Rescued Fisherman Eligible for Maintenance and Cure Benefits
The United States Coast Guard successfully rescued a fisherman reportedly suffering from a stroke this past Sunday.
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At approximately 10 p.m., a commercial fishing vessel contacted the Coast Guard and requested a medevac for a crew member needing immediate medical assistance. The vessel was cruising roughly four nautical miles southwest of Point Hueneme, California at the time of the incident.
A Coast Guard MH-65C Dolphin helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles patrolling the area was quickly dispatched to the scene and successfully retrieved the 62-year-old seaman. The victim was transferred in stable condition to Torrance Memorial Medical Center.
Maintenance and Cure
Admiralty law, also known as maritime law, gives injured seamen certain rights beyond the usual worker’s compensation benefits afforded to landlocked workers.
For example, the admiralty law principal of maintenance and cure obligates vessel owners to provide for crew members that are injured or become ill while in service to their vessels. So even if the fisherman suffered a stroke through no fault of the vessel’s owner, the owner is still required to provide maintenance and cure benefits.
Cure
The concept of ‘cure’ is the seaman’s right to free medical treatment until they are either fit for duty or reach ‘maximum medical cure’. Maximum medical cure is the state in which a seaman is returned as close as medically possible to the condition they were in prior to the injury. In this case, the fisherman might be entitled anti-seizure or other medical treatments even if they are long-term or permanent.
Maintenance
The concept of maintenance obligates shipowners to cover the basic living expenses of crew members while they are convalescing. This benefit was designed to repay seamen for their basic room and board, which under normal circumstances would be provided aboard the vessel on which they served. Maintenance is only provided until a seaman is able to return to duty or when they reach maximum medical cure – even if he remains disabled or is otherwise unable to return to work as a seaman.
Jones Act
United States citizens working as seamen aboard vessels operating in navigable waters may be eligible for special Jones Act rights provided by the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (also known as the Jones Act). The Jones Act offers numerous benefits beyond the basic maintenance and cure benefits offered under admiralty law.
