Re: You Got Lost and Had to Be Rescued. Should You Pay?

You Got Lost and Had to Be Rescued. Should You Pay?
New York Times
Oct. 6, 2021
By Claire Fahy

The coronavirus pandemic sent a surge of inexperienced hikers into the wilderness. Many ran into trouble. Now states are looking to bill them for costly search and rescue operations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/06/us/rescue-hikers-cost.html?action=click&algo=bandit-all-surfaces_impression_cut_3&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=728817541&impression_id=416327a4-2710-11ec-86d1-c9b032843829&index=2&pgtype=Article&pool=pool%2Fe76d7165-92f7-4bd2-bc6e-298322d3680a&region=footer&req_id=460287912&surface=eos-home-featured&variant=3_bandit-all-surfaces_impression_cut_3

You pay for an ambulance, whether someone ran into you while you were standing on the sidewalk or you broke your leg jumping off the roof trying imitate superman.
You pay for a plumber, whether you broke the pipe yourself it just corroded over time.
You pay for a carpenter to rebuild your house, whether it was struck by lightning or you burned it down yourself.
You pay for an electrician, regardless of the reason you need the electrical work.
You pay for a lawyer to defend you in a civil suit or a criminal prosecution, even if you win.
You pay for an MD to see you, regardless of the reason you need to see that person.
You pay for an expert to give you advice about whatever topic you need that expert's advice.
You pay for a tow truck, whether you're stuck b/c your battery died or you crashed into a pole b/c you were texting while driving.

Why should SAR in the wilderness be any different? You went into the woods, you got lost, someone had to spend time to get you out. They could have been using that time to do something besides saving some sap who got lost. They may have had to employ special equipment that cost them money to purchase.

If you have insurance, it may cover part or even most of the cost incurred; if the civil lawsuit against you was egregious, you may be able to get the court to award your lawyer's fees. But what makes you so special that you shouldn't have to pay for someone else's time, expertise and investment in tools to get you out of the mess you got yourself into?

I know that in many places people volunteer to do SAR. Nevertheless, whenever I travel to the USA, I buy insurance to cover me while there, and if I know I'll be hiking in the wilderness, I add a few bucks to cover SAR. Should I need rescuing, I don't expect someone to do it for free.

I understand the sentiments here--but the main arguments AGAINST charging for SAR is that if people know they are going to be out a lot of money, they may not call and ask for help. And then what starts as a possible life-saving SAR may turn into a more difficult and ugly body recovery, or a SAR under even more difficult circumstances.

And while the Geezer's post does raise some good points...

You pay for an ambulance, whether someone ran into you while you were standing on the sidewalk or you broke your leg jumping off the roof trying imitate superman--not if it is someone else's fault. They (or their insurance) pay for it. And 911 responses do not charge for services--at least they didn't the one time I needed it.

You pay for a plumber, whether you broke the pipe yourself it just corroded over time. Agreed--but some of those repairs can wait 12 hours...or until normal working hours.
You pay for a carpenter to rebuild your house, whether it was struck by lightning or you burned it down yourself.--agreed, understand that most lenders require insurance to cover this.
You pay for an electrician, regardless of the reason you need the electrical work. Agreed--but some of those repairs can wait 12 hours...or until normal working hours.
You pay for a lawyer to defend you in a civil suit or a criminal prosecution, even if you win. Very much depends on the scenario...and you can be reimbursed for legal costs in some suits.
You pay for an MD to see you, regardless of the reason you need to see that person. --But emergency services are free to those who can't afford them. Should we do the same with SAR, only charge those who can afford to pay?
You pay for an expert to give you advice about whatever topic you need that expert's advice.-- As someone who is an expert, I would say that this is rarely an emergency. It is very definitely optional!
You pay for a tow truck, whether you're stuck b/c your battery died or you crashed into a pole b/c you were texting while driving. Not always. Some people leave the car there and walk away....sadly

I agree that it would be an interesting development to require SAR insurance before you take a hike. But would that only include backpacking, or even day-hikes. Sadly, most of the SARs I read about are people taking day-hikes, often on heavily used trails near urban environments. No possible way to enforce that. So let me add another way of looking at this:

As a society, we have agreed that some services should be available to all, whether or not you can afford them, because these services are part of a larger sense of community.

You don't pay for the police to respond when you report an emergency, a crime, or need help.
You don't pay for the fire department to respond when you house catches fire.
You don't pay for 911 or EMT's services when you need them.
You receive federal disaster assistance when you are affected by large events such as floods and forest fires.

I think in many people's eyes, these are more likely correlations to needing a SAR...

By the way, an interesting way to look at insurance is that it is a tax on the less wealthy. Truly large organizations and individuals generally self-insure. Insurances companies have to turn a profit, so they obviously charge more than they pay out. And if you are wealthy enough, you can choose to do the same--save your premium payments, and only pay out when necessary. You will save money this way.

But for most of us, that's not an option, because we can't take the potentially large hit. So we pay, year after year, and the vast majority of us never see that money again.

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Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

Somewhat off topic but I had to go in an ambulance a few years ago and the 7-minute ride cost me $4000. We have a high-deductible insurance so I had to pay for it. Though if it wasn't that, the $24k ER bill would have max'd our deductible. The ambulance ride also showed up as out of network, but after discussions with the insurance company, they consider it in-network. Ambulance rates are negotiated with the county and in the bay area, most are in the $4k range except for municipalities that run it themselves. You don't get a choice who you get when you call 911.

I will think twice next time before calling 911.

Also, this took a while and the ambulance company AMR was terrible and kept sending me collection-agency type letters. It took nearly a year to resolve all the bills and insurances issues related to it.