By Francois Burman, PE MSc

In recent years we’ve heard numerous reports of liveaboard calamities, but there are more that go unnoticed, except by the unfortunate parties involved. Liveaboard diving is essentially remote diving, and there are many considerations that must be planned and prepared for. Operators, trip leaders, dive professionals, and divers all have roles to play if we are to reduce accidents, property losses, and, especially, fatalities.

Oleh Matias Nochetto, MD

In this presentation we’ll discuss how to navigate those challenging last-minute fitness-to-dive questions that arise just before it’s time to board the boat. We’ll cover what you can do, what DAN can do for you, and what none of us can do.

Oleh Frauke Tillmans, PhD

In this presentation we’ll explore the intriguing topic of personalized decompression and its connection to bubble formation and individual physiology. With a focus on understanding the complexities of decompression stress and its relationship to DCS risk, we will dive into the challenges faced by dive researchers in studying individual physiology, discuss the limitations of current methods, explore the potential of new technologies, and outline why further research is needed.

By Neal Pollock, PhD

Dive tables offered the standard for controlling dive profiles for the first half of our modern diving history. The shift to relying on dive computers brought convenience, but also challenges. Most important now is that the wide range of available devices makes it difficult to sufficiently orient divers to them. This presentation will review key functions and options, some well-established and some fairly new, to aid in selection and best practices for use.  

By JoAnn Perry MSE

Divers Alert Network Instructors, Instructor Trainers, and Examiners are invited to attend this 2025 Update. This session will cover improvements and changes from the past year and provide an outlook on changes coming in the year ahead.

By Shelli Wright and Angela Williams

Join us for an overview of DAN’s membership and insurance programs, and learn about all the great benefits available to you, your business, and your customers. We’ll cover DAN membership benefits, dive accident coverage, trip and travel insurance, and liability coverage, and there will be time to get answers to all your questions. Learn how dive pros and dive operators can use these programs to better serve their customers, mitigate risk, and grow their business.

By Francois Burman, PE, MSc

Dive professionals, boat crews, and others who work in the industry are exposed to the sun for long periods, often daily. Dive clients may be unaware of how long they spend exposed to the sun’s UV radiation. While sunburn offers a reminder to use protection, the longer-term dangers are not all related to burns. Understanding how UV radiation affects us and using appropriate protection are essential to dive operators and professionals.

By Neal Pollock, PhD

Rebreathers provide both physiological and range benefits for divers, but these advantages come with the costs of increased complexity and related hazards. This presentation will briefly consider the benefits of rebreather diving and will then focus on the hazards that must be managed by rebreather divers. 

Oleh Matias Nochetto, MD

Could you recognize a mild case of the bends? Could you distinguish a mild case from a serious one? In this presentation we’ll review red flags and put symptoms and risk factors in context to help you make good decisions.

By JoAnn Perry MSE

Much has been said about the importance of considering our environmental impact in the water, but have we also been diligent in other areas of our businesses? A look into other aspects of dive operations — out of the water — will generate new ideas about how we can be better stewards of our environment.

By Nathalie Judkins, Laura Johnson, and Mel Cefai

From local-language emergency hotlines in Asia and Latin America to free first aid and oxygen training to dive support staff across Indonesia, DAN is doing more than ever to improve diver safety around the world. Join us as we highlight initiatives and projects happening now across the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific, including donation of oxygen equipment, scholarships, grants, free student medical expense coverage, continuing medical education for hyperbaric doctors, research, and more. 

By Emmanuel Dugrenot, PhD

During diving, cardiopulmonary changes can cause immersion pulmonary edema (IPE/IPO) and increase the risk of drowning. This talk presents an updated review of the mechanisms of IPE (known and suspected) that can lead to extravascular water accumulation in the lungs and “drowning from the inside.”