Category Archives: Drowning

Cruise Ship Passenger Drowning Case

I. Facts:  1. In December , Mrs. Ls (age 55), accompanied by daughters He (age 28), Fh (age 34), Es and other family members departed Miami on the  Cruise Ship Vr for a cruise which included the Cayman Islands. 2. After departing port the ship’s staff hosted an excursion scheduling and safety presentation. Passe...
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Recent Trial Appearances- 2012

David S. Smith, Ph.D Commander, USCG (RET)   Trial Appearances- 2012     Mervilde, John W:Meils Thompson Dietz & Berish Two Market Square Center, Suite 830 Indianapolis, IN 46204   Re: Phifer v. Smith(child drowning in camp pool) Tried Jan ‘12,                   ...
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Commercial tow boat drowning

I. Facts: 1. Per the Coast Guard Investigation report which involved the area of the River between mile markers 963.2-968: “On 21 June, , while the M/V Ri was moored aft to the CGB  18 fleet, two crewmen ( mate As and deck hand Jd) were washing down the decks when Jd fell into the water. The other crewman, As, attempt...
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Low head dam case

This is a case involving a water craft crossing over a low head dam. I. Facts: 1. At approximately 1530 hours on April 27,  a 14’ Cub Aluminum, John type rowboat carrying three occupants, Wk, Dh and Rh was carried over the crest of a low head dam at mile 271, Lg River, near the town of Se. The boat capsized in the ...
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Pool drowning case

The following is my preliminary report in a typical pool drowning incident. In developing this preliminary report I reviewed information from police, medical and investigative files. 1. The victim,  CD, was a 14 year old, black male, 74 inches tall, weighing 215 pounds. According to Los AngelesPolice Dept. records, he ...
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20 Water Safety Questions

                     What's Your H2O (Safety) IQ? By David S. Smith, Ph.D Commander, USCG (RET) The following 20 questions were the basis of a key address to the First International Boating and Water Safety Summit, April 18-25, 1997 in San Diego, California. The Summit was spons...
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Requests for case reviews

Hello- Welcome to the SASS Site! In my files I have hundreds of reports dealing with a complete range of aquatic litigation. The only aspect not touched upon is SCUBA. These reports include but are not limited to swimming/drowning, diving/cervical spine injuries, boating accident reconstruction/ collisions/prop strike...
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