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I'd also like to add that in the US, if a club or organization diver dies or gets injured on a club/organization sponsored trip and the club was not incorporated, then EVERY member of that club could be named in a suit. I does not matter if you were on the trip or not. If the club is incorporated, then the suit is limited to the assets of the club and any club members on that dive. It does not cost the personal injury lawyer anything to name you, but it will cost you to defend your self. My club went through all of the avenues in Connecticut when we were trying to see if it was worth the trouble to keep our incorporation. Two members of the club are lawyers, one in a personal injury practice the other an Assistant States Attorney. They both went through their respective practices and came to the same conclusion, if it is a club dive 1) All members of the club in attendance can/will be named in the suite 2) If the club was not incorporated, all members of the club could be named if the filing lawyer felt like it. They both felt that you most likely will not get a large penalty against you in the end but that by that time you will have a LARGE legal bill. So it just gets better and better Pete Johnson > Karen > As an attorney I can say your posts are right on the money. Everyone on the > list > should reread your thread. In this case Irvine is way out of his league. He > should > stick with what he knows and quit giving advice that borders on criminal > ignorance. > > Bill > > Karen Nakamura wrote: > > > Adri - > > > > Ironically, people who don't know anything are the most protected by the > > Good Samaritan Law (which is what this part of the thread is about). If > you > > make a reasonable effort and you haven't been taught any better, then > there > > isn't really anything they can sue you on. > > > > If you've received some training and know what's protocol and what's not, > > then doing stuff outside of protocol leaves you wide open. > > > > People in professional positions are the most open to a suit: DMs, > > instructors, guides, etc. That's why almost all agencies require them to > > have insurance. But there's two sides to the insurance -- having insurance > > also makes it more likely that you'll actually get sued. Which is most > > tempting to a lawyer: > > > > * Dive company with lots of insurance > > * Dive shop with insurance > > * Instructor with insurance > > * Boat captain with minimal insurance and a nice boat > > * Dive buddy who lives out of an old VW bus > > > > Unfortunately, when someone dies in the U.S., the family (encouraged by > the > > lawyers and by society) wants to blame someone and see retribution done. > > The laws (they vary from state to state) are designed to protect innocent > > citizens in the situation you're talking about: they come across a > > life-or-death situation, should they help or not? So you're covered. > > > > This has nothing to do with diving, so the thread should die. This is the > > same principles that apply for any situation: hiking, gliding, climbing, > > etc. Do the best that you can with what you have and within the scope of > > common sense. > > > > If someone's already dead (not breathing), it's hard to kill them any more > > (so try what you can), but while we're in "dry dock", at least think about > > what options you might have. That way, you won't be stuck in a situation > > where you see an O2 deco reg and are tempted to intubate someone with it, > > you'll have thought out the best thing to do and use the equipment to its > > best. > > > > Karen > > > > ps. it's really sad that we can't have a civil, coherent discussion about > > this. obviously, some methods will work (some of the time) but they > > shouldn't be presented as the *best* method when clearly superior > > alternatives exist. i won't defend my own stupid mistakes and lucky breaks > > with anything but an admission that they were stupid mistakes and lucky > > breaks. i think i learnt a bit more about human psychology than i really > > wanted to. > > > > At 11:09 AM +0100 11/12/99, <Adriaan_Haine@ce*.be*> wrote: > > > Karen, > > > > > > If I understand you correctly: > > > > > > if I am not qualified as a rescue diver, I should just leave the victim > alone > > > and watch him or her die? Because otherwise if she or he dies, I might > be > > >sued > > > because I tried to save a life and failed doing so? > > > Is it not better to have tried and failed then to not even try? > > > > > > confused, > > > > > > > > > Adri Haine -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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