[pct-l] Fw: SAR California

[Shutterbug steiner]

I have volunteered for San Bernardino County SAR for the past few years so maybe I can shed some light on the protocol, complex system and who pays for the rescue.  It always is a victory when someone is found alive ........ 

Every county in California has a mandate to have a SAR organization ..... all of the counties that I know run theirs through the county Sheriff department.   SAR is almost complete volunteer organization outside of our direct liasons with the sheriff department and aviation..  That means that most take off work and are away from families and do not receive a monetary compensation nor would most accept. 

So in my county when a wilderness emergency is called into 911 it is routed to the Sheriff department.  This is then routed to a department called Volunteer Forces which always has
 someone on call.  They then in turn will call/page/text the commander of the closest trained team - or a chain of command if that person is away..  The page/text/call then goes out to the team.  The fastest our team has been able to respond and on the scene is just under an hour
 ---- this was a very local call out near the sheriff station..  San Bernardino County has a very high reputation with dozens of teams from a very populated area.  When you are talking about the Sierra's ---- the wilderness is much deeper and the population base is much smaller.   After usually 12 hours a mutual aid is called and the rest of the county teams or surrounding counties teams are called.  So in this situation ...... the process was probably in motion as they were evaluating the severity of the emergency and the resources available.

As for WHO PAYS.  In California NO ONE PAYS directly --- and this seems to be the tradition..  There is boviously a cost and tax payers cover the cost and it is based upon the residency of the subjects.  If a San Bernardino resident is in a emergecy then SB county pays ........ if someone from out of county but still resides in California then that persons county
 pays the bill.  If a non-California resident is in an emergency than the county where the emergecy occurs pays the bill.

The first few hours of any emergency seems like chaos but really many things are getting into place and evolving as more information is gathered,  To the family and friends of the subject or on a LIST like this .... not all the information is public and the system is organized but complex.  Glad to hear that censored self rescued ..... that is always a happy ending.
Shutterbugg
--- On Thu, 6/4/09, Tortoise <Tortoise73 at charter.net> wrote:

From: Tortoise <Tortoise73 at charter.net>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] who pays? - was:Search for Censored
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 2:43 PM

Who pays for S&R?

As others have
 posted
 S&R is mostly (entirely) a volunteer and 
self-supported organization.

Every year I go to the local county fair and our local S&R is there with 
a demonstration and some sort of a raffle or whatever.
I always just make a nice contribution, "just in case".
And while this is probably not the S&R this will save my A$$, I think I 
am contributing to all the searches and rescues and recoveries of these 
groups.

So I encourage you all the next time you see a S&R fund raiser, put some 
dollars in.
The butt you save may be yours.

Tortoise

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."

--H. L. Mencken

<> He who finishes last, wins! <>



Mark Liechty wrote:
> An hour ago there were messages about where Search and rescue was.    
> Assuming any resources were deployed who is going to pay the bill? 
    
> Seems very unfair that we can head off on the trail and then demand 
> services on a whim without being responsible for the costs.
>
> Not saying who is on the hook but someone has to pay.   Not sure that 
> someone should be my parents who are having their benefits and pay cut 
> and taxes raised.   If we don't pay out of pocket for these things then 
> we ARE demanding others pay for our mistakes.
>
> Assume getting off the trail and calling 911 =  mistake.
>
> And, yes, I am very glad everyone was safe as this is the perfect 
> scenario to discuss who pays for the mistake.  The hikers or my mom.
>
> Mark "Blankie" Liechty
> mlaccs @ mlaccs . com
>
>
>
> Postholer wrote:
>   
>> Yep, she found her way back to the trail! Map:
>> http://tinyurl.com/qksqv9
>>
>>
>>   
>>     
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-l mailing list
> Pct-l at backcountry.net
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>
>   
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