PERSPECTIVES
FROM THE ARCHIVES B Y
B I LL
Z I E F LE
IN 1982 DAN STAFF NOTED a growing demand among divers for information about dive medicine. To meet that demand and to enhance communication between DAN and its members, the organization published the first issue of Alert Diver the following year. The magazine, which at the time could more accurately be described as a newsletter, was a benefit of membership and a means to educate divers, dive professionals and even medical professionals about dive medicine. The first issue included the following statement: “Alert Diver is a forum for ideas and information relative to diving safety, education and practice. It acts as a liaison between DAN’s diving medicine specialists, their health care colleagues, and the diving community at large. Any material that relates to diving safety or diving medicine is considered for publication.” From that first eight-page, text-only issue, Alert Diver grew over the years to cover not only dive safety and medicine, but also dive research, industry news, incident reports, letters from DAN members, and more. In 2009 DAN expanded the magazine’s purview to feature dive destinations, marine life, underwater photography and other topics of general interest to divers. A renewed emphasis on world-class underwater images was intended to enhance the magazine’s appeal to divers. We knew DAN members were interested in diving, and by sharing stories and images by the world’s most experienced and eloquent dive journalists we believed we could reach even more people with important dive safety messages. After all, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. This 2021 Special Edition is a collection of the most relevant and informative dive-safetyrelated articles that DAN has published since the 2009 redesign. We hope you enjoy this curated selection from the Alert Diver archives, and we hope you use the information in these articles to dive safely for years to come. MEDICAL SERVICES DAN was founded in 1980 as a hotline for injured divers to get access to the medical care they needed. Today DAN Medical Services operates not only the DAN Emergency Hotline, but also the DAN Medical Information Line, specializing in helping divers in emergencies as well as 6 |
2021 SPECIAL EDITION
