Medical evacuation plan for offshore cruisers - useful or not necessary?

[Nickodemus]

As previously stated, DAN Boater for an entire family is only $100 a year and worth every penny. We were in George Town in the Exumas, and although they have a beautiful new clinic, they can’t do much except X-rays and drugs (at least when we had to pay them a visit in 2017). They were generous with the morphine for my husband’s pain though! We called DAN and they immediately arranged for an ambulance to the George Town airport, and then a private jet flight for both of us, along with a paramedic/EMT and two pilots, who flew us to Nassau, and then provided the ambulance to Nassau. Note that there was a short debate at DAN as to whether they should fly us to Fort Lauderdale or Nassau, but opted for Nassau (customs/immigration/plane landing issues averted), and the hospital care in Nassau at Doctors’ Hospital is exemplary. After my husband was better, they flew him home on a commercial jet (no cost to him - I had flown back to the boat and our cat, since 40 knot gusts were predicted, thank you very much - great time to be by yourself on a boat - otherwise they would have flown me back with him). Anyway, the entire bill came to almost $10,000, and all we got was a statement showing what they covered - EVERY penny. (Our regular health insurance covered the medical portion of it since it was an emergency). I really don’t know what we would have done without it. DAN magazine featured an article on us in their newsletter on line. So YES, if you are eligible for DAN insurance, be it Boater or Diver, it is worth it! I even tell our visitors that they might want to sign up for it before they come aboard, just in case. In the scheme of things, $100 is NOTHING.

[Nickodemus]

Forgot to say - www.danap.org - for information on coverage in Australia and some countries in the Pacific. Looks like it might be the DAN Diver program, but you don’t have to dive to get covered. DAN is definitely available in Europe and Canada. Just put DAN in whatever country you want it for and it will take you to their site.

[mvmojo]

We've been DAN members for over 20 years. I strongly believe in emergency evacuation insurance if cruising in areas where medical care is not up to first world standards. We spent 6 years cruising in the Caribbean. The rule of thumb there is "When in pain, take a plane!"

Side note: I met a guy who worked in the US Virgin Islands and had fractured his ankle. With a compound fracture of the ankle he couldn't fly commercial and since he didn't have med-evac insurance he said he couldn't afford a medical flight to evac him to the US. He ended up in the hospital on St. Thomas. The local orthopedic admitted he didn't really have the skills or experience to fix his ankle so the guy arranged to fly in a US surgeon. After the surgery the guy was in terrible pain and the doc couldn't figure out why since he had prescribed pretty powerful pain meds to be given as needed. He found out the nurses were saying they administered the meds but instead they were stealing them! The doc ended up moving the guy out of the hospital, giving this guy's wife the pain meds and teaching her how to administer them, how to empty the drain (the nurses weren't doing that either), how to change his dressings, what to look for in terms of complications, etc. He ended up OK but said he'd never again not have evac insurance.

[Near2KR]

If you are in the US the DAN evacuation coverage is available for a $25 adder to your United States power squadron membership. So all together it’s $105 a year and I found the power squadron navigation course to be excellent

[Boatguy30]

i have purchased DAN and Southern Cross travel insurance in the past. Southern Cross is not currently issuing policies.


what are the requirements for New Cal? is that to get the 6 month visa?



reckon we can go this year?

[Pitchondesign]

A (US based) friend, in good health fell and broke his hip in Italy. Apparently he slipped on a sidewalk and fell down some steps. The Italian medical system did a great job of getting him to a hospital and stabilized, essentially for free. For the more permanent fix, he had to go back to the States. That trip from Italy to the US cost him $125,000 because he had no Medivac insurance. The trip required an air amublance with medical personnel aboard. His US medical insurance kicked in when he got back, but the Medivac wasn't covered. After that story, I decided Medivac insurance was essential for international travel.