Mike Boswell
Contributor
I was bellyaching the other day to a friend of mine - he is a retired prosecutor and judge - that while the media seems to report scuba fatalities regularly, they never seem to follow up with a story about how the accident happened, what caused it, etc.
He replied that most of this information may not be made public by various investigative agencies or coroners.
"Why wouldn't they?" I asked incredulously.
To my astonishment, he replied "Why should they? It's none of your business!"
"Why should they?" I spluttered indignantly "I PAY THEIR SALARIES! THAT'S WHY!"
He was unmoved by this argument, having perhaps heard it somewhere before. "The fact that you are a taxpayer, as we all are, does not give you the right to pry into other peoples' personal medical information. Do you really think you have any need to know?"
"Yes", I replied. "I want to learn from the accident. I want to know who or what caused it. I want the information to be available to DAN and other people who study such things."
"Well", he replied, "the Coast Guard has jurisdiction over all accidents and fatalities in navigable waterways and will issue a public report eventually, without, of course, divulging confidential personal information."
Is this true? If so, where are these CG reports, and how long does it take for the Coast Guard to publish them?
Note to Mods: Please move this thread if I have posted it in the wrong forum.
He replied that most of this information may not be made public by various investigative agencies or coroners.
"Why wouldn't they?" I asked incredulously.
To my astonishment, he replied "Why should they? It's none of your business!"
"Why should they?" I spluttered indignantly "I PAY THEIR SALARIES! THAT'S WHY!"
He was unmoved by this argument, having perhaps heard it somewhere before. "The fact that you are a taxpayer, as we all are, does not give you the right to pry into other peoples' personal medical information. Do you really think you have any need to know?"
"Yes", I replied. "I want to learn from the accident. I want to know who or what caused it. I want the information to be available to DAN and other people who study such things."
"Well", he replied, "the Coast Guard has jurisdiction over all accidents and fatalities in navigable waterways and will issue a public report eventually, without, of course, divulging confidential personal information."
Is this true? If so, where are these CG reports, and how long does it take for the Coast Guard to publish them?
Note to Mods: Please move this thread if I have posted it in the wrong forum.