Heroes Shouldn’t Always Come “Free of Charge”
It’s usually common sense to make sure we’re prepared before embarking on a journey. Most of us wouldn’t go to the corner store for milk in our underwear, and most of us wouldn’t ride a bicycle in the fast lane of a national highway. Yet oddly enough, some people seem to think that it’s okay to embark on a trek while being ill prepared to handle the potential dangers.
Last month an inexperienced and ill-prepared hiker was rescued off the West Coast Trail by a Canadian Forces helicopter. The man was 21 years of age and injured his knee on the 75-kilometer trail. A Cormorant helicopter and crew was then dispatched from the Canadian Forces Base in Comox (on the east side of Vancouver Island), and they spent 5 hours (at approximately $16,000 an hour) on the rescue mission.
Two days later, another Cormorant spent four hours resucing another hiker. I can’t be the only one that thinks the costs involved with the rescues are high enough to warrant at least a partial reimbursement from the rescuee.
The planet is full of trails that have varying degrees of difficulty, offering remarkable vistas and a greater appreciation for the environment we all share. Many people who really enjoy these hikes often have a bit of training (be it formal or informal) to handle different situations that might arise while trekking in the wild, and many have an appreciation for routes that are too difficult for their current experience level. However, it seems that at least three times a week, people who believe their the next Edmund Hillary bite off way more than they can chew and need to call for a rescue.
I understand that “stuff happens”, and that when we’re out climbing a steep incline or scaling a particularily enticing rock-face that we could lose our footing and injure ourselves pretty good. For the people that do need rescue services, I’m glad we have the heroes in place to come to our aid. However, when I read articles in the Vancouver Sun that talk about how five American hikers went into a cordoned off surge channel and had to be rescued for a cost of $40,000+ … I’m left wondering who’s actually paying these bills.
Parks Canada has a $20,000 rescue fund to cover the West Coast Trail for 2007. Park users do not have to post a bond or contribute to rescues. So this means that if one single hiker requires the services of a military helicopter for rescue, the budget for other resuces are pretty much shot.
So far this year, rescue services have been called out for such stupid antics as walking up slippery terrain wearing flip-flops, people venture into the wild wearing little more than swimwear, and others stray several kilometers off the trails while thinking that a cell phone is all the safety equipment they might need. I’m not the most intelligent person in the world (some of my posts on this site can certainly attest to this claim), but even I know that cell phones do not have an unlimited range. When venturing out into mountains or ravines, or other such geological formations, radio frequencies tend to refract to such an extent that mobile phones are pretty much useless.
I’d like to see some of the more unprepared people billed for some of these rescue services. There are plenty of insurance agencies that do offer hiker’s insurance, and this is certainly an option for people who just can’t get enough of the outdoors. I don’t think we could realistically charge someone $16,000 an hour for a rescue attempt, but a 1% fee would make many people think twice before doing something they’re not prepared for. If I happen to be climbing a mountain and injure myself severely enough to warrant an $80,000 rescue, paying an $800 service fee is something I would consider acceptable.
If I wasn’t prepared to shell out that kind of cash, then I’d just stick to the safer trails.
What do you think? Should all rescues be completely free of charge, regardless of how a person arrived in their predicament?