07.04.2018 Views

AD 2016 Q2

As we pointed out in the spring 2013 edition of the Alert Diver, even being a dive buddy has potential legal implications. So, to bump this up a notch, what about the diver training organisations themselves? Where do they stand? How do they relate to South African law? Are they all considered the same under our legal system in spite of the differences in organisational structures and training programmes? How does this affect their respective instructors and trainee divers from a legal perspective? These are not exactly simple questions. It is certainly true that the respective training organisations differ in a number of ways. However, this does not imply that there are necessarily differential legal implications for each of them. In fact, under South African law, the legal principles are common in all matters. Therefore, if you suffer a loss and you (or your estate in the case of a fatality) wish to recover damages, the legal principles would be applied commonly; whether you are driving or diving. Although not a frequent occurrence, there have been quite a number of law suits associated with diving injuries and damages in South Africa. This is not surprising, as the occurrence of law suits is really a function of “numbers”. As training increases, so do the chances of injuries and, with it, the chances of legal recourse. So, it remains wise to insure yourself, your equipment or your business in a proper and effective way. But before getting back to the potential differences amongst the training agencies, let’s first explore the foundational legal principles on which any civil claim would be adjudicated: inherent risk, negligence and duty to take care.

As we pointed out in the spring 2013 edition of the Alert Diver, even being a dive buddy has potential legal implications. So, to bump this up a notch, what about the diver training organisations themselves? Where do they stand? How do they relate to South African law? Are they all considered the same under our legal system in spite of the differences in organisational structures and training programmes? How does this affect their respective instructors and trainee divers from a legal perspective? These are not exactly simple questions.
It is certainly true that the respective training organisations differ in a number of ways. However, this does not imply that there are necessarily differential legal implications for each of them. In fact, under South African law, the legal principles are common in all matters. Therefore, if you suffer a loss and you (or your estate in the case of a fatality) wish to recover damages, the legal principles would be applied commonly; whether you are driving or diving.
Although not a frequent occurrence, there have been quite a number of law suits associated with diving injuries and damages in South Africa. This is not surprising, as the occurrence of law suits is really a function of “numbers”. As training increases, so do the chances of injuries and, with it, the chances of legal recourse.
So, it remains wise to insure yourself, your equipment or your business in a proper and effective way. But before getting back to the potential differences amongst the training agencies, let’s first explore the foundational legal principles on which any civil claim would be adjudicated: inherent risk, negligence and duty to take care.

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

In late 2015, as part of<br />

DAN’s Recompression<br />

Chamber Assistance Program<br />

(RCAP), DAN sent staff<br />

to Saba to help improve<br />

medical care for divers.<br />

ELEVATING THE STANDARD OF CARE<br />

By Nicole Berland<br />

MATÍAS NOCHETTO<br />

Saba is a small island, with fewer than<br />

2,000 residents in its 5 square miles<br />

of steep forested mountains. Lovingly<br />

referred to by its inhabitants as the<br />

“Unspoiled Queen of the Caribbean,” the<br />

diminutive Dutch municipality attracts<br />

tens of thousands of tourists to its scenic vistas and<br />

pristine waters each year. Most visitors to Saba return<br />

home with stories about the volcanoes they climbed,<br />

the reefs they explored and the locals they met. Most<br />

will not have had any reason to use the island’s medical<br />

facilities. But the unfortunate few who do become sick<br />

or injured on Saba will find themselves in good hands.<br />

Such was the case during last winter’s Saba Day —<br />

an annual islandwide celebration of local culture —<br />

when a local dive operation activated emergency<br />

medical services (EMS) to investigate a possible case<br />

of decompression sickness (DCS) on one of its boats.<br />

The diver had recently surfaced after a moderately<br />

aggressive dive when symptoms began. By the time<br />

the dive boat arrived at the pier, medical personnel<br />

were waiting to assess the patient’s symptoms<br />

and administer oxygen. The patient demonstrated<br />

signs and symptoms that suggested a mild case of<br />

neurological DCS.<br />

While there’s no such thing as a good day to get the<br />

bends, this was as close to that as possible: Three DAN®<br />

representatives were in Saba, and for the first day in<br />

years a fully staffed and operational hyperbaric chamber<br />

was only meters away. If the incident had occurred any<br />

earlier, the diver would have needed to be evacuated to a<br />

neighboring island, but this was the day the staff at Saba’s<br />

Fort Bay chamber had completed their formal training<br />

through DAN’s Recompression Chamber Assistance<br />

Program (RCAP) and was prepared to receive patients.<br />

The process of reopening the chamber began when<br />

Kai Wulf, parks manager for the Saba Conservation<br />

Foundation and longtime DAN supporter, applied for<br />

a DAN RCAP grant. RCAP is an International DAN<br />

(IDAN) initiative designed to provide assistance to<br />

recompression chambers in need and, through the<br />

international DAN organizations, has served more than<br />

120 underfunded chambers around the world since its<br />

inception. Typically these chambers are on small islands<br />

in remote locations and are sustained by whatever<br />

money they make treating patients or by charging<br />

nominal fees through local dive operations. DAN<br />

provides RCAP grant beneficiaries with the training,<br />

equipment and emergency support they need to deliver<br />

quality care to injured divers.<br />

Saba’s chamber is a perfect example of the type of<br />

operation poised to benefit from RCAP. Donated by<br />

the Netherlands to Saba in 1991, the decommissioned<br />

naval chamber is humble but well maintained and<br />

ALERTDIVER.COM | 23

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!