[pct-l] Who pays for SAR

[Amanda L Silvestri]

Here is a thought and a story.  What if someone other that SAR comes and gets you? 
 
A few years back, when I knew a bit less than I do now, I did a very foolish thing.  On a whim, I changed my plans and decided to descend Black Mountain to Snow Creek.  I had camped out atop the mountain the night before and had originally planed to hike down and back a short distance the following day.  Well, the moon was full and the altitude high and I had trouble sleeping.  So I got up early, about 4AM to do my hike.  I reached my return point before dawn.  
 
The early morning had been cool and I was feeling good and wanted to get this section done somehow, even thought I was not a through or even a section hiker at the time.  I was just adding day hikes together along the trail.  That summer I had been volunteering as a Wilderness Ranger and had elected to patrol some of this trail on Black mountain.  Well, as I said, it was still cool before dawn, so I decided that I could hike the whole thing and then hitch hike back when I was done.  So off I went.
 
Things were fine until around 10AM when the temp got to be over 100 degrees.  I came to the spring, but having heard more about bad water than good and not having a filter with me, I decided not to drink any, I only rinsed off and soaked my bandanna and tied it around my neck.  Big Mistake!
 
Hours latter I was nearing the bottom that seemed to never come as those long switchbacks kept going back and forth forever.  I had been moving fast, trying to get down quickly, but was soon hoping from bolder to bolder trying to stay as cool as I could in the limited shade that thy provided.  I was out of water and I latter learned that it was 115 degrees!  
 
The heat was like a club beating me down.  Every time I exposed myself to it, I felt like I barley made it to the next shadow.  I finely found a large rock slab that I could crawl under and try to cool down.  I had a bad head ache, I could no longer generate any spit.  I was dizzy and nauseous.  Thinking clearly was becoming difficult.  I had been out of water for a while by then.
 
After spending some time in the shade, I was not feeling any better.  I tried to walk some more but the sun drove me back under the rock.  It hurt at that point to expose myself to the sun, even with a hat.  I was stuck.  I used my Forest Service radio and called for help.  All I wanted was another ranger to bring me some water and to give me a ride back up the mountain.
 
A small airplane was dispatched to locate me.  I had a compact disk in my pack that I used  as a signal mirror.  Even though I was in radio contact with the plain, it took them a number of passes to spot me.  A ranger then appeared with water and Gatorade.  He told me to remain under the rock, in the shade.  I drank two bottles of worm Gatorade and a litter of water.
 
The ranger had decided that I was in no condition to walk out and had radioed for the Fire Department to assist.  When they arrived, they gave me more liquids, these were cold.  They also placed cold packs behind my knees and in my arm pits to help cool my blood.  Deciding that the trail was too narrow and long to carry me out, they called for a helicopter.
 
The helicopter could not land, so it hovered with one skid on a boulder while the firemen lifted a stretcher (in which I had been strapped) up and into the helicopter that then took off and landed on the valley floor.  I was then transferred into a civilian ambulance and transported to the Palm Springs Hospital for IV solutions and several hours rest in the air conditioning and more liquids.  I was diagnosed with heat exhaustion and released at about 10PM that evening to a representative of the Forest Service who drove me to a motel in the town of Banning where I spent the night.  I got a ride to my car the next day.
 
Okay, what I did was stupid and I learned a lot from the experience.  But who pays for all that?  There was no charge for Forest Service Ranger, the Fire Department, the airplane or the helicopter.  But the ambulance and the hospital did bill me.  The ambulance was very quick about it and my health insurance paid them off right away.  
 
The hospital was much slower.  By the time I got the bill, my insurance refused to pay it.  I was triangulated between the hospital who wanted several thousand dollars and my insurance who said too late and too bad.  The hospital harassed me for months.  Finely, my insurance got the hospital to leave me alone, but I was concerned there for a time that I was going to have to pay for a hospital visit that I did not want to make in the first place (although I now admit that it was a good idea that I was treated there).
 
So, if you are going to be stupid, like I was, and go off half-cocked an unprepared to take care of yourself, be prepared to maybe have to pay some of the bills.  I was lucky and paid nothing in the end, but only because of my insurance.  If you don't have health insurance, or have a sizable deductible, you may have to pay out of pocket. 
 
Better yet, be prepared, make a plan and stick to it.  Check the weather forecast.  Let others know where you are going and when you expect to arrive and by what route you will be traveling.  Have enough water, clothing and the ten essentials.  
 
The most impotent tool you have out there is between you ears.  Learn how to use it and use it often and well.
 
Shepherd