Aquatics - Boating / Sailing - Drowning - Marine Safety Expert Witnesses: 5

Capt. David G. Bacon, is a Maritime Expert with over 30 years of vessel charter experience. He has a United States Coast Guard Captains License (Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel). His expert work has included personal injuries, collisions, allisions, running aground, Rules of the Road and navigation. Capt. Bacon's vessel charters include fishing, research, cruising, eco-tours, whale watching, diving, kayaking, photography, oil seeps, and oil spills. As owner/operator, and captain of WaveWalker Charters, he has decades of vessel operations experience with zero accidents and zero injuries. Capt. Bacon is experienced with crew training, safety procedures, crew drills, and practice. The Founder and Executive Director of a nonprofit organization providing at-sea educational adventures for special-needs children and adults, he has extensive knowledge of passenger safety orientation and creating/maintaining a safe environment for passengers, including special-needs passengers in for-profit and nonprofit (501c3) ventures.

Introduction by Captain David G. Bacon

Litigation Support - Capt. Bacon offers expert witness services to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defendant and has successfully performed in depositions and testimony.  His cases include:

Capt. Bacon has spent 30+ years participating as a technical writer for marine electronics and electrical journals, work procedures, user manuals, magazine articles, on-line publications, and social media. He is a public speaker with 15 years of experience hosting seminars, informational/motivational lectures, and presentations for civic organizations and clubs.

View Capt. Bacon's Consulting Profile.

Pool Operation Management (POM), founded in 1980, is an Aquatics Safety and Risk Management firm that is nationally recognized for pool consulting services including liability and risk management, compliance with governmental regulations, facility operations, mechanical questions, and personnel requirements. Trevor A. Sherwood II has extensive experience in the swimming pool industry, with 30 years of experience in service, consulting, training and education, code/regulations development, and expert witness. He has contributed to aquatic textbooks and related articles, influenced State Recreational Bathing Codes, and presented at national industry conferences. He has provided leadership to such organizations as National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF), Northeast Spa & Pool Association (NESPA), Community Association Institute - New Jersey Chapter (CAI), New Jersey Apartment Association (NJAA), New Jersey Parks and Recreation Society (NJPRS), Pennsylvania Parks and Recreation Society (PRPS) and New Jersey and Massachusetts Health Departments. He has been retained by attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. Mr. Sherwood's extensive swimming pool consulting experience qualifies him to appear in court on the following matters:

View Consulting Profile.

Dr. Alan Steinman is an expert in Maritime Medicine with particular emphasis on Sea-Survival, Drowning and Hypothermia. He has served as Surgeon General and Director of Health and Safety for the U.S. Coast Guard, as medical advisor to the Coast Guard's Chief of Operations, and as rescue physician on numerous Coast Guard search and rescue missions. He has an international reputation in hypothermia and cold-water survival. 

Dr. Steinman is widely published in the field of environmental medicine, including a chapter on immersion hypothermia in a leading textbook of emergency medicine. His research into human cold-water immersion and hypothermia merited the prestigious Arnold D. Tuttle Award from the Aerospace Medicine Association. The results from his human hypothermia studies contributed to the basis of current U.S. Coast Guard cold-water survival time charts. 

Dr. Steinman is Board Certified in Occupational Medicine; he is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine. His Doctor of Medicine degree is from the Stanford School of Medicine; his post-graduate medical training was at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and the University of Washington School of Medicine. 

Dr. Steinman has experience in both federal and state courts serving as an expert witness in numerous cases involving sea-survival, drowning, and hypothermia.

Gordon Giesbrecht, PhD, is a professor emeritus (ret) of Environmental Physiology with emphases on Hypothermia, Drowning, and Cold Weather Survival. Dr. Giesbrecht is also an expert on Vehicle Submersion Deaths. He is a full professor in the Faculties of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, and Medicine (Departments of Anesthesia and Emergency Medicine) at the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Giesbrecht has a Ph.D. in respiratory physiology from the University of Manitoba (Faculty of Medicine) and received post-doctoral training at the University of Calgary (Faculty of Medicine). He has also earned fellowships from the Aerospace Medical Association (FAsMA), Wilderness Medical Association (FAWM) and World Extreme Medicine (FEWM).

