As another (former) unpaid and unreimbursed volunteer, I would like to affirm paramedicpete's comments. For one thing, in the unfolding incident, you do not have the luxury of determining the underlying circumstances and the attitudes of the victims. It is very stark - someone is in jeopardy and you have the opportunity to assist them. It's your choice - what are you going to do?

I consider myself experienced in the outdoors and informed enough to stay out of trouble. But just in case I get a swelled head, I can vividly recall some early incidents where I literally came within inches of becoming a casualty myself.

As one of my colleagues remarked to me after the conclusion of a particularly dicey operation in which we had plucked two would be mountaineers off a sheer cliff - "I am sure their mothers are grateful, but you didn't do the gene pool any favors." That is probably true, but none of us do the gene pool any favors if you only examine the lowest 5% of our actions......