DAN Is My Buddy
Updated: 11/8/2006 10:04:18 AM
For Immediate Release
November 1, 2006
Contact: Christine McTaggart, (919) 684-2948 x560
cmctaggart@dan.duke.edu
DAN Is My Buddy
On November 8th, DAN's year-long "DAN Is My Buddy" celebration begins with the launch of revitalized Student Membership Program that is certain to excite prospective and student divers.
The Student Membership Program is a free program offered to all entry-level divers and includes $20,000 of recompression treatment insurance in the unlikely event a student develops decompression illness during the course of their training. It is open to all entry-level divers, and any certified scuba instructor in the DAN Americas region may enroll their students. A new "DAN Is My Buddy" DVD is available to all instructors for their use in class, as well as a student version for new divers to take home. A new interactive website, www.danismybuddy.com was created to answer questions and concerns commonly expressed by new divers, and to provide excitement and information just when a new diver wants it most.
By using the Student Membership Program, students take an important first step in integrating dive safety into their diving practices. It also allows DAN to introduce the new divers to Divers Alert Network and the multitude of resources DAN provides to all divers, such as the 24-Hour Diving Emergency Hotline, the Diving Medical Information Line, the information provided by Alert Diver and other DAN publications, the training and education programs, the benefits of full membership and, of course, the knowledge gained from DAN’s numerous research studies.
The Student Membership Program is open to any entry-level diver and any certified instructor teaching in the DAN Americas region. Students under the age of 18 need consent from a parent or guardian to enroll. Instructors do not have to be DAN Instructors, although they will need to register with DAN in order to use the online enrollment option.
The program is free to entry-level students and certified instructors. There is no cost to use the program, and neither students nor instructors who use the program are under any obligation to join DAN as a full member.
Student Membership is valid as soon as a registration and a current Student Member ID Number is issued. Coverage commences on the date the Student Member ID Number is assigned and lasts through the end of the final dive needed for certification, or six months, whichever comes sooner.
Students can be enrolled three ways:
- Online at www.danismybuddy.com - students can enroll themselves.
- Online at www.danismybuddy.com - instructors can enroll their students.
- A paper roster is filled out in class and submitted to DAN by the instructor.
Upon receipt of a student's registration, both the student and instructor will receive via email a confirmation of registration and the student's new Student Member ID number.
DAN's primary purpose is to protect, educate and assist all divers. Our vision is to keep every dive accident- and injury-free, and by introducing all new divers into the DAN community through Student Membership, we are better able to educate and inform them how they may achieve that goal. We protect instructors by providing a program that allows them to provide protection to their students and increase their own risk management levels. The Student Membership Program benefits students, instructors and businesses alike. It is the cornerstone of "DAN Is My Buddy," because DAN truly is a buddy to all.
