It’s unfortunate, but accidents and injuries are common on cruise ships. Many vacationers suffer from a cruise head injury after a slip and fall. Slips and falls are the most common injury on a cruise ship. Many people do not think there is anything that can be done afterward. However, there are legal options.
Cruise Ship Negligence
Some accidents are just that, accidental, and no one is to blame. However, there are some accidents that happen due to the negligence of the cruise line or its agents, employees and/or crew. When a passenger has suffered an injury due to the negligence of the cruise line, the cruise line becomes liable for the passenger’s injury and can be held accountable for the passenger’s medical bills, pain, and suffering, lost wages from missed work, future earning capacity and even future medical treatment.
There are important factors to consider when examining factors associated with a head injury. These include where, how and when did the injury happen, did an employee do something or nothing that led to the cruise head injury. It is also important to provide medical records related to the injury.
Head Injury Symptoms
After a cruise head injury, it is important to be aware of the signs and symptoms of a concussion or severe head trauma.
These include:
- Headache
- Temporary loss of consciousness
- Confusion
- Amnesia
- Dizziness
- Ringing in the ears
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Slurred Speech
- Dazed
These symptoms could be delayed by hours or days. Many people don’t even know they sustained a concussion until well after they’ve ended their cruise vacation and have gone back to work. They know they fell on the cruise and hit their head, but the damage and pain they’re experiencing sometimes do not show until much later.
Duty of Care
Pursuant to general maritime law, The Supreme Court in Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique, 358 U.S. 625 (1959), held that shipowners owe a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of its passengers. Cruise lines must exercise reasonable care under the circumstances. These accidents can happen anywhere on the ship, from your initial steps onto the ship during embarkation, and even leaving the ship once you return to the port.
Accidents can occur near the pool, dining rooms, bathrooms, public walkways, and any other areas where passengers have access. (Cruise lines may even be held negligent if a passenger slips and falls during a shore excursion).
Often times, passengers don’t know how to bring a lawsuit after they have been injured on a cruise. Cruise lines can mandate that claims are brought within one year of the accident. This time frame is rather short. As a complex litigation injury firm, we press upon our clients that they need to immediately speak with an attorney to discuss their slip and fall case.