First aid training at SSI is adopting DAN’s curriculum, bringing shared protocols for CPR, oxygen administration and basic life support into the agency’s courses. DAN’s announcement explains who supplies the materials, how training is delivered and why consistency at dive sites matters.
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SSI joins NAUI, IANTD and SEI among the training agencies that have adopted the Powered By DAN program.1
For divers, instructors and dive centers, the change concerns both the curriculum and how it reaches students. DAN supplies specialist content, while the participating agencies deliver it through their existing training systems.1
First aid readiness at the dive site
First aid is an integral part of dive safety. DAN’s stated goal is to have capable first aid providers at every dive site.1
Safety at sea includes both planning the dive and ensuring that people at the site can respond effectively when an incident occurs.1
According to DAN, Powered By DAN lets dive training agencies incorporate skills and standards from its basic life support, CPR, oxygen administration and other courses into their own first aid training.1
The partnership brings together complementary expertise. Dive agencies specialize in dive training and in-water education, while the announcement describes DAN as a source of expertise in first aid for diving injuries.1
How SSI integrates the curriculum
DAN has announced that SSI, Scuba Schools International, is incorporating DAN’s curriculum into its first aid courses.1
The announcement describes SSI as the world’s largest business-based training agency. Its adoption of DAN’s curriculum brings those materials to a broad training platform, connecting the content provider with the agency’s own teaching and certification arrangements.1
DAN supplies the e-learning materials and teaching slates. Dive training agencies host the content on their own platforms and certify instructors and instructor trainers through their own systems.1
This arrangement keeps DAN’s subject expertise within the courses while the dive agencies manage training and certification.1
SSI joins NAUI, IANTD and SEI
DAN notes that NAUI, IANTD and SEI already participate in Powered By DAN, with SSI joining them.1
SSI’s participation expands the group of training agencies using the same skills and standards. The announcement’s emphasis is on consistency across agencies, with divers learning protocols drawn from a common foundation.1
In the announcement, Bill Ziefle, DAN’s president and CEO, said the program’s expansion would mean more people learning the same protocols.1
He explained that seconds can matter in an emergency, and consistent training could help people respond together more effectively.1
The goal: capable responders at every site
JoAnn Perry, DAN’s director of training, set out the organization’s goal in the announcement: capable first aid providers at every dive site.1
That goal connects training with readiness on site, where someone may need to give immediate help before other responders arrive.1
DAN presents Powered By DAN as a way to help more divers and dive professionals learn shared protocols, as well as providing course materials.1
As more instructors, agencies and platforms use a common approach to training, DAN sees an opportunity for more consistent emergency responses.1
What DAN says about its curriculum
DAN describes its curriculum as the most comprehensive in the dive industry, covering more skills than other courses for people without medical qualifications. That comparison is DAN’s own characterization in the announcement, rather than an independent assessment presented here.1
The announcement lists basic life support, CPR, oxygen administration and other courses among the material incorporated into dive agencies’ first aid training.1
Guido Watzig, CEO of SSI International, said that safety underpins every dive and that first aid training is essential to developing responsible divers.1
He said the DAN partnership is intended to give SSI professionals and divers access to comprehensive first aid training grounded in research.1
From course materials to emergency readiness
The practical message is that dive safety extends beyond knowing your equipment, planning your entry and controlling your buoyancy.1
According to DAN, first aid training helps the diving community respond together when time matters.1
Shared protocols are particularly relevant at dive sites, where instructors, divers, crew and training agencies may work alongside one another on shore or at sea.1
The announcement is therefore about a training partnership with a practical aim: people from different diving backgrounds should be better prepared to respond together. Its value will sit in the skills people learn and use, alongside the planning and equipment awareness already expected at a dive site.1
Frequently asked questions
What has SSI adopted through Powered By DAN? 1
SSI is incorporating DAN’s curriculum into its first aid courses as part of Powered By DAN.1
Which other agencies are named alongside SSI? 1
DAN says SSI joins NAUI, IANTD and SEI in the Powered By DAN program.1
What is DAN’s wider goal? 1
DAN’s stated goal is to have capable first aid providers at every dive site.1
Training continues as a diver gains experience. Our story on what changes during the first hundred dives explores that broader learning journey.