United States Coast Guard Position on Charging for SAR

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United States Coast Guard Position on Charging for SAR

United States Coast Guard Position on Charging for SAR
by "No Charge for Rescue"
March 4, 2010 at 9:26am

From Admiral James Loy's (Commandant) speech at the U.S. Naval Institute conference on April 22, 1999:

"I oppose seeking reimbursement for any search-and-rescue case. Two very bad things would happen if we opened this Pandora's Box.

First, financial considerations would keep people from reporting their conditions and seeking help in the early stages of distress. In the business world, time is money. In the search-and-rescue business, time is life.
Just as the fire department wants you to call 911 as soon as you smell smoke in your house, the Coast Guard wants to hear from you as soon as you begin to get concerned about your ability to handle the conditions
you're facing on the water. If the specter of financial reimbursement hung over the decision to report maritime distress, we could get fewer calls, we would get calls during later stages of emergencies, and more
people would die at sea. This factor alone outweighs any consideration of how much money we might recoup.

There is another compelling factor. If we charged for rescues, the Coast Guard would forever battle the possibility of having financial considerations affect our search-planning decisions. We would be endlessly
second-guessed. Why did we send that helicopter after the guy who could pay us back but only a small boat after the deckhand on the fishing boat? Are we absolutely sure that reimbursement wasn't a factor?

Similarly, it would be impossible to construct an objective test for deciding when people are so wealthy that they ought to bear the cost of their rescues. You'd be surprised what a properly motivated boater really can
afford. Presented with the choice of paying for his rescue or drowning, a man treading water in the middle of the ocean would gladly mortgage his house if that's what it takes to be hoisted into the helicopter hovering
overhead. However, it is manifestly immoral to associate our humanitarian obligation with the cost of fulfilling it.

The Coast Guard values the life of the most destitute immigrant the same as that of the wealthiest adventure seeker. We would devote the same resources to rescue either one, and we have absolutely no interest in
distinguishing between them. We assign cutters and aircraft to particular cases based on the nature and location of the distress, not on the status of the person who is in distress. I do not welcome legislative or policy
initiatives that might distract my operational commanders from the business of saving lives.

The Coast Guard is recognized as a good steward of public funds. That's why the Coast Guard will continue its work to prevent distress situations through public education, requirements for carrying safety equipment
and other measures. That's why the Coast Guard will continue to reduce the taxpayer's burden by referring nonemergency cases to commercial towing services when it is appropriate to do so.

However, the cost of a few high-profile cases pales before the moral and humanitarian effects of changing the way we respond to the "routine" cases we handle every year with the attendant saving of 4,000 lives. As
long as I'm commandant, you won't hear any of my Coast Guard radio operators say, "Roger, sir. I understand you're taking on water and preparing to abandon ship. Can you tell me your position and give me the
number of a major credit card?"

A suggested minimum standard news advisory for all backcountry travelers

"We would like to take this opportunity to ask our visitors to the backcountry of Oregon to plan for the unexpected. Each person should dress for the forecast weather and take minimum extra clothing protection from a drop in temperature and possible rain or snow storm or an unexpected cold wet night out, insulation from the wet ground or snow, high carbohydrate snacks, two quarts of water or Gatorade, a map and compass and optional inexpensive GPS and the skills to use them, and a charged cell phone and inexpensive walkie-talkie radios. Carry the traditional personal "Ten Essentials Systems" in a day pack sized for the season and the forecast weather.

Visitors are reminded to tell a Responsible Person where they are going, where they plan to park, when they will be back and to make sure that person understands that they are relied upon to call 911 at a certain time if the backcountry traveler has not returned. If you become lost or stranded, mark your location and stay still or move around your marked location to stay warm. Do not try to find your way until you are exhausted, or worse yet - wet. Wait for rescuers.

THE MISSION of TraditionalMountaineering.org

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The value of TraditionalMountaineering to our Friends and Subscribers is the selectivity of the information we provide, and its relevance to introducing folks to informed hiking on the trail, exploring off the trail, mountain travel and Leave-no-Trace light-weight bivy and backpacking, technical travel over steep snow, rock and ice, technical glacier travel and a little technical rock climbing on the way to the summit. Whatever your capabilities and interests, there is a place for everyone in traditional alpine mountaineering.

WARNING - *DISCLAIMER!*
Mountain climbing has inherent dangers that can, only in part, be mitigated

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