[Closed] Air Ambulance/Mountain Rescue - worth it ?

I can't help thinking watching the air ambulance programs on telly that they're sometimes a bit too keen to use them. Of course I could be a bit naive because one of the problems emergency services face is determining the severity of the problem (and potential complications) from afar.

Still - a big fan of these 'peripheral - haha' emergency services and always prepared to drop em some cash.

Air Ambulance/Mountain Rescue - worth it ?

When you are out on a yacht, when the wind direction swings round offshore and increases from the forecast 4-5 to high 7 and then your engine overheats, yes!

We'd have spent hours tacking up and down until the tide turned before we could get back to sheltered waters and we'd have had to weigh an anchor and make the remaining journey ashore by tender.

We were all correctly attired, harnessed up and competent in the conditions (the skipper has sailed across the atlantic and we've all done several years of coastal cruising, done the courses etc).

We took a pre-emptive step to seek advice from the coastguard and he dispatched a lifeboat to tow us in. No drama, but embarrassing all the same.

We'd attempted repairs prior to making the call, but could find nothing wrong, but imagine your workshop bouncing up and down about 12ft as you try to work!

The problem turned out to be pieces of impeller that had broken off prior to mateyboy owning the boat. We were unlucky that the problem hadn't appeared straight away when we motored up the river after taking delivery several weeks earlier. The engine had been fine the previous day and on two other trips, so it was unforeseeable.

I shall make sure i donate a bit extra next time.

Ambulance service in the Channel Islands has an interesting model (run by St Johns)

Annual family subscription costs about fifty quid (discounts for low income etc) - if you're not a member, you get hit with a bill after use of £200 upwards for an ambulance callout.

Seems fair to me, no top heavy bureaucracy, independent service

No reason it couldn't work for air ambulance

zulu-eleven yesterday:

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😉

Annual family subscription costs about fifty quid (discounts for low income etc)

Here on the mainland we have the same system, except it costs a bit more and also covers roads, schools, and lots of other useful stuff.

We call it "income tax".

Indeed Elliptic - sort of makes you wonder why these unrelated and different organisations like mountain rescue, RNLI and the the Air Ambulance are [u]so[/u] keen on retaining their independence doesn't it?

Thought the point of the thread was that at the moment these services are [b]not[/b] paid for from taxation - (although there's [b]always[/b] going to be money for 'Equality and Diversity' staff in the london ambulance service ...)

http://randomreality.blogware.com/

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Welsh air ambulance evacuating a motorcyclist from the playing field at ByC in 2006. Pillion passenger on motorbike had apparently died at the scene of the RTC.

Comparisions between UK & Europe need to be considered, many european states do not have free at point of care service, so even calling a bog standard ambulance requires payment in many parts of europe. Should air ambulance be centrally funded, dunno, if those running them currently say not, then I think that the decision has been made. I'd agree with the numpties up Snowdon in trainers in the snow should be made to pay something for the SAR service, as they're placing the SAR crew under considerable risk.

[/Go on any firestation and check out how good the facilities are....Sports, tv room, sleeping quarters, chef etc. Then go spend a shift in the A&E department.]

Then rethink ... What do we as a society value more highly.. The saving of property or life?

:evil:And the role of the fire and rescue service is purely saving of property is it??
I think you may need to look a little deeper into that one....

Go on any firestation and check out how good the facilities are....Sports, tv room, sleeping quarters, chef etc.

that's because the butch types who become firemen would otherwise be fighting or setting light to things?

My apologies not sure how to do the little box!

the thing is, everything costs lots of money, and when it comes down to it, most of the time its not needed, it there just in case. Ambulances rarely need paramedics, most of the work the service does could be done by a taxi driver, but just in case we have paramedics, fire service don't need most of their training very often, but when the brown stuff hits the fan, aren't you glad they've done it? Likewise, air ambulance/ mountain rescue/RNLI/Cave rescue is expensive and not essential, however when needed they are priceless.

Independence means you can spare your money where you, the user think it needs to be spent, not where the government think it needs to be spent.

I work for an ambulance trust, he government is funding a hazardous area response team. loads of front line para's taken off the road, given loads of fun training and shiney new gear including 4X4's, new RRV's and big truck. Just in case of terrorist attack. They spend a lot of time sitting around doing not very much. maenwhile regular ambulance staff are overworked, and missing all the experienced staff who went to HART and were replaced by gophers.

