Seattle Injury Lawyer Blog
The Coast Guard reported via news release that a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew medevaced a fisherman who reportedly received an electric shock and was suffering from cardiac complications 172 miles northwest of Dillingham Friday.
The Jayhawk crew arrived on scene with the fishing vessel Cape Horn at 1:25 p.m., safely hoisted the 43-year-old crewmember and delivered him to emergency medical services in Dillingham at 3:10 p.m.
The crewmember reportedly received a shock of 480 volts while working on the electrical switchboard aboard the vessel. The Cape Horn is a 145-foot fishing vessel based in Seattle.
Where a crewmember is injured onboard a vessel due to electric shock, he or she is entitled, at minimum, to maintenance and cure (a daily living allowance and reasonable medical treatment). Where electric shock injuries occur, there are often factors at play outside the control of the injured crewmember. For example, there may be faulty equipment, lack of proper training, or other incompetent crewmembers. The vessel owner is required to furnish a vessel that is fit for its intended use, which includes a competent crew and properly functioning equipment, and is also required to adequately train crewmembers to prepare them for the tasks to which they are assigned. Where a crewmember suffers an electric shock injury do to the vessel owner’s failure to satisfy these duties, the crewmember is entitled to recovery