Experienced Attorneys
Scuba diving was once considered an adventurous and high-risk sport. While risks still exist, advancements in equipment and training have made diving safer and more accessible. However, many scuba diving accidents today result from negligence by dive operators or professionals.
Tim Monsees brings over 20 years of diving experience and legal expertise to scuba diving injury cases. As a certified Advanced Open Water Diver, Stress and Rescue Diver, Dive Master, and Assistant Instructor, he understands both the technical and legal aspects of diving incidents. If you’ve suffered a scuba diving-related injury, Monsees & Mayer can help.
Common Causes of Scuba Accidents/Types of Scuba Accidents
- Defective equipment, including scuba product defects
- Improperly maintained equipment
- Dive boat errors, including leaving a diver behind
- Diving in questionable conditions
- Boat malfunctions or disasters
- Negligent dive guides
- Lost divers
- Decompression sickness
- Drownings
- Nitrogen narcosis
- The “bends”
- Unsafe water conditions or visibility
- Entanglement
- Cave diving
- Dangerous animal encounters
- Improperly maintained equipment
- Out of air experiences
- Improperly filled or maintained tanks
- Poor navigation or getting lost
- Wrongful death
Industry Standards
Properly trained and staffed scuba diving operations usually follow procedures outlined by one of the major scuba diving organizations.
- Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI);
- National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI); or
- Scuba Schools International (SSI).
Internationally there are others, but most certified divers in the United States and the operations with which they dive, associate with one of these three organizations. Each organization conveys similar guidelines and training, but there are slight differences.
Any diver to “rent” air, must present a “c-card” or certification card that he or she is a trained, certified open water diver. There are levels of certification. At the highest levels of recreational diving, are scuba instructors. There are host of “specialties” for which a diver can seek training and certification within the major categories; e.g. “night diving” or “deep diving.”
Nearly all certification processes involve a combination of the following:
- Class work or online study;
- Confined water or swimming pool training;
- Open water training (in the ocean or an inland body of water).
Who can be held responsible for scuba diving accidents?
- Sellers or manufacturers of equipment
- Dive shops or retailers
- Boat operators
- Scuba diving operators
- Scuba diving resorts
- Dive guides or dive masters
- Instructors
- Fellow divers
Damages/Compensation
There are many types of injuries that can result from a scuba diving accident. These include:
- Medical expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Lost income or earnings
- Disability
- Brain injury
- Air embolism
- Lung expansion injury
- Paralysis
- Loss of limbs
- Scarring
- Death