This is why these groups want to be independent, so they can choose where to spend their money on the things that they need.

My apologies not sure how to do the little box!

copy the bit you want to quote, click "quote", paste, click "/quote", or paste first and click "quote" while pasted text is highlighted 🙂

@Zulu-Eleven

makes you wonder why these unrelated and different organisations like mountain rescue, RNLI and the the Air Ambulance are so keen on retaining their independence doesn't it?

Your example was an ordinary ambulance service. Do you think it's a *good* thing that people in the Channel Islands need insurance cover for ambulance journeys?

Thought the point of the thread was that at the moment these services are not paid for from taxation

The other point of this thread is they're free at the point of use, and the people who run them seem to want them to stay that way.

I believe the reason most of these organizations don't want to charge (whether its price to be rescued or insurance to get rescued)is because they think most people would leave it much longer before asking for help and in a lot of cases this would cost lives and/or make help/rescue much harder.
As for taking money from the gov. this always comes at a cost,both financialy and morally.But by staying independant they can do the right thing rather than the politicaly correct thing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west_wales/10307426.stm

Shoot the owner, put the dog on a diet.

Could have been hypoglycaemic, dogs often run themselves into the ground and cannot go on, animal looked pretty fit to me. All they had to do was give it some chocolate and it would have run on.

Aside from that I am happy that its not govt funded, I pay 50 a year to air ambulance and rnli each. Haven't thought about funding mountain rescue might now though..

As many say, I think most MR/RNLI etc would want to remain voluntary.

For me, I would ask 'where does risk start?' - so doing a 'risky' sport - does that mean a Sunday afternoon wander with the kids? My sunday walk this week took us to 600m+ altitude - we met dog walkers, families, runners, bikers (engine and pedal), we were within a mile of the village, but would require a helicopter (ideally) to evacuate, should one of the kids have slipped of the rocks they were climbing.
My work is 900ft up a hillside, by road. But the road is so badly maintained that if we ever have a bad injury, then it is a helicopter evacuation. So a month back, a 10 year old girl slipped on steps inside, injured bumped her back (and thought nothing of it at the time). A couple of hours later, she was in agony and laid flat in spasms with pins and needles in her feet. We called an ambulance, who refused to take her out on our road with a back injury. Hello parrafin budgie. Was she taking a risk, and should have had insurance to walk down two steps in a house?

Risk is something we should all learn to live with and manage, not look to insurers to sort and 'expect' a rescue. Rescue is a bonus, not a requirement.

Woody - Member

A mate of mine was airlifted from Glenshee many years ago and charged a couple of hundred pounds IIRC.

Sorry, but this is absolute bollocks.

You may be right....... it was late and after a long day when I posted 😉 It may have been an ordinary ambulance but I know he was definitely charged. I'll ask him next time I see him, which is about once every 6 years. We are talking 30+ years ago and why else would we have paid ski insurance - we all had our own gear?

Dont agree with paying extra insurance. We already pay national health insurance so it should be free.

Where do you think the money is going to come from? The NHS helicopter fairies?

I think it will come from redirecting money away from less important cosmetic operations towards life saving services. Unless you think that boob jobs or sex change is a good use of tax payers money?

A mate of mine was airlifted from Glenshee as well, incredible he survived actually with bad bad head injuries, the fact i was on ski patrol at the time and had gear with me probably helped. Anyhoo the Sea King landed in an incredible spot and gave us exactly 1 minute to get him and me in before they flew to Dundee via all the low glens they could find. I eventually got a ride back to Glenshee the next morning with them as they were 'going that way' and knew i would have trouble getting back so they landed at the hospital and picked me up - legends ! We managed to get a grand together afterwards as a donation but they definitely cannot and do not charge you.

We recently assisted Llanberis MRT in a 'cragfast' rescue 8)

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In that 2nd shot the rotors look alarmingly close to the rocks!

MR team member and a big no thanks to state controlled/ managed/ directed funding; although it is getting more expensive to run our team. We volunteer cos we want to. And also because our wives/ husbands/ kids want us out of the house.

Funding for direct expenditure sