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Mountain rescue safety tips

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vtrdaz:
I agree - they should be sent a bill - but only if they are found to have been negligent in the lack of equipment they have with them/weather they've gone out in etc.
Should a genuine accident be charged for? - I think not - and as far as i know people aren't sent bills from the ambulance service/police/fire after being called out ,  but i stand to be corrected on this.

Should we have compulsory insurance for every pastime people have?

I have other hobbies that include kiteboarding and have a third party liability insurance to cover me for any injuries or damage that i could inflict whilst enjoying this sport , this insurance is not compulsory , but you'd be stupid not to take it out.

Should we all have insurance "just in case" of an accident? - compulsory or not?

Darren

Wolfie:
Charging is a right can of worms that I, for one, don't want opened  [-X

If charging is introduced, it will mean that insurance will be necessary before you go out into the mountains, just look at the number of person hours that even a fairly routine rescue can involve and then consider if you could afford to pay if something happened. Will the insurance companies then be happy with volunteers performing the rescue or will they insist that rescues are conducted by employees of the statutiory body responsivle for land based SAR? Are there enough suitably qualified Police officers to carry out this duty, especially if it also includes the underground rescues? Who would farmers then call on when animals are in need of rescue which is currently undertaken by the volunteer teams?

Would it also lead to similar situations as have occured abroad where the rapid transfer of the patient to hospital was secondary to the arguments between teams as to who would get on the TV coverage carrying the stretcher?

Overall I would much rather it stayed as it is now, with hopefully more education as to the risks of the mountains.

Search and Rescue Framework for theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Cave Rescue Organisation

sleeplessparadise:

--- Quote from: vtrdaz on January 18, 2008, 19:03:19 --- and as far as i know people aren't sent bills from the ambulance service/police/fire after being called out ,  but i stand to be corrected on this.

--- End quote ---

We have been billed twice at least to my knowledge, first time I was 8 months pregnant when some idiot cut us up at a round-a-bout and I had to be taken in for x rays etc.  Second time o/h hit the central reservation on the M1 in a recovery truck, a month later we were billed for the ambulance and for the lamp post he hit. Admittedly the insurance paid out but we were billed.

lee celtic:
Three lads in our old bike club were charged £15 each for an ambulance ride after a crash  :roll: deemed not serious enough for an ambulance by the hospital but the police called it and insisted they went..

vtrdaz:
Surely if you're 8 months pregnant  and in an RTA that constitutes a "neccessary" call out - being billed in that situation is ridiculous - what do we pay our council tax for?

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