Need advice on whether to take legal action!

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No, I do not. But I do know there is dive ops whos management and staff is from a different part of the world and that they are NOT following local regulations AT ALL.

Theres also a word down there used in a couple of different manners - baksheesh..


Yes I lived and worked in Egypt for 2 years.

Again lets look at possibilities. Somehow the OP's father managed to get on a boat going to Ras Mo' where there was no qualified DM and no-one with a CDWS card and further no 1st Aid training. That's a lot of factors even for Egypt.

The Dive op is listed as not being on the blacklist by CDWS, therefore their staff (or some of them) are legitimately qualified.

I think the OP has a strong case against both the Dive OP and individuals for negligence. I would push a hard for litigation.
 
Yes I lived and worked in Egypt for 2 years.

Again lets look at possibilities. Somehow the OP's father managed to get on a boat going to Ras Mo' where there was no qualified DM and no-one with a CDWS card and further no 1st Aid training. That's a lot of factors even for Egypt.

The Dive op is listed as not being on the blacklist by CDWS, therefore their staff (or some of them) are legitimately qualified.

I think the OP has a strong case against both the Dive OP and individuals for negligence. I would push a hard for litigation.
The CDWS listing information emerged after the intial suggestions of what could have happened and does indeed make it sound unlikely that its one of said in-house "dive ops" - Beware, Im not saying ALL in-house/resort ops to be dodgy, but theres some of them I wouldnt send my enemies with..
Getting on a reputable/not blacklisted boat without any qualified crew seems very odd to me..
 
I'm writing to gain any information I can to figure out what triggered my father to pass away at sea two months ago today at Ras Mohammed international park Egypt!

If you decide you want to take legal action, you should probably talk to an Egyptian lawyer first, not SCUBABoard. Egypt apparently has some sort of dual legal system and I wouldn't even begin to guess how they handle SCUBA problems.

For what it's worth, chest compressions are standard first aid, however they should have first made sure his airway was clear. It only takes a few seconds to check so it's possible you missed it (it's also possible they just didn't do it).

Sorry to hear about your father.

flots
 
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P.S im aware that he should have thought twice about diving with minor heart conditions, this still doesn't make up for the fact there was no available first aider, or for the team to try and cover their backs in case they were liable.

Jade,

I'm terribly sorry for your loss. Please do not take what follows as lack of sensitivity or compassion; I'm trying to look at this impartially.

Considering the lack of factual details presented here, I think it would be very premature to recommend legal action. Your father's death may have had nothing to do with his equipment or the actions of the dive crew and everything to do with his heart condition, which you said was minor but may well have been a factor. You said that the autopsy did not show pneumothorax, but that only rules out pneumothorax, it doesn't rule out other medical causes of death. The fact that he was diving does not automatically mean that his death was diving-related; diving only widens the differential diagnosis. I would encourage you to investigate further and have a diving medical professional in the U.K. look at the autopsy report before you dedicate the time and energy trying to pursue a lawsuit, especially in a country where you may have difficulty doing so.

Again, my sincere condolences.

Best regards,
DDM
 
First of all, I am very sorry about your loss.

Pardon my questions if they cover elements that might be clear. I am somewhat confused about the discussion on first aid.
It is claimed that the deceased was blue in the face when he surfaced. (Ie lack of oxygen, and possible drowning)
The crew started CPR (Which is proper first aid with unconscious victim without normal breathing)

It is then stated that "
to raise awareness about it because its a terrible incident that could of easily been solved if there was avalible first aid"
In my years of experience from E.rs and Medical Emergency Dispatch, drowning (in any form) is rarely a "problem that can easily be solved" with first aid when it has gone so far as described in this post.

I do believe the OP should get better explanations from the operator as to what led to the accident, however I am having trouble understanding both what the OP wants to come from this (Sure, not to have it happen again...)
What to come from it depends utterly on what happened that day. She says her dad had a minor cardiac condition. Could this be a sub-cause? Equipmentfailure? What was the profile of the
dive? What does his buddy say? (I am not expecting answers to these questions, but it is difficult to give the OP a great answer with just a few pieces to the puzzle.

Now, again, I apologize if something has gotten lost in translation, as English is not my native language.
 
im aware that he should have thought twice about diving with minor heart conditions..

Do you know if your father sought qualified medical advice (an approval to dive) about his heart condition prior to/in relation to going diving?

Did he make the diving operation aware of his medical condition/s when booking his dives?

...this still doesn't make up for the fact there was no available first aider, or for the team to try and cover their backs in case they were liable.

From what you've posted, there seems to be no evidence that the staff weren't first aid/cpr trained. Do you know this for an absolute fact, or is it an assumption or second-hand speculation?

I'm not a lawyer, but I'd assume that either of those issues would have a huge bearing on the success of any legal action.
 
Regardless of the cause of death, covering up the incident by forging and changing documents will put full blame on the dive operator and justifiably so. Verification of document altering and log book tampering will be paramount if litigation is pursued. Accidents happen, and death from previous health issues can be unavoidable, but there is no excuse for fraud in situations like this.

Whatever the dive op says about the incident will be doubted if the accusations about document tampering is true. Sorry about dad.
 
Regardless of the cause of death, covering up the incident by forging and changing documents will put full blame on the dive operator...

How would tampering with documents equate to blame for negligence? I'm not a lawyer, but I see no legal basis for this... unless somehow those documents were forged/changed prior to the incident and somehow had a direct effect on causing it.

For example, changing a medical statement to delete admission of medical unfitness...and then allowing the diver to participate when the operator/instructor knows there are potential health issues that endanger the diver.

Changing documents after the fact might be unethical...or provide suspicion of improper practices.... but they aren't themselves any proof of negligence.

Besides which, if this was a 'fun' dive, then the only documentation necessary would be a standard liability and, perhaps, safe diving practices acknowledgement. Neither of those documents have any negative impact on the dive center, although their existence could provide some safeguard to the dive center from liability (depending on local law).
 
Asking for legal advice on a public forum is a lot like asking for medical advice from passersby.

Except that each of your posts could be used against you were you to take legal action.

You really should be asking a lawyer who has experience in these matters.
 
Asking for legal advice on a public forum is a lot like asking for medical advice from passersby.

Except that each of your posts could be used against you were you to take legal action.

You really should be asking a lawyer who has experience in these matters.

If the only tool in your box is a hammer then everything looks like a nail.

If you ask an attorney if they were negligent of course they are going to say you have a case. Diver dies, no apparent CPR, questions regarding changed documents, etc.
 

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