Andrew: "That's not what we're discussing here."

Oh, but it is.

What we're talking about here is the cost of the rescue of people who put themselves in precarious situations. If you were to total up all the costs of all the rescues for one year alone, in just one state, it's tremendous. ALL the costs, not just the immediately obvious ones. Some SAR outfits are operating in the red because they've run out of funds.

The problem is escalating over the years because all these twits KNOW that if they get into trouble, someone will fix it for them. People used to have some sense of responsibility, but this aura of entitlement that many people have now is getting old.


Dagny, here are three repeat offenders that I know of:

11-15-2004: Carl Skalak of Ohio was rescued by a Fort Drum helicopter from a campsite in the Adirondaks after he got trapped by heavy lake-effect snows. He had used his new PLB to call for help. The next day, he went back to the same area to retrieve his canoe, got stuck again, and used his PLB to call again. He was arrested the second time, probably for attempting to imitate an intelligent person.

4-8-2000: A man from Fairbanks AK was using his snowmobile to do some 'highmarking' (driving up the side of a mountain and turning back just before the machine bogs down). He was pulled out of the first avalanche by State Troopers and warned. Not long afterward, he was caught in another avalanche. He wasn't arrested, just taken to the morgue.

12-26-08: "Idiot is Repeat Rescue Fiasco" - He had to be rescued twice in 5 minutes. http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2008/12/26/34565_gold-coast-lead-story.html

Sue