Rescue Insurance for Backpackers

Thanks Rex… some very good information…

You have done a good service for the BPL community…

Billy

This article was updated today to fix some problems.

— Rex

There is a ton of helpful information in this article, thanks for sharing!

Good job Rex. Interesting subject.

HI folkes,

a good option to get a cheap but ggod insurance for alpine hikes etc is
becoming a member of the DAV(Deutscher Alpenverein) which is the German Alpine Club.

The insurance is included in the membership fee which ususally runs around 50€.

It covers SAR costs up to 25.000 € … details (also in German) can be found here:
http://www.alpenverein.de/aktuelles-info/versicherungen/bergungskosten-unfall-bergunfall-versicherung_aid_10256.html

BTW…the insurance is valid world wide.

Cheers

Carsten

Ditto for the Austrian Alpine club OAV.
Sue and I are members.
I think the same applies to quite a few other European XXX Alpine Clubs.

Cheers

Good article Rex, thanks for taking the time to gather the info.

I live in California, and can only really speak for this state. But you hit the nail on the head for our state, which is that the private ambulance costs and hospital bills are all you will be expected to pay, unless you were committing legal violations, which led to the rescue. CalEMA (now changed back to California OES) coordinates SAR for the state, but local Sheriff’s Offices for the most part form the majority of SAR efforts, along with a few private organizations and federal agencies. I’ve been on SAR for 15 years, part of which was as a coordinator for our team and leader of our technical rescue team. We have never billed a SAR victim. Ambulances, on the other hand, are not cheap.

If an air ambulance is required, like you said in your article, it will be selected by the Ops Manager or IC, not the patient/ victim. But one thing to keep in mind is that CHP helos have a paramedic/officer on board, and are completely free. Coast Guard have an EMT-I, and are free, and CSAR helicopters (like the 129th out of Moffett Field), have a paramedic (pararescue jumpers), and are free. So there are a lot of free helicopters out there for rescue that do not cost the patient a penny. The downside is that availability/ protocols/ response times/ nature of injury will determine who responds, not free vs. costly.

A photo just for fun, of me and my K9 partner practicing “hot-loading” in a CHP A-Star helicopter at SAREX 2013. The only time I’ve been in a helicopter on an actual rescue is when I was hoisted up in a basket into a Coast Guard HH65, but that is a long story and involved a “recovery”, not a rescue.

…

AAC members in good standing are automatically enrolled in both a $5,000 Trailhead Rescue membership with Global Rescue, and a $5,000 Domestic Rescue Insurance Policy. The two services combined provide up to $10,000 in Rescue Services to all members

Regular – $80
Age 29-65.

https://www.americanalpineclub.org/

AAC members in good standing are automatically enrolled in both a $5,000 Trailhead Rescue membership with Global Rescue, and a $5,000 Domestic Rescue Insurance Policy. The two services combined provide up to $10,000 in Rescue Services to all members

True… but I seem to recall that you have to be 200 miles from your home to collect on one or both of those coverages…

I also am a AAC member… mostly for the insurance…

Billy

Roger wrote: However if there was no medical injury (example: lost trail with no heart attack, or broken bones or hypothermia treatment) then the county emergency services will send a bill, and collection agency will put a lien on assets (car, home.)

Do you have any references for that? I have found nothing on those counties charging for rescues. Both Riverside and San Bernardino Sheriff's Departments did not reply to my email asking, in part:

I want your help discovering which rescue costs are billed to the person being rescued, and how much a "typical" rescue costs …

I'm trying to track down all the exceptions to the "no charge for rescue" rule in USA.

Thanks.

— Rex

Be sure to read all the AAC rescue assistance and insurance terms and conditions, which they have carefully buried in several linked web pages.

Also note that your biggest rescue bill in USA is likely to be for a helicopter. $5,000 or $10,000 won’t go very far at $1,200 per hour for searches, or $16,000+ take-off charges for ambulance helicopters.

— Rex

"Roger wrote: However if there was no medical injury (example: lost trail with no heart attack, or broken bones or hypothermia treatment) then the county emergency services will send a bill, and collection agency will put a lien on assets (car, home.)

