive boat? Motion sickness happens when your brain receives conflicting signals from the inner ear, eyes, and body — a common experience on boats. Symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, sweating, and headaches.

How divers can reduce risk:
⚓ Position yourself near the center of the boat where movement is minimal.
👀 Maintain visual contact with the horizon when possible.
💧 Stay hydrated, rested, and avoid heavy meals before diving.
💊 Consider motion-sickness medications, whether oral or a transdermal patch. (Read the information provided to understand potential side effects like drowsiness.)

Although mild motion sickness is often relieved once you get underwater, exercise caution if you experience severe nausea. It may be best to call off the dive.

Learn more: dan.org/health-medicine/health-resources/diseases-conditions/motion-sickness/

02/08/2026

Silty sediment, weather, water movement, or time of day can all reduce visibility at a dive site. But diving isn't always about what you see. Whether you're practicing skills with buddies in a local quarry or searching for megalodon teeth in blackwater, lower-vis diving can be rewarding. However, it depends on the circumstances, as well as your preparation, training, and comfort level.

A few tips for staying safe in lower visibility conditions:

🔦 USE LIGHTS STRATEGICALLY | Angle them downward and reduce intensity to avoid particle glare. Strobe lights may be useful to mark entry/exit points and to illuminate your tank so buddies can spot you if separated. Review light signals with your teammates beforehand. (Light and touch may be your only way to communicate).

🧵 CONSIDER ADDITIONAL TOOLS | Other equipment may include a SMB, compass, spools, and a reel. A spool or reel can help you safely navigate back to your starting point, but only if you know how to deploy and reel it in without creating a tangled mess. Specialty courses, especially entry-level overhead-environment classes, can teach proper reel and finger spool use, and other valuable skills for low-visibility diving.

🧠 MENTALLY PREPARE | Your brain is the most important tool in your kit. Do your homework, review safety procedures with your buddies, and mentally rehearse the dive. Disorientation can be alarming, and panic can set in. If your vision gets restricted, take a few breaths and think through your options. If you don't feel comfortable with the conditions, call the dive.

Learn more: https://dan.org/alert-diver/article/low-visibility-diving/

02/07/2026

Cave explorer Patrick Widmann dives in the most extreme environments, but never stops practicing fundamentals like buoyancy control. He credits dedicated skill practice, along with physical and mental preparation, for allowing him to advance safely and methodically in caves — pushing a little further each time he returns.

On The DANcast, Patrick discusses his extensive expedition diving, including his team’s discoveries of vast submerged cave systems in Madagascar. He also shares his journey as co-owner of ProTec Dive Centers, co-creator of the xDEEP Stealth 2.0 sidemount system, and training director at KISS Rebreathers.

🎧 Listen to his full episode with Frauke Tillmans, VP of research at DAN: https://youtu.be/WvhlryYhpg0

02/06/2026

For 46 years, the DAN Emergency Hotline has provided emergency medical assistance to divers worldwide, regardless of membership. DAN medics are available 24/7/365 to help divers and medical personnel manage diving emergencies.

🚨 If you think you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency:
1) Call local EMS immediately and/or get the injured person to the nearest medical facility to ensure prompt stabilization and assessment by a medical professional.
2) Then call the DAN Emergency Hotline* at +1-919-684-9111 for additional support and consultation with the local medical provider. When calling DAN, provide your name, location, callback number, and DAN member number (if available).

*This hotline is for emergencies only. For other inquiries, call +1-919-684-2948 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. (Select Option 1 for membership and insurance questions or Option 4 for non-emergency medical inquiries).

02/03/2026

The DANcast welcomes Patrick Widmann, cave explorer, equipment innovator, and KISS Rebreathers’ training director.

In this conversation with Frauke Tillmans, VP of research at DAN, Patrick reveals the realities of expedition diving, including the preparation, physical fitness, and technical skills behind the extraordinary discoveries the public sees.

Check out the full episode:

The DANcast welcomes Patrick Widmann, cave explorer, equipment innovator, and KISS Rebreathers’ training director. In this conversation with Frauke Tillmans,...

02/02/2026

More gear doesn't always mean safer dives. On The DANcast, Kenny Dyal of Sweetwater Scuba explains why balancing your equipment with your dive plan and environment is key — and what he watches for when assessing diver readiness as a dive pro with over 20 years of experience.

Tune in to The DANcast to hear the full conversation: https://youtu.be/-xqszPBffEI

01/31/2026

If you’ve experienced a diving accident, please consider reporting it to DAN’s Research Department.* This strengthens our incident database, which DAN has maintained since 1989 for research and education.

Our goal is to create a safe environment where divers can learn from others’ experiences and mistakes — and that relies on divers voluntarily reporting cases and near misses.

To report a diving incident to DAN Research, visit dan.org/safety-prevention/incident-reporting

*DAN Research reviews all submissions and will not share your identifying information with any other department within DAN. Reports are published as anonymized case summaries. Do not use the research form to file an insurance claim or if you are currently experiencing a medical emergency.