South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

A 58-year-old woman died recently during a scuba trip on a private boat. The Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responded to the report at about 10 a.m. off the Boynton Inlet.

The call to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office reported that a boat was bringing the unconscious woman to shore. She was seen by medical responders and transported to the Bethesda Memorial Hospital in Boynton Beach. She later died at the hospital, according to The Palm Beach Post. The cause of death has not yet been determined by the Medical Examiner's Office.

Our Boca Raton personal injury attorneys understand that scuba diving is a popular activity for both residents and tourists. If you don't have your own boat or scuba diving equipment and will be venturing out with a scuba operator, remember to do your research. Scuba companies have an obligation to keep participants safe. They're responsible to researching weather conditions, ensuring safe rental equipment and ensuring that employed divers have the proper certification.

Scuba diving is a fun and exciting activity and everyone is urged to try. Florida is the perfect place to suit up and dip in. There are a number of Fort Lauderdale Dive Shops that offer customers a full range of equipment, tours, lessons and supervised dives. Future divers are asked to research potential dive companies thoroughly to determine which can best help to reduce your risks of a Fort Lauderdale scuba diving accident.

A recent report focusing on common causes of Open-Circuit Recreational Diving Fatalities analyzed nearly 950 recreational diving deaths that occurred between 1992 and 2003. The top causes for these fatal accidents are listed below.

Top causes of scuba diving accident fatalities:

-Drowning: 33 percent of fatalities.

-Arterial Gas Embolism: This is when respiratory gases expand during ascent. This occurrence accounted for 29 percent of deaths.

-Cardiac Incident: This is a common term for a heart attack or a stroke and accounted for about 26 percent of scuba diving deaths.

-Trauma: Trauma caused by an injury sustained while diving accounted for 5 percent of deaths.

-DCS: This term refers to decompression sickness or illness and represented nearly 3 percent of all scuba diving fatalities.

-Loss of consciousness: Oftentimes the loss of consciousness cannot be explained while diving, but makes up nearly 3 percent of these fatalities.

-Inappropriate Gas: This occurrence happens when an incorrect gas mix causes a death. This accounted for 2 percent of all fatalities.

Tips to get ready for your venture out to explore the underwater world off our Florida coastline:

-Speak with a doctor to make sure that your heart is in good condition.

-Train. Get your body into shape by doing cardiovascular aerobic exercises 5 to 7 times a week. You can try walking, biking, or jogging. If you're inside a gym, try using an elliptical, a treadmill or a stationary bike.

-Remember, you're not supposed to hold your breath while you're scuba diving. That's the golden rule! Practice steady breaths.

-Keep an eye on your air pressure. The rule of thumb says that you should surface when your tank has 500 pounds of air.

-Make sure that you're equipped with the necessary SCUBA, snorkeling equipment and instruction.

-Plan out your dive. Make sure your figure out exactly how long and where you'll be diving. Consider the direction of the current when planning.

-Never scuba dive alone!

-Take a course and memorize the functions of decompression stops, dive flags, precautionary steps and what to do if your equipment malfunctions.

Continue reading "Important Information to Avoid a Scuba Diving Accident in South Florida" »

For any beachside community, the sight of sunburned happy tourists dangling from parasail rigs trolled behind motorboats is as ubiquitous as shoreline beach umbrellas and volleyball nets. Fortunately, most people who strap on the harness and take to the sky return safely to land with a camera full of images and fond memories of simulated flight.

But for some, a seemingly safe and brief trip to the clouds ends in serious personal injury or death. Such was the case this past weekend for one vacationing couple, the sptimes.com reports. As the pair was in air, a summer squall, long time in the brewing by all reports, ratcheted up sustained winds along the shoreline from a mild 6-7 mph to 22-35 mph gusts in a matter of minutes.

As the boat operator reeled the couple in, the winch spun out and the line tethering the pair to the boat snapped. One victim was able to free himself from his harness and fell to the water. His fiancée was not so fortunate and was dragged to the ground. Before coming to a rest after colliding with a 4-by-4 volleyball net post the 27-year-old Georgia woman was dragged across the sand, smashing into beach gear along the way. She remains in critical condition at Bay front Medical Center.

Experienced West Palm Beach personal injury attorneys and premises liability lawyers at the Hollander Law Firm know that surviving and rehabilitating from a serious or catastrophic injury can be a lengthy, painful, life-changing process. We recognize that business owners have a duty to provide a safe environment for their guests and employees and when unsafe conditions cause serious injury or death, victims can and should be compensated appropriately for their suffering and loss.

In most instances, whether renting a JetSki or a rowboat, a rental agency will require you to sign a waiver. This does not alleviate the company of their safety obligations. When a tourist or resident is injured on rented equipment, an experienced South Florida accident lawyer should always be contacted.

Continue reading "Tourism rental industry can be held responsible for serious and fatal accidents in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm" »

A man was injured in a South Florida personal watercraft accident on Lake Okeechobee, the Palm Beach Post reported.

The water scooter accident happened near Pahokee State Park on Memorial Day. A man and a woman were riding scooters about 4:30 p.m. when the man crashed, according to a spokesman with Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue.

The victim was transported to a local hospital with possible injuries to his back and arm.

Jet Ski accidents and accidents involving personal watercraft continue to plague South Florida waterways. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that six South Florida counties place in the top 11 for rate of watercraft accidents, including Broward (5th), Collier (11th), Lee (6th), Miami-Dade (4th), Monroe (1st) and Palm Beach (10th). More than 40,000 personal watercraft are registered in South Florida and dozens of riders are injured each year in accidents.

More than 600 Florida watercraft accidents occur each year, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. And more than 140 riders have been killed in each of the last 5 years.

Most fatal accidents occur in the Ocean or Gulf, although about one-third happen in bays, lakes or ponds. In nearly half of all accidents, a watercraft is struck by another vessel. Other causes include colliding with a fixed object, falls, and skiing mishaps.

South Florida watercraft accidents can involve a number of factors, but poorly maintained rental equipment and other issues associated with rental watercraft continue to contribute to a significant number of serious and fatal accidents. Additionally, poor design, lack of proper warning labels and unclear operator instructions can also contribute to watercraft accidents.

Most personal water scooters do not even have brakes, making them difficult or impossible to stop when a rider is not using the throttle -- as is often the case when attempting to avoid an accident. Anyone injured as the result of a watercraft accident, should contact a South Florida injury lawyer to discuss their rights.

Continue reading "South Florida watercraft accidents a summer danger" »