Litigation Support - Dr. Giesbrecht has 30 years of experience as a legal consultant, more than 30 years as a published researcher in human environmental stress, and 2 years as a wilderness guide. His services include medical record review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

• Human physiological responses to environmental stress (e.g., cold, heat, and altitude)
• Human response to treatment of environmental illnesses [cold (hypothermia and frostbite) and heat (heat illness and heat stroke)]
• Drowning prevention, mechanisms, and treatment
• Vehicle submersion: vehicle sinking characteristics, self-rescue strategies, and protocols for emergency response operators
• Human factors and emergency response training

Dr. Giesbrecht is widely published in the field of environmental medicine, including being the lead author on immersion hypothermia in a leading textbook of Wilderness Medicine.  He has co-created several internationally known educational programs for medical, law enforcement, military, and search and rescue professionals. These include Baby It’s Cold Outside, and Beyond Cold Water Boot Camp.  His extensive human research studies have provided data for survival models for lost mariners that are used by the US Coast Guard (Probability of Survival Decision Aid) and the Canadian Coast Guard (Cold Exposure Survival Model). Dr. Giesbrecht has also created protocols for emergency response operators for Vehicles in Water, and Vehicles Stranded in Flood Water.

Dr. Giesbrecht’s work has earned him the Arnold D Tuttle Award from the Aerospace Medical Association for contributions to cold water immersion physiology, survival, and medical treatment. He has also been awarded the Blair Erb World Congress Award for worldwide impact on wilderness medicine from the Wilderness Medical Society, and the Education and Training Award of the National Search and Rescue Program Awards of Excellence (Canada).

Finally, Dr. Giesbrecht has been a consultant for the military in the US, Canada, and Sweden (including US Special Forces and JTF2 in Canada), as well as the Coast Guard in both the US and Canada. He has also worked with the FBI and other law enforcement organizations across the US and Canada.

George Zeitler, MSc, has over 30 years of experience in the Marine Industry in various regulatory, management, and consulting roles. He is an Accredited Marine Surveyor (Y&SC) by the Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors and a Member of the International Institute of Marine Surveying.

Background Experience - Mr. Zeitler served 18 years as a USCG Marine Inspector / Casualty Investigator, and 7 years as a Class Society principal surveyor (DNV).  He then spent 1 year as VP of Operations for a niche cruise line. Mr. Zeitler went on to serve 5 years as a technical consultant for various segments of the marine industry, including 2 years as third party environmental auditor for criminal pollution cases. He has been an Accredited Yacht and Small Craft Surveyor for over 15 years. 

In 2002, Mr. Zeitler formed Zeitler Marine Services (ZMS), using his experience and knowledge to offer condition and valuation (pre-purchase and insurance) and damage survey services to the yachting and recreational boating communities in south Florida. He is currently the Director of the Chapman School of Seamanship Yacht and Small Craft survey course.

Litigation Support - Mr. Zeitler uses his vast experience verifying Compliance with Applicable Maritime Laws / Regulations through on site surveys and audits of client's vessels. His years of operational and regulatory enforcement help provide clients with a unique perspective that is key in identifying vulnerabilities onboard vessels as well as gaps in policies and procedures. He functions as a Court Appointed Monitor in situations where vessel operators are negotiating a plea agreement for a DOJ-approved Environmental Compliance Programs.

Areas of Expertise:

• Vessel Design and Construction
• Vessel Compliance with International and US Laws and Regulations
• Compliance with Federal and Voluntary (ABYC) Standards for Yachts and Small Craft
• Casualty Investigation
• Vessel Operations
• Cruise Ship Management, Operation, and Safety
• Environmental Compliance and Auditing