The basic premise and ideas of charging people for their own mistakes and lack of judgment go beyond the SAR community. Many Fire Departments, Forestry agencies, Park agencies etc have grappled with this very complex issue.

When I was a fire fighter, this subject came up many times not only with ourselves but with the local government and their legal counsel. Simply put, there is no easy answer to any of this. Knowledgeable people in emergency services have all seen or heard the same type of responses as posted here and other places for years and and collectively know these will not work otherwise these ideas would of been implemented as law already.

That being said, there was a discussion on one of the fire fighters forums a few months back where a couple of localities had implemented a fee for some emergency services based on the person's neglect....now it is up to the courts (and not the just the United Sates) to decide whether these types of fees are valid based on whether the person is guilty of negligence. These types of cases will wind through the court systems for years and it the outcome remains to be seen...