Essential Medical Supplies for Divers:
First Aid Kits & DAN Recommendations

Medical readiness is part of dive planning. This guide shows how to structure a practical first aid setup for diving using DAN’s three-tier model, and how to adapt it for local shore dives, travel, and remote sites.

At a Glance

• Purpose: Handle common injuries and support serious emergencies at dive sites
• Built Around: DAN style three tier structure with practical field tweaks
• Best For: Divers who shore dive often or plan trips without on site medical support

Why Divers Need a Thoughtful First Aid Setup

Most dive injuries are not dramatic. They are cuts on rocks, blisters from new fins, stings, headaches, or nausea between dives. Occasionally, they are much worse: a serious cut, suspected DCI or DCS, or a diver who stops breathing. You cannot predict which one you will see next. What you can control is whether you have the right tools on hand and whether someone knows how to use them. That is the point of a structured, layered medical setup for diving.

Divers Alert Network (DAN) publishes clear guidance on first aid and oxygen use in diving. What follows uses their three tier concept as the backbone, then shows how I have implemented it in practice so you can adjust it for your own diving.

The DAN Style Three Tier Approach

A simple way to think about medical gear is in three layers:

1. Tier 1: Small personal kit for minor issues you can deal with on the spot.
2. Tier 2: Larger trauma capable kit stored topside, often in a vehicle or on the boat.
3. Tier 3: Oxygen and advanced equipment for serious dive related emergencies.

This structure matches how most dives actually run. You do not want to hike back to the parking lot to treat a blister, and you do not want your only real medical capability sitting in a backpack on the beach while you are at the truck.

My Medical Setup for Diving

I follow the same three tier approach, but instead of building everything from scratch, I started with purpose built kits from Medical Gear Outfitters as I've been using them for years. I then added diving specific items.

Tier 1: Personal “Boo Boo” Kit in the Dive Bag

This lives in my dive bag and comes to every site, local or travel. It is built from a small Boo Boo style kit with a few additions.

Core contents:

• Assorted adhesive bandages and butterfly closures
• Blister pads and a small blister kit
• Hydrocortisone cream
• Triple antibiotic and bacitracin ointments
• Sting and bite wipes
• Povidone iodine pads and alcohol pads for cleaning minor wounds
• Pain relief tablets (aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen)
• Antihistamine tablets for mild allergic reactions
• Burn cream packets
• Small antacid tablets
• Dramamine or similar motion sickness medication
• Compact tweezers

The goal of this kit is simple: handle the small problems that would otherwise distract you, cut a dive day short, or tempt someone to “push through” when they should not.

Tier 2: Overlander Kit in the Truck

Tier 2 is my primary trauma and “something serious just happened” kit. It lives in my truck full time and comes built from an Overlander style setup.

Main capability:

• Larger trauma dressings and gauze pads
• Triangle bandages and cling wrap for support and compression
• Medical tape and EMT shears
• Nitrile gloves
• CPR shield
• Pain relief and allergy medications (aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, antihistamine)
• Hydrocortisone, antibiotic, and burn ointments
• Sting and bite wipes
• Assorted bandages and butterfly strips
• Blister kit
• Water purification tablets
• Tourniquet and pressure bandage
• Rigid splint (Acti style) and a dedicated extremity immobilization system (RISE)
• Tick removal tool

For local shore diving, this Tier 2 kit plays two roles. It is my general purpose vehicle emergency kit, and it serves as the primary medical capability for the dive day. If I am planning a group dive or a more remote site, I will stage it closer to the water rather than leaving it at the far end of a parking lot.

Tier 2 is also where an Emergency Action Plan belongs. Together, this kit and a site specific EAP give you the essentials for handling anything topside: practical medical tools and clear steps for getting help fast.

Tier 3: Oxygen and Advanced Equipment

Dive related injuries like suspected DCI, arterial gas embolism, or a serious near drowning are treated first with high flow oxygen while you coordinate evacuation. That is why emergency O₂ sits at the top of the medical stack.

In my case:

• I own a full DAN style O₂ kit with cylinder, regulator, non rebreather mask, and demand style delivery.
• I also own an AED that travels with me for local shore diving and trips where access to EMS is delayed.

Not every diver needs to buy their own oxygen kit or AED. For many people this will be owned by the charter, the dive center, or the club. What matters is that you know where it is, who can operate it, and that at least some of the team has training in O₂ administration and basic life support.

If you have never seen or used an oxygen unit before, courses like DAN’s Emergency Oxygen for Scuba Diving Injuries and CPR/AED training are worth the time. They pair naturally with a practical medical kit and increase the value of every O₂ bottle and AED that is already on site.

How This Compares to DAN Guidance

Compared to typical DAN style recommendations, this setup:

• Covers the same core categories: wound care, bleeding control, burns, stings, basic medications, splinting, and resuscitation support.
• Balances portability and capability by pushing heavier trauma gear to Tier 2 and keeping Tier 1 truly compact.
• Adds a few location specific items like tick removal gear for Midwest diving and a rigid splint system for easier limb immobilization.

If you are building your own system, start with DAN’s structure and then ask three questions:

• What does my operator or charter already provide?
• What is realistic for me to carry in my own gear bag?
• Where am I likely to be the only person with any real kit?

The answers will tell you how far you need to go in each tier.

Fitting Medical Gear into Your Overall Safety Plan

A medical kit is one piece of a larger safety picture. It should tie into:

• Your Emergency Action Plans for regular sites.
• Your repair oriented gear in a Save a Dive Kit.
• Your understanding of DCI, DCS, and other dive related injuries.
• Clear roles on each dive about who calls EMS, who handles navigation, and who stays with the injured diver.

You do not need a perfectly optimized kit to start. A small personal pack in your dive bag and a larger kit in your vehicle will already put you ahead of most divers. From there, add oxygen, training, and site specific tweaks as your diving, travel, and leadership responsibilities grow.