$1000 Helicopter Rescue Fee Proposed

[iain]

Helicopter rides are expensive no matter how you cut it. Get rescued in Canada and it will hurt. I don't see why they can't use mast for this stuff though. That's were all the cash is, and they do the job for free. Almost all air support for rescues in Oregon has been handled by the air force in the past, and now the nat'l guard. There is good cooperation between rescue units and these organizations. The result is free rescues.

[snoboy]

chucK said:Point number one. How expensive is it really? Some of you with helicopter approach experience (MattP, Caveman, Dru, AlpineK, others..?) what's a typical bill?

 

$1000/hour is a good place to start, more if it's a big bird.

[fern]

iain said:

Get rescued in Canada and it will hurt.

 

Why do you say this Iain? How much have people been charged

and under what circumstances? Is it only non-Canadians that

get charged?

[iain]

When I flew with Alpine Helicopter out of Golden, they requested a list of credit card numbers from the group before they lifted off, and seemed to want to make it clear that they would be heavily used if they had to come get us. I guess that's not definitive, but I was glad to have amer. alpine club insurance. Maybe it was more of a bluffing statement than anything, but I didn't want to risk it! It may also be that the trip was sponsored through the calgary section of acc (this was to the Clemenceau area) and a friend and I were hitching a ride. Maybe it's different elsewhere? Seemed much more likely to be billed than in the states. Though it's not like there's a lot of remote terrain like that in the lower 48

[iain]

maybe I should just say if you fly on alpine helicopter flights out of golden under the auspices of the acc, it might hurt, how's that

[Thinker]

I chartered a commercial chopper on the North Slope of Alaska a couple of years ago. I think the rate was around $850/hour and they counted the time back and forth from their pad to the village (Kaktovik) where they picked us up. The bill came to around $4,500 for just over a half day.

[cj001f]

iain said:

Get rescued in Canada and it will hurt.

I don't know about Canada, but it's that way in France. Unless you have rescue insurance (available at a nominal charge).

 

Instead of charging for helos, how about charge for rescue insurance - like Colorado does.

[Cpt.Caveman]

The bill came to around $4,500 for just over a half day.

 

Sounds cheap.

[Careless_Ev]

Charging for rescue is bad public policy! Using Europe as a model wont work. We have a different public standard of liability.

 

The county should be promptly sued after charging for their first rescue. Lawyers will pick apart the rescue, and question every decision that the rescue managers make; especially decisions that increase the cost of the rescue.

 

The question could easily be asked; did the SAR managers do too much, or too little? If they do too much and over react, BONG! "Hey, I didn't ask for a helicopter, I just needed some help getting down the trail b/c I sprained my ankle." If they do too little and someone becomes more injured or dies, BONG! "Why didn't you do MORE to help my little Johnny? Now you're sending me a bill!" Suddenly, cost will be on the SAR manager's mind as much as the rescue. How does that sound?!

 

Everyone has accidents; you could be next.

 

If the county wants to be in the charging for SAR business (instead of relying on the volunteers and MAST) then it should expect suits. Defending one lawsuit will easily cost more than they recoup.

[snoboy]

When I flew with Alpine Helicopter out of Golden, they requested a list of credit card numbers from the group before they lifted off, and seemed to want to make it clear that they would be heavily used if they had to come get us. I guess that's not definitive, but I was glad to have amer. alpine club insurance. Maybe it was more of a bluffing statement than anything, but I didn't want to risk it! It may also be that the trip was sponsored through the calgary section of acc (this was to the Clemenceau area) and a friend and I were hitching a ride. Maybe it's different elsewhere? Seemed much more likely to be billed than in the states. Though it's not like there's a lot of remote terrain like that in the lower 48

 

Rescues initiated through the Provincial Emergency Program (SAR) in BC are no charge to the rescuee.

 

Rescues initiated by a private operator, ie ski patrol or Alpine Heli, would be at the discretion of the operator.

 

We had a heli in the air last week for a couple of overdue snowboarders, at the end of an 18 hour search, they were charged $0.

[jon]

My friend had to shell out $5000 for his helicopter rescue, $1000 is a good deal.

[girlclimber]

Point number two: "encouraging a little more responsibility" is a totally ridiculous statement if you think about it for about 20 seconds. I'm sure that getting hurt, breaking bones, getting lost, DYING, are not adequately discouraging, but add a 1000$ bill to it and that would be enough to tip the balance? Noone consciously sets out with the helo in their backup plan.

 

Sure, no one plans on needing a rescue. But there are plenty of people who have initiated one when it wasn't absolutely necessary. The knowledge that they can be charged might cause people to think a bit harder about what they can do to avoid it.

 

Things like getting hurt (minor injuries) or lost will happen, but if you're prepared, there are ways to help yourself instead of relying on others who don't have all the information on your condition and may bring in way more help than needed.

[scratchandsniff]

$1000, fine with me. Charge $2,000-$3,000.

 

However: government shouldn't be doing this job. At all. Once they have control, they can decide you don't have the right to go out there at all. Which is exactly what is happenig and you see people all over this board complaining about it.