Thank you all for your kind words, I am very humbled and feel very undeserving.

Pete

There is no shortage of foolish people.

Blake

I'm thinking that if he wouldn't admit he was in danger they should have apologized for the interruption and promptly dropped him back into the river from wence he came.

This case is an example of why some people should be required to pay for a rescue. Taxpayers are not interested in paying for this type of adventure. These jerks should foot the bill for their own adventure, like I have to pay for all expenses if I go heliskiing, skydiving, flying to the moon, or whatever.

Question for the rescuers here, if every person you rescued consistently had the attitude of these boys, would you hesitate to rescue some people? What if they had these attitudes AND you were unpaid? Those may be hard questions to imagine, but there must be a point at which there's no longer any personal satisfaction or sense of duty.

According to article...

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=143870


Cool!

Just my opinion:

Yes, I would and will continue to provide this service until I am no longer physically able to do so. Regardless of the reason or attitude of the person being rescued, I derive an incredible degree of self satisfaction based upon my actions. I try to never base my actions or inactions on the action or attitudes of others. I believe/assume I hold little to no control over their actions/thoughts/attitudes, but should always be in control over my actions/thoughts/attitudes.

I am unpaid (cash); I am a volunteer and have been so for over 20 years. My payment comes from within myself, knowing I contributed to helping someone else. The biggest payment comes from the person or persons who truly appreciate your actions and says “Thank you”. Nothing compares to the feeling you get when someone or a family member comes up to you and says “Thanks for saving my life” or the life of a loved one or a friend. A single thank you from someone more than compensates for a hundred persons who are unthankful, uncaring or belligerent.

Pete

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......

Thank you for the comments. I'm pretty sure I could not do this job if every person I rescued was guaranteed to have the attitude of these boys. For those who only quickly skimmed the article, it's important to note the rescued boys felt no remorse for putting others' lives in danger. (They even asked the rescuers to retrieve their cooler.)

As a rescuer, I would consider these boys' actions, in light of their attitude, to be a criminal attack on me and my family's livelihood. But hey, I'm not in this business. So, you don't have to worry about me hesitating on a rescue.

I was caught in a flash-flood about 14 years ago, and not being a good swimmer and not being prepared for the power of the water was one of the scariest experiences I have ever had. Fortunately, I was able to get to a mud bank and claw my way out of the "small" creek I had been asked to cross. I knew at that point it was time for me to get back into a desk job.

Well, this is life
There are heroes, and there are zeroes

You, pete , are definitely of the first type, and unfortunately for heroes like you , societies are full of zeroes who always need others to help them survive. They have no brains, no thoughts , and do not seem to have any tangible goals in life.

This thread reminds me of the "difficult personlities " thread. And does illustrate how some folks cannot live without making life harder for other human beings.

In older days, I ALWAYS stopped when someone on a long desolate highway needed help. And it was a couple of boys like these who made me stop helping. Their car has stopped, and wouldn't start after being jump started by my car. I told them it was clearly not a battery problem and offered to take them to the next mechanic or gas station. But they were not convinced by my analysis and wanted to take MY car battery and fix it in their car. I forcefully shut down the hood of my car and left them on the road.