[pct-l] Who pays for SAR

[Donna Saufley]

Shepherd wrote:

"The most impotent tool you have out there is between you[r] ears."  

What a funny typo.  

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Amanda L Silvestri
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2009 8:46 PM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] Who pays for SAR

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
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