Do you have any references for that? I have found nothing on those counties charging for rescues. Both Riverside and San Bernardino Sheriff's Departments did not reply to my email asking, in part:…"

I was going to ask him the same thing Rex. I would be surprised if it were true. One of the coordinators on our team was previously on San Bernardino County SAR, and her father has been there for many years. I've written her with this question and I'm waiting to hear back.

Rex: "Also note that your biggest rescue bill in USA is likely to be for a helicopter. $5,000 or $10,000 won't go very far at $1,200 per hour for searches, or $16,000+ take-off charges for ambulance helicopters."

But if you have a PLB the search time should be very little.
And if you have medical insurance they may cover the helicopter ambulance.

I have all 3, AAC membership, PLB, and medical insurance (though I don't know for sure whey they will cover)

Billy

"I have all 3, AAC membership, PLB, and medical insurance (though I don't know for sure what they will cover)"

Hey Billy – I've got a bridge for sale ….

Oh Greg… how much you selling that bridge for?

BTW Greg… that bridge you have for sale… you shoulda posted that in the Gear Swap section, not here… :)

thanks,

Billy

…

Ah, that makes more sense now Roger. I think it means something a little different than how you took it. For non-medical rescues the costs are billed to the county of residency for the missing person. Otherwise, as you said, places like San Bernardino, Yosemite and surrounding areas, etc., would go bankrupt. San Bernardino has a small air force of vehicles (hahaha), so if the county absorbed all the costs it would be a nightmare.

But the billing is not to the missing person, but to the county itself, where they came from. We had a wealthy family (winery owners) go missing in the Sierras and our county was billed, not the county where they went missing. The family themselves were not billed, but made a generous donation to our SAR team. This is just one example I can think of off the top of my head, but it illustrates my point. I'm not aware of any agency in California that bills the missing person for non-medical rescue costs. In fact, I don't believe it would be legal to do so. Remember, search is a law enforcement function, which is why it falls under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff and not the fire department. Privatized EMS can obviously charge patients for medical care, but law enforcement is mandated to be accessible to all for no cost (aside from taxes…there is actually an exception to this but it goes beyond the scope of this topic).

Like we mentioned, another huge exception to that rule would be if the missing person was convicted of a criminal offence, such as trespassing, etc. Then all bets are off, and restitution fees can be ordered by the court.

…

"In some legal cases, the person phoning 9-1-1 gets billed for the hospital helicopter rescue, and not the injured person being evacuated. weirdness of punishing the good Samaritan by-stander. it happens."

No slight intended to you Roger, but I really doubt that is the case.
How could they charge an bystander for medical treatment to someone else… someone you don't even know?
Or the evacuation of someone else for that matter?

Seriously doubt that would hold up in court if it came to that…

Show me the case law and I'll believe it…

Billy

California Government Code
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=26001-27000&file=26600-26616

26614.5. The county or city and county of residence of a person searched for or rescued by the sheriff under the authority of Section 26614 shall pay to the county or city and county conducting such search or rescue, in any case where the expenses thereof exceed one hundred dollars ($100), all of the reasonable expenses in excess of one hundred dollars ($100) of such search or rescue within 30 days after the submission of a claim therefor by the county or city and county conducting the search or rescue and the county or city and county conducting the search or rescue shall bear the remaining expense.

The convoluted “county or city and county” wording is because San Francisco is both a city and a county, and therefore special.

Couldn’t find anything about charging or not charging individuals in the California Government Code, buy my Google-fu may be weak in the presence of the Legalese-Force.

— Rex

…

Hi Roger… well, I have been sent bills that were in error by lots of companies as well as hospitals over the years. Just because a hospital, or any other business for that matter, sends out a bill, that does not mean it was sent to the right person or that the bill is correct.

I would guess that the hospitals in these emergency situations take the 'shotgun method' of billing… send everyone a bill and see if anyone pays.

That's what they do with Medicare and other insurance… they bill both the patient and the insurance company and Medicare… figuring that they have a better chance of getting paid if they bill everyone…

And you don't necessarily owe them money just because they sent the bill…

Billy