I have just watched a BBC Panorama documentary this evening on this very issue and I must say I was shocked and appalled by the inequality of Health Care across the demographic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00gvflg/Panorama_What_Now_Mr_President/

Wasn't BSmith talking about Search and Rescue(SAR), not the disease SARS?

You are correct....it was originally a discussion on SAR (search and rescue) not sure why someone hi-jacked this thread to medical SARS.

The Hijack was to the parallel between what is happening with SAR funding and what happened with medical funding in Canada and the CDCs in the USA until the business community suddenly realized that underfunding disease control was threatening their businesses.

The similarity in the initials was just a coincidence.
So it is not even a real hijack.

Read and think about the text of the message instead of just the similar acronyms.

I guess I will have to go back and edit in the full name of the pneumonia like disease syndrome so some people don't get too confused.

Edit:
I wish somebody would hijack the tread though, or start a new one.

Access to all public lands is a privilege, not a right. Agencies can close public lands to all access at will, or require permit access only. Parks can and do charge admission fees.

Public lands are regulated resources, and have been since Teddy Roosevelt's day.

Nowhere in the bill of rights or any ammendments will you find anything stating that we as individual citizens have a right to enter or occupy public lands.

JohnE, I sincerely hope you do not leave.

I note that the recent Mt. Hood recovery of a dead hiker utilized Blackhawk helicopters owned by the National Guard. Last I remember, the National Guard is paid for out of government funds. I have yet to hear that the survivor was billed for the service. That means every citizen of Oregon gets to pay for their mistake.

How much does extraction by a national guard helicopter really cost? They already own it. They are already paying the guys who are flying it. It will incur some wear and tear during the time it is aloft and use some fuel. That is a pretty minor cost compared even to what that person will pay in sales tax during the remainder of his life.

Consider also that most of the money that goes to maintain public areas comes from people that never use them. Should each park be required to finance its entire operation solely from the revenues it generates? Where do you draw the line? If S&R becomes something that you have to pay extra for, does that mean you can sue them for not providing a specific level of service?

I really think that the Law of Unintended Consequences will really make several unwanted appearances if we head too far down this path.

Three kind choppers used here (Northern CA).

Military - Naval, Coast Guard
They use rescues as part of their training, we often have them
out on our trainings too. This is paid for by taxes either
way. If there was no rescue, they would be doing mock rescues
etc. and spending the same amount of money.

State Highway Patrol
Tax dollars from the state. Somewhat similar to the military,
they would have the choppers in the air anyway, tho unlike the military there could be overtime pay for the pilots.

Private Ambulance
The person who rides, pays.

The military ones are the most capable, but not always available. We most often see Highway Patrol on searches.

I see SAR like the fire department, its part of what I think
should be covered by taxes, but should make use of volunteers
as much as can be done. Most house fires probably can be prevented by forethought, but I don't think the unfortunate
should then get a bill after their house burns. Unless they
are arsonists.

Most search and rescue recovery's are by foot or snowmobile/ATV
anyway. The gas and other gear is paid for by the volunteers and funds from donations.

The helicopters have to be flown anyhow, if for no other reason than to keep the pilot's air hours current.
You are constantly flying Blackhawks along the Canadian border too. They are supposed to prevent grain and beef smugglers from driving over the border across the empty wheat fields.

These helicopters are extremely well equipped for locating any warm bodies.
The cost of diverting one from the patrolling the Alberta/Montana border (as an example) for a day is pretty minimal.

I doubt if the cattle, coyotes and pronghorns would miss being recorded with the thermal imaging cameras for one day.

While not SAR, the local air ambulance service is expensive. I know a pilot for careflight. He told me it is about $500.00 per hour just to operate the helo. That doesn't include any pilots, nurses or supplies. They have a membership program that is like $145.00 for 5 years for a whole family.

If they are called to get you, it is $10,000.00 when they go light on the wheels. From there on, the sky is the limit (pun not intended).

Seems like $145.00 is pretty cheap to me.

It comes out of the training budget of the military. You have to bear in mind that the chopper crew are required a certain number of hours a month of training. That's the same if they're using it for SAR, public affair events or generally just flying around burning fuel. If you talk to them they'ed rather be spend that time doing something useful like SAR or medical evacuation. It costs the same either way so you can't always count that as a cost of the search.