New Diver injured in training...who is responsible?

[dmaziuk]

While your question is about "responsibility" and legal representation, in my opinion the most important thing at this point is getting competent medical care for your wife, with legal representation a secondary consideration.

That's assuming the medical care is covered. If it's merely "affordable", paying for it could be a rather important consideration too.

 

[Diver0001]

My wife was on a cruise recently and signed up for diving instruction which was listed as one of the cruise ships excursions.

She had always wanted to go diving and this presented an opportunity to go.

On her first dive she was taken down 40 feet and had a guide rope to help her. For some reason the instructor was talking to her and guided her away from the guide rope and did something with her regulator which she says caused her to ascend to the surface.

However, she must have ascended too fast and uncontrollably because she was bleeding out of her nose and ears when she got to the surface. She was not able to hold onto the rope because the instructor pulled her away and whatever he did to her regulator caused her to surface too fast.

She is complaining of major headaches and went to the cruise ships medical office to get looked at. They have said she now has 1 blown ear drum and damage to the other. She also has damage to her sinuses in her nose and was bleeding out of both ears and nostrils. She can't hear out of the one ear and still has pain in her head.

The cruise line is claiming it was an independent company who did the instruction and they are not liable for anything that happened, even though it was listed as an excursion on their website.

The diving instructor is saying my wife lied and came to the surface on her own and they are not liable because she signed a waiver. The problem is she is not a certified diver, she was receiving instruction...how can she be liable when this instructor caused this to happen? Why would he pull her away from the safety rope and mess with her regulator?

She isn't due back for several more days so unsure what to do or if I should contact lawyer because she is going to need surgery from the sounds of it? She can't get any water in either ear without risk of infection.

Well.... I'm not a lawyer but I can tell you that you'll have to consult one if you want to sue someone.

That said, in my mind the Instructor is in the water with her and therefore the instructor has a primary duty of care. The operator will also have a duty of care but their duty is to ensure that they have hired qualified people and that the organisation of the dives, the rental gear and so forth is not at fault. This can lead to a complicated he-said-she-said in a court case so I think only a lawyer make a call on what to do next.

From your story it's next to impossible to really re-create what happened. A lot more detail is going to need to surface (as it were) before you have much of a chance to make a case. A liability case will usually involve connecting the dots between (1) a duty of care, (2) some action or inaction contradicting the duty of care taken by the party with the duty of care and (3) damages incurred as a direct result of (1) and (2).

It might also be relevant to establish under which laws the cruise ship was operating. In some countries (like the USA) successfully suing someone may be considerably easier than in other countries.

Again, the only thing you can really do is consult a lawyer.

R..

 

[oldschoolto]

Well sky diving is very different IMO. Not a expert, but did a few jumps when I was younger. If your students need such a talk, they are all in tandem anyway. They going along for ride only. There nothing they can do to get away from the instructor, I am not even sure if there anything they can do to hurt themselves. The instructor has full control of the suit. By the time they can jump by themselves, they would have jumped enough tandem, know the risk, fold their own suit ...

DSD in 40FT of OW analogy to sky diving is like going to 10,000ft, the instructor prepare the suits, put them on the students, tell them pull as soon as clear of the air plane, then maybe give the talk like the one you described. Then they jump on their own. After 3 students jump off, one instructor follow and hope everyone land safely

And that's not true at all... I taught static line and AFF jumping.. Your on your own... And you saying that a tandem is " JUST " going for a ride shows you don't understand the risks involved... Skydiving is a very safe sport just like scuba diving can be a very safe sport... But, You don't know what you don't know.. I mean, What could go wrong...

The fact is there are a pile of stuff that can go wrong... The fact that more people don't get hurt is because of the safety of the systems and the people that take on the job of giving " Thrill Rides " to people that don't want to spend the time and money to learn all there is to learn... We don't just hand out tanks and say, Have a good time...

I understand the whole DSD and Tandem jump game.... A great way to make money and for people to check a box on their bucket list... Just don't down play the dangers.... Don't have it in the fine print of a waiver and smile at the person saying " Nothing really can happen, You'll be fine, The lawyers make us put that in " ... These are dangerous sports that people want to have a expert hold their hand and give them a thrill and then say.. I GOT HURT, Someone must be at fault...

Jim....

 

[DogDiver]

Well there are no Tort laws in the carribien. Therefore, no ones at fault. She should see a hyperbaric physician when she gets home.

Once your outside US territorial waters, your on your own. No US Coast Guard standards. Or SCUBA police. Sorry.

 

[luscioman]

Well there are no Tort laws in the carribien. Therefore, no ones at fault. She should see a hyperbaric physician when she gets home.

Once your outside US territorial waters, your on your own. No US Coast Guard standards. Or SCUBA police. Sorry.

Per the OP this was booked and paid through the cruise line as an excursion. The cruise lines have lawsuits all the time for incidents on cruises. The like to have gag orders signed after a setllement.

 

[DogDiver]

Per the OP this was booked and paid through the cruise line as an excursion. The cruise lines have lawsuits all the time for incidents on cruises. The like to have gag orders signed after a setllement.

I know, and I feel for them. But you know darn well she signed waiver and release of responsibility.
Not binding at all in the states. But out of country. They will have to deal with the laws of what ever country they were diving in.
Again very sorry.

 

[doctormike]

She should see a hyperbaric physician when she gets home.

ENT doc, preferably an otologist (ear specialist). While I have tremendous respect for hyperbaric docs, and while many of them see a lot of ear and sinus barotrauma, examining and treating the ear really requires special tools and training that are not part of hyperbaric medicine.

 

[DogDiver]

Agree on ent specialist.

But what I really want to know is what Cruiseline and the name of the dive operator. This public information will encourage fellow divers on who to avoid.

 

[Marie13]

Agree on ent specialist.

But what I really want to know is what Cruiseline and the name of the dive operator. This public information will encourage fellow divers on who to avoid.

OP said in post# 19 it was Holland America. Dive op name unmentioned.

 

[AdivingBel]

I'm sorry for your wife's injuries. Best wishes for a full recovery.

As for DSDs...I did a bunch of them in different vacation locales before my OW. That's how I dived for years prior to cert. It was at a time I rarely had the opportunity and I didn't know when I would get a chance to continue. Without them I probably would have never thought to take up diving later on. They always included pool or beach instruction, usually in the morning, followed by reef dives after lunch. Whenever possible (it didn't happen often or I would have gone ahead with my OW) I would try to get in a couple more dives as I was allowed to continue diving with the same instructor for a fixed period of time after the initial DSD. In hindsight it was probably the safest way for me to dive given how long it was between opportunities. It was like getting a refresher each time with a very attentive instructor followed by a very nice, controlled reef bimble.

I'm certainly not saying this is the path to follow, but given my situation it worked out well for me. In fact when I did finally get my OW, it was via a short course, so I probably did it all wrong (at least according to some on SB). I think DSDs done properly are the best thing since sliced bread. I don't hesitate to recommend them to friends who are comfortable in the water and already enjoy watersports. I really benefited from the training flexibility provided by today's scuba certification agencies (you don't hear that enough here). I think it's great we have all the different training programs available so we can tailor our diving experience to our individual needs and expectations. It's a big ocean out there. All IMHO, YMMV.