wasted money for rescues

[eric]

I am pretty sure these guys paid taxes and what they were doing wasn't illegal. Why shouldnt they be given the same opportunity to be rescued as the fishermen in the Bearing Strait and the North Sea, or for that matter, on any body of water? That's one of the duties of the Coast Guard.

What if you were hunting up in the mountains or other rough terrain and accidently got shot, would it be a waste of money to send medical treatment to you? After all, what you were doing is just as hobby, probably wasnt necessary for you to hunt in order to feed your family.

If you want to complain about gov't wasting your tax dollars that's fine, but I feel we could cut out alot of things before we cut out the search and rescue missions designed to save human lives.

 

[warpaint]

Qoute:And truth be told, handling livestock can be hazardous. I wonder how many accidents there are per capita for farmers vs. climbers. Sometimes, even the best prepared can have an accident.

My insurance would handle fees,(hopefully) if I get hurt handling my stock. Taxpayers don't.

 

[Dave]

First I agree with Bobg. To try to climb the toughest route up Hood when the weather forecast has storms lined up one after another in the north Pacific headed this way is insanity. But after that most of the people involved in the search were volunteers. Heck, these climber probably volunteered to help others in the past. The more experienced hard core climbers do that. There are lots of these rescues that happen that you never hear about it is just that the press decided to pick up on this case.
The other guy who died but they found his family was a case of a city boy in some very remote back country. He used a computer to find a direct route that didn't tell him not to go there this time of year. Then he made some fatal mistakes because he lacked the experience to navigate this type of country. It is a sad case but there are parts of the world which aren't forgiving to the foolish.
Dave

 

[cowspider]

They found one of the climbers died - still looking for the other two.

 

[Rustler9]

Not as big a waste as "space exploration"!

Dun, I couldn't agree with you more. I was just wondering if I'm the only person losing sleep over whether there's water on Mars or not?? :roll:

 

[eric]

They found one of the climbers died - still looking for the other two.

I don't see any sort of a happy ending coming out of this story.

Being in Dallas, which is where 2 of the men were from, we are getting quite a bit of information about the men, since it is an above the fold / front page story in the paper down here.

These guys were'nt just 2 run-of-the-mill weekend warrior type guys out to get their jollies on. The man whose body has been recovered was a very experienced climber, who has climbed mts on 3 different continents and has cimbed Mt. McKinnley, the highest point in America, over 2 dozen times over the years. They were expecting to find quite a bit of ice, but they probably got into more than they've ever encountered before. From what the son says, whom the dad contacted by phone, it appeared that the dad somehow received an injury of some sort and was unable to make it down after all 3 reaching the summit. Rather than climb back down the same way they went up, which was the back side of the mountain, the other 2 climbers apparantly decided it would be quicker and safer to climb down the other side of the mountain in order to find help quicker for their friend.
By the way, while this isn't the ideal time of yr to be climbing, noone predicted the colossal snow storms and 115+ mph winds that came in last week. They knew the weather was gonna turn for the worse the following week, which is why they planned their climb for the previous weekend, in order to be off the mountain at least 2 days before the bad weather was to set in. They just didnt plan for one of their buds to get injured on the trip.

Another thought.....if you knew you were in dier circumstances and there was a possibility you may not make it through, would you call your loved ones? And if a friend/family member called you under those same circumstances, how would you feel about the call?

 

[dun]

Not as big a waste as "space exploration"!

Dun, I couldn't agree with you more. I was just wondering if I'm the only person losing sleep over whether there's water on Mars or not?? :roll:

What bugs me is people that have spent their entire working(?) life trying to find intelligent life outside of our solar system. We don;t even have enough intelligent life on earth so what's the point?

dun

 

[Dave]

Eric,

Everyone was predicting the weather we got the last two weeks. All you had to do was look at the satilite pictures on the news and you could see the storms lined up ready to come in. Anyone who knows anything about northwest weather could have predicted these storms. I just read today where two are from Dallas and the other from New York. Want to bet they had this time picked to climb so they showed up and climbed.

Dave

 

[rkm]

I don't see anything wrong with space exploration, we had to find somewhere to store all that excess butter and cheese. :idea: :idea: 8)

 

[Wewild]

Not as big a waste as "space exploration"!

Dun, I couldn't agree with you more. I was just wondering if I'm the only person losing sleep over whether there's water on Mars or not?? :roll:

What bugs me is people that have spent their entire working(?) life trying to find intelligent life outside of our solar system. We don;t even have enough intelligent life on earth so what's the point?

dun

We got alot from the space program.

http://space.about.com/od/toolsequipmen ... inoffs.htm


edit add

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/spinoffs2.shtml

 

[Ryder]

Not as big a waste as "space exploration"!

Dun, I couldn't agree with you more. I was just wondering if I'm the only person losing sleep over whether there's water on Mars or not?? :roll:

I think space exploration is a great thing, if you can afford it.
We have gone from being the richest nation to being the largest debtor nation in the world. With our national debt, I question whether or not we can afford it.

 

[Mahoney Pursley Ranch]

Just curious if any one feels like me on this issue.... Just wonder how many millions of dollars have beeen wasted on trying to rescue those clowns on Mt Hood.... Of course they are not the only ones that the goverment has had to waste money on.... Seems like one of our brain fart politicians would come up with the idea of these folks buying some sort of rescue insurance.... You want to go take part in a risky sport, then be willing to pay the freight if something goes wrong.... People shouldnt have to risk their lives to rescue folks that have engaged in a sport that can become deadly...Ok my rant is over, how do the rest of you feel about it.

Peace on earth good will toward man, not from this guy.

 

[Wewild]

This weekend a young man lost his life after a fight at a bar in town. A firefighter who happens to be a paramedic in another county started an IV on the youngster who eventually passed.

One person dead.
One person charged with murder.
One person is open for a whole bunch of trouble because he tried to save a life while not officially performing in the capacity in which he is certified in this county.

The last guy is a hero. The other two could have gone up Mt. Hood. The hero would probably go after them.

 

[Alice]

This weekend a young man lost his life after a fight at a bar in town. A firefighter who happens to be a paramedic in another county started an IV on the youngster who eventually passed.

One person dead.
One person charged with murder.
One person is open for a whole bunch of trouble because he tried to save a life while not officially performing in the capacity in which he is certified.

The last guy is a hero. The other two could have gone up Mt. Hood. The hero would probably go after them.

As you've presented this, Wewild...all I can say is...that's just plain wrong. Blasted lawyers chasing ambulances and a guy who could not do anything other than what his conscience and training dictated is in trouble. I'm with Shakespeare...first, kill the lawyers.

Alice

 

[backhoeboogie]

This weekend a young man lost his life after a fight at a bar in town. A firefighter who happens to be a paramedic in another county started an IV on the youngster who eventually passed.

One person dead.
One person charged with murder.
One person is open for a whole bunch of trouble because he tried to save a life while not officially performing in the capacity in which he is certified.

The last guy is a hero. The other two could have gone up Mt. Hood. The hero would probably go after them.

As you've presented this, Wewild...all I can say is...that's just plain wrong. Blasted lawyers chasing ambulances and a guy who could not do anything other than what his conscience and training dictated is in trouble. I'm with Shakespeare...first, kill the lawyers.

Alice

If it were my child the man tried to save, I'd be thanking him. I couldn't think of legal action etc. What if the kid would have lived? The kid would be indebted to him forever. It is no different than being a citizen and stomping out a fire on the side of the road, even tho you're not a certified firefighter, IMHO.

The climbers were experienced indeed but even the best can get themselves in trouble doing extreme activities. I don't believe this was the time for them to go up that mountain.

 

[Wewild]

As you've presented this,
Alice

You can't place a value on life. There are stupid people everywhere. Some grow up some don't. Some die young some go to jail.

My tax dollars go to this and it's ok. I've got other items I'd like to cut out of my budget first.

 

[Wewild]

If it were my child the man tried to save, I'd be thanking him.

I don't think his boss will. You got to be a paramedic, which he was in another county, to give an IV.

 

[MillIronQH]

S&R is a two edged knife. I was a tracker for Rim Country S&R in the late eighties. We did a lot of searches especially during the summer. 90% of the time it was some idjit that had wandered away from their friends or family. About half the time by the time we got the call mobilized and got to the base camp the fool had either wandered into camp or onto a road and was safe. Nothing like hooking up the trailer loading your equipment and saddle horse and driving thru the rim country 50 miles at speeds that would have seen anyone else hauled to jail get there and be told to go home. Then there are the three and four day searches. They seldom turn out good. Especially if there are kids involved. I was on the King rescue south of Flag. Twenty five units from three states searching a week for a 12 year old kidnap victim. We didn't ever find her. Hikers did nearly four months later. Another kidnapping near Globe got better results.

The problem with not going is that somebody is going to. It's better if it's trained people that know what they're doing rather then a bunch of town people types that are family or friends and don't have a clue about what they are doing or the equipment do do it with. We had to hunt a couple of that bunch after the original person was safe and sound.Z

 

[1848]

There is no price on the human soul...even when the souls are ignorant and careless. Why do we limit ourselves by how much money we are willing to spend. Man invented the system of money.....we should be willing to sacrifice it when it comes to insuring our obligation of commom descency and looking out for the welfare of others...isn't that why we fight wars no matter what the cost?

 

[Alice]

As you've presented this,
Alice

You can't place a value on life. There are stupid people everywhere. Some grow up some don't. Some die young some go to jail.

My tax dollars go to this and it's ok. I've got other items I'd like to cut out of my budget first.

My sentiments exactly, Wewild.

Alice