Woman, two children rescued from Mt. Cardigan

[Neil]

Many of the comments showed a good deal of concern about money. For every hypothetical dollar recovered by charging for the rescue how many tourist dollars would be lost due to the ensuing publicity?

 

[giggy]

"Yet another stupid group from Mass."

I have said this before - but the same tool that thinks folks from MA can't deal with the woods and snow or whatever - are the same tools that ***** their pants when walking down a Boston street when the sun goes down.... on their annual family vacation to boston...

 

[Tobit]

the same tools that ***** their pants when walking down a Boston street when the sun goes down....

*****, the fun is just beginning when the sun goes down in Boston.

 

[Mike P.]

Plenty of tourist $ spent in NH & Boston, we don't rescue tourist in CT because we don't have any, well the casinos do but they have their own security & in this economy, they aren't as busy.

I also read the useless leader comments & almost posted something, I must be sick, it's twice today I took the high road.

Health insurance BTW is high because it already does fund for health services provided to the uninsured. They just don't have an uninsured name attached to it like uninsured motorist insurance. (Insurance I pay to reimburse me, if someone driving without insurance hits me.) They do have climbing insurance in other parts of the world.

We should be thanking fisherman & hunters for funding SAR, even if some of the hikers who use it reimburse some of the cost.

 

[RoySwkr]

The John Q. Public commenters on those news websites seem to always rant about the huge monetary expense and insist that the rescued party be charged for their rescue. Personally, if I ever needed to be rescued, I'd be writing out a check to whatever organization came to help me. I would like to think that most people view it the same way.

Someone I know collapsed while camping on an island in the Adk, they were retrieved by boat by the local rescue squad and driven to a faraway city hospital where they spent a couple nights. The ambulance ride was paid by Medicare at a reduced rate, but they also made a [tax-deductable] contribution direct to the squad.

Many of the comments showed a good deal of concern about money. For every hypothetical dollar recovered by charging for the rescue how many tourist dollars would be lost due to the ensuing publicity?

The issue is that rescues are paid for by hunting/fishing license fees while rooms and meals tax revenue goes to the general fund and attempts to divert some to rescue always fails. Many hunters don't like tourists whom they see as trying to eliminate their sport, and wish they'd all stay home.

Carelessness is not limited to MA residents but due to that state's large population they are involved in a lot of rescues. Many advocacy groups with offices in MA also advocate reduced hunting and logging, so It is only to be expected that the often blue-collar types in NH who buy hunting licenses resent having to pay to rescue "flatlanders". I think urban AMC members would be surprised at the distaste for their organization in much of rural NH which appears in some of the Union Leader comments.

It is a hot topic in NH now to eliminate the requirement that members of the Fish and Game Commission hold hunting licenses, since most wildlife viewers are not hunters and very little is done to specifically accommodate their recreation. But with the state budget as it is, there is little chance of general fund money being given to F&G and as long as
the hunters pay for the department they want to run it their way.

 

[MadRiver]

Aside from purchasing a hunting and fishing license, is there any other way to add to the coffers of the F&G short of a direct donation.

 

[SAR-EMT40]

Someone I know collapsed while camping on an island in the Adk, they were retrieved by boat by the local rescue squad and driven to a faraway city hospital where they spent a couple nights. The ambulance ride was paid by Medicare at a reduced rate, but they also made a [tax-deductable] contribution direct to the squad.

Ambulance rides, and who pays, can get complicated. That person obviously had to be already on medicaid for some reason. Most people don't realize that an ambulance ride gets paid for by your car insurance if you are taking it because of a car accident. Otherwise your health insurance pays for it in most cases. Private insurance, medicare or medicaid depending on the circumstances. We eat a lot of the cost many times because there are so many people that don't have insurance. And by that I mean of course that all the town residents wind up picking up the tab. There is no free lunch - ever.

I use to remember the billing cost. It was like $300 for BLS and $700 for ALS but that was a while ago. The fees we can charge are set by the state I believe. And as always, what we charge and what the insurance and government will pay are entirely different many time also.


Just more fun facts.
Keith

 

[mookie]

unfortunately its the people who dont have insurance who have to pay the most. The amount that medicaid pays is almost laughable. Medicare pays more but only 80%, after that its up to your secondary insurance (if you have any) or your on your own.
Automobile insurance will cover your Ambulance transport, but you can request to submit it to your health insurance if you prefer.
fun stuff.

 

[griffin]

Aside from purchasing a hunting and fishing license, is there any other way to add to the coffers of the F&G short of a direct donation.

I suppose you could always buy a license by way of "donating."

 

[Andrew]

As a NJ resident and one who has never hiked (although I've skied them alot) the Whites (I'm an ADK guy)-it's amazing the amount of venom that is spewed forth towards people who get lost and need help. As an impartial observer I can certainly understand both sides of the "pay if you screw up" debate. But as someone w/ old and dear friends living in North Conway (He actually worked the Cog for many years), I kid them often that all this gives alot of people the wrong impression of NH natives.

They don't call us "Cranky Yankees" for nuthin.

 

[Skyclimber]

Note some of the interesting comments after the article:

The comments after the article were mostly all pathetic and garbage, as far as I am concerned. All they were worried about was the money and not saving the lives of other people. To think just because the hikers were from another State, others thought, the hikers were less credible to have a Search and Rescue is BS. They are still human and the woman should be applauded for taking her children hiking. I'm sure she didn't plan on becoming disoriented and spending the night in the Mountains. Thank Goodness they found the shelter of the camper.

I don't feel she should have to pay for the Search and Rescue either, afterall the Search and Rescue Teams are Volunteers.

 

[grouseking]

Note some of the interesting comments after the article:

Comments on these pages cannot be taken seriously. If you've seen the comments on youtube, you know what I'm talking about.

As for the rescue... She took a wrong turn, but the rescue was successful. No need in doing the "what if" game. Everyone was found, and is ok. Horray!

grouseking

 

[Stan]

Comments on these pages cannot be taken seriously. If you've seen the comments on youtube, you know what I'm talking about.

Kind of scary how the little minds of some people work, isn't it.

There was a time when I felt strongly about search and rescue being a noble humanitarian undertaking which should be free, no matter the circumstances and no mater the status of the rescuers, paid or voluntary. This attitude was reinforced by my professional Coast Guard SAR experience many years ago.

I've changed my mind over the years based upon the observation of two trends. One is the absurdity of some of the situations people get themselves into. Anyone can get lost or injured through no particular fault of their own but to get lost or injured because of the lack of preparation or development of necessary skills commensurate with the activity is irresponsible. Perhaps it's just the drama of the cases I read about but there appears to be a growing proportion of the latter, whether at land or on the sea.

This leads to the second trend, the displacement of responsibility by a sense of entitlement among significant numbers of people. Sort of a, "no need to take care of myself, 'they' will take care of me." "They" being the new God, Government.

It is to offset these trends that I have come strongly to support reimbursement of SAR efforts as determined by the professionals who undertake them.

... and until I read it in Mohamed's accident reports, I'm never confident of getting the whole story.

Semper Paratus everyone.

 

[RoySwkr]

There was a time when I felt strongly about search and rescue being a noble humanitarian undertaking which should be free, no matter the circumstances and no mater the status of the rescuers, paid or voluntary. This attitude was reinforced by my professional Coast Guard SAR experience many years ago.

The Coast Guard has changed its mind too. Now if you run out of gas or your engine dies in good weather, they'll tell you to call a commercial tow service.

It used to be that people thought of camping as free, roadside or backcountry, now it's mostly illegal or expensive.

As my mother says, "If it's raining and you call a taxi instead of walking, you expect to pay for it." If they called rescue expense a "convenience fee" for not being prepared instead of a "fine", people might not be so resistant to paying it.

Anyone not familiar with the trails at Cardigan might want to look at a map - the woman did not just make a wrong turn, she was a long ways away and in substantially different terrain from where the cabin was. It would have been wise for her to stay with somebody with better hiking skills. These people could have avoided the callout in any of a number of ways: staying together, GPS-enabled radios, the second group being careful to follow the first group's tracks.

I remember a case a few years ago when 2 men and their teenaged sons tried to ski from Pillsbury to Sunapee and got caught by dark, so they built a fire and bivouacked. One guy's wife got nervous when they didn't come home that night and called F&G who found them and made them leave their fire and walk out. The second guy said his wife trusted his outdoor skills and had just figured he was OK.