I feel bad for those climbers families, However..

[Nords]

Also, the military uses these rescue missions as training opportunities, providing real world experience to aircrews.

Thanks to the Darwin-Award winning behavior of some of the locals & visitors around here, the military has saved millions on search & rescue training.

So maybe going into that canyon or up on that trail ridge or out onto that stormy ocean is actually reducing the federal deficit!

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

mom was communications officer for the local u.s. coast guard auxilliary. the ol'man was also involved until his health deteriorated and so were many of their friends, all volunteering their time, their boats, their diesel and their dollars. "each year auxiliarists volunteer more than two million hours"~~ http://nws.cgaux.org/

the u.s. coast guard is highly regarded by boaters. it's not as if they are a yacht-towing service though they will call a salvage operation for your boat. their task is to rescue endangered lives, be it the lives of fisherman, of kids in a kayak or drunks on a yacht. and they do an amazing job at that.

to follow that logic, i just wonder how much time & effort poorer mountaineers give back to their rescuers. i just write it all off as good practice for when you really need them. or would you rather have someone less prepared helping you?

 

[glock35ipsc]

I spent 14 years not only as a volunteer firefighter, but with the sheriff's department mountain search and rescue, and water/dive rescue teams. In Colorado, there is a $0.25 "Search and Rescue Fee" added to fishing and hunting licenses, ATV and snowmobile licenses and things of that nature. While is does not directly cover our expenses for operations, we can apply for "grants" from this pool of money for training and equipment. Most all SAR teams in this country are volunteers, normal working Joes who leave their jobs for hours or days on end to conduct the operation.

Also, in Colorado at least, the sheriff of any given county is statutorily responsible for wildland fire suppression and search and rescue operations. Therefore, we have a mountain search and rescue team, and water/dive rescue team, and the sheriff's possee. We are all volunteers, we get a minimal amount of money from the department, and rely solely on donations from the community. We do not receive any tax money. Occasionaly, we will get a donation from the families. Sometimes it can be rather large, other times I wonder why they even...... well, it would be rude to say. I'm sure they had their reasons...

We also frequently used helicopters from the air force base in Cheyenne. As for firefighting operations, our district was tax supported. But wildland fires were usually taken over by the sheriff after 8 hours of active operations. Then it usually became supported by the feds and their money.

The large expenses, like helicopters and the fuel, is either split with the company owning the copter and the sheriff; or if it was the air force, no costs were incurred by us. As for our personal fuel, vehicles, gear, gas, time, salary lost at work, etc.... we covered all that ourselves.