[pct-l] Paying for SAR

[Reinhold Metzger]

[pct-l] Paying for SAR
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Precisely Ed,
When people have to pay for a service they will use it only when
needed.
If it is free, some folks will abuse it and use it even if it is
not really needed or they could do it themselves....but if it is
free, why not use it?
That is why Medicare and most insurance plans have co-payments so
people don't call an ambulance to take them to a hospital when
they have a little headache...and call for an ambulance only when
needed.

The same applies to SAR.
If its free people will abuse it and use it even if it is not
really needed.
After all if you have a sprained ankle why hobble on a sore ankle
all day to get out of the wilderness when a helicopter can snatch
you out just like that,....after all it won't cost you anything
because it is free.
I remember a few years back a woman calling SAR to be evacuated
from the PCT by a helicopter because of Rattlesnakes on the trail,
and she was afraid to get of the boulder, on which she climbed to
seek refuge.

SAR should be for emergencies only, not for convenience purposes.
Society will always have to pay for SAR for those who do not have
the financial resources to pay.
However, society should not have to pay for SAR caused by accident
or foolish mistakes by those who have the ability to pay for their
accidents or foolish mistakes.
This would relieve some of the financial strains and allow SAR to
be better equipped and respond more efficiently to emergencies.

JMT Reinhold
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Ned wrote:
Interesting thing is, when we roll out a SAR response at about 1700, set up
an Incident Command by 2000hrs, send in the hasty team within the hour, find
the near-the-trailhead victim by 0100, and get them out by 0300, when we
first contact them almost everyone's first question to us is, "Do I have to
pay anything for you guys?" And if you continue the conversation, they say,
"well, I didn't want to call for help because I thought it would cost a
fortune!"

In backcountry rescue, people do delay a call for help because of a lack of
knowledge about how SAR works...

Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
www.mountaineducation.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Reinhold Metzger
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2013 10:12 AM
To:pct-l at backcountry.net  <http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l>  ; PCT ; Ron Dye
Subject: [pct-l] Paying for SAR

Brick wrote:
I guess if concerned citizens are afraid to call for SAR for fear of
incurring
large costs, and people die because of that fear, then it will be OK with a
sizable minority of the country... they already hold that view for
healthcare.
Do you think it is time to get rid of this commie, liberal un american
free SAR?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Reinhold writes:
Say Brick,
If somebody, in this country, has a medical emergency , would that person
choose to die, rather than call an ambulance, for fear of incurring a large
hospital expense?
Of course not....in this country people do not die in the street for lack of
ability to pay for their medical expenses.

For those with medical insurance the insurance carrier pays the bill.
For those without medical insurance, but with "deep pockets" their own
deep pockets will pay the bill.
For those without medical insurance and without deep enough pockets
to pay for their medical expenses, the government will pay the bill.

As a result, when people have a medical emergency they call an ambulance
rather than die for fear of incurring a large hospital expense.

Why should this not apply to  SAR?

JMT Reinhold