Rescue Issues

[Dave_Schuldt]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/152816_clangston17.html

[sobo]

hmmmmmm... The article was a nice read. I have called for rescues of lost friends in the past, and didn't feel bad about doing it. I do, however, feel quite apprehensive about the increasing (and distrubing) trend of people getting in over their heads and just ringing up 911 on their cell phone 'cuz they're tired and want to get a free ride out on a chopper. But I personally, as a mountain rescue volunteer, oppose the formation of a charge for rescues, for many of teh reasons cited in the article. I'd rather screw up my weekend plans than read about a body recovery because somebody feared financial repercussions about a rescue call. My $0.02

[minx]

is there anyway that the SAR could determine if the call was frivilous and bill accordingly?

[iain]

let 'em call! let 'em call! I love getting out of my other job. Some chestbeating rescue guy always gets up in front of the media saying how they risked their lives to save some idiot. B.S. They love going out and doing that stuff. And if they don't want to go they don't have to go. If it is unsafe, they don't have to go.

[sobo]

In my mind, and our unit's experience, not reliably ahead of time. Most of the time, the info you get from the reporting party is sketchy at best. To base a "go/no go" decision on that info alone would, in my mind, be considered negligent.

 

After the fact, you could possibly assess the situation and determine that the rescue was frivolous, but then the situation turns into a "he said/she said" feeding frenzy for the lawyers. And the end result is that other folks are less likely to call in help when it's really needed in the future.

[To_The_Top]

A cell phone can stop the need for a rescue on some occasions too.

If someone is overdue and can get coverage for the cell phone and tell someone that they are just late, dont call for help, this can save a lot of expense and heartache.

I know of a few that had a rescue halted because they were ok and had a cell to tell someone that they were ok.

[minx]

yes but taking a cell phone with you isn't cool

[sobo]

A cell phone can stop the need for a rescue on some occasions too.

If someone is overdue and can get coverage for the cell phone and tell someone that they are just late, dont call for help, this can save a lot of expense and heartache.

I know of a few that had a rescue halted because they were ok and had a cell to tell someone that they were ok.

 

I never meaned to imply that I was against carrying a cell phone. It's great to halt a rescue in progress (or before it starts) with a cell phone. What I am opposed to is people calling in rescues on cell phones just becasue they don't want to try to get down/out on their own. We had a call just like that earlier this week!

[minx]

sobo...my reply wasn't directed at you at all. it was directed towards the people who don't think it's good to take cell phones into the mtns for one reason or another. i've taken some flack from partners for taking mine. they like to tell me i'm not really getting away or whatever.

[sobo]

Some chestbeating rescue guy always gets up in front of the media saying how they risked their lives to save some idiot.

 

I've never known any mountain rescue people to do that. That's the job of the SAR folks.

[sobo]

sobo...my reply wasn't directed at you at all. it was directed towards the people who don't think it's good to take cell phones into the mtns for one reason or another. i've taken some flack from partners for taking mine. they like to tell me i'm not really getting away or whatever.

 

minx, I didn't take your post personally at all. I was responding to TTT's post about stopping rescues with cell phones before they get started. I'm down with that.

 

I take my cell phone with me on climbs and hikes and such. It keeps me on good terms with the wife!

[Dru]

Phoned in rescues didn't manage to ruin Layton's epic on Big-4 RIGHT JUSTIN

[Stefan]

Join the American Alpine Club. $80 per year and you get a nice book.

 

Once you are a member you have access to $5000 worth of climbing rescue insurance. You can use it for a helicopter rescue.

[Thinker]

Jennifer and Craig are friends of mine. Glad everything worked out for the best for them.

 

Btw, it's great to see such a well written article about climbing/rescue issues. The fact that Jen is a climber is evident, but not 'in your face'.

[AllYouCanEat]

I agree. What a well written article both well thought out and equally rounded. I like at the end where she said she would make a donation to the rescue team. Anyone I've known who'd been rescued has done the same. I wonder what percentage of climbers do exactly that compared to, let's say, lost hikers

[chelle]

I don't think that people should be charged for rescues for the same reasons others have stated.

 

Also, the AAC rescue insurance is good but there is a party limit (if more than one member of the rescued party are members) and a lifetime limit. If you have to use it hopefully you won't need it more than twice in your life.

[Lambone]

well I thnk....oh...nevermind

[Doctorb]

Phoned in rescues didn't manage to ruin Layton's epic on Big-4 RIGHT JUSTIN

 

It was only a matter of time...

[Doug]

And the debate rages on.....

 

http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/oregon/stories/NW_121903ORNskierrescueLJ.b984e6ae.html

BEND, Ore. - Mount Bachelor resort officials have fined a 23-year-old skier who skied out of bounds at the resort and had to be rescued by ski patrol more than $4,000 to cover costs.

 

Twenty minutes before the mountain closed shop on Saturday, a ski patroller noticed a fresh pair of tracks that crossed the boundary, but could not see any coming back, said Chris Johnston, the resort's communications manager.

 

The area is clearly signed with warnings that skiers and boarders might be charged for any search and rescue efforts, Johnston said. Less than hour later 13 ski patrollers began a search and Deschutes County

Search and Rescue was placed on standby. By 7:50 p.m., the skier - whose name Mount Bachelor declined to release - was found near Hosmer Lake, Johnston said. Apparently he had crossed the boundary three times that day.

 

On the third time out, he got lost and was in deep snow, Johnston said.

While the stray skier was cold, he was uninjured. Now the skier has to pick up the tab for the search and rescue effort - more than $4,000.

 

That amount, Johnston said, covers the cost of labor for the ski patrol men and women who worked overtime hours trying to locate the lost man; for the use of equipment, including snowmobiles and snow cats; and to pay for damage to a snow cat that occurred during the search.

The man was also cited for theft of services for using someone else's season pass, Johnston said.

Johnston said charging for search and rescue efforts, which is not a new

policy for the mountain, isn't so much of a punitive action as it is a way

to recover the costs of a search operation.

 

According to Johnston, the Saturday incident was the first of two so far

this month. On Wednesday, a 17-year-old also crossed the boundary. The teen's parents will likely foot the bill for that search and rescue effort, about which Johnston had few details.

 

While the mountain charges for search and rescue, the county usually does not, said Deschutes County Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Swearingen.

"I think...that we could, but it's not one of those deals that we do," he

said. "...We don't want people to be discouraged from calling if there is a

problem."

[chris]

I think its important to point out that the SKI PATROL charged for the rescue, not the County SAR. That is also the case at Crystal and Stevens PAss: if the victim's family requests ski patrol assistance in the rescue, they agree to pay the Ski Patrol for their rescue services.

[ken4ord]

Just trying to figure out why some of you feel that rescue services should not be charged? If I am in a serious car accident, it is not like all of the medic charges and ambulance services are free. The way I feel is that if people are putting there lives out on the line to save mine then I am more than willing to pay for that service.

[catbirdseat]

Why? Insurance.

[DPS]

Actually Medic and ambulance services are free, unless it is a private ambulance. Medic One/Fire Dept transports free of charge for life threatening emergencies.

[Thinker]

true. It's a service for the community paid for by our taxes.

[Doug]

true. It's a service for the community paid for by our taxes.

 

True. However, if a volunteer FD, such as Snoqualmie Pass FD, goes out of their jurisdiction (off highway), they can and in some cases will charge you for their services. I've seen a bill sent to someone from SPFD for $1,200.00 for hauling their butt off of the Iron Horse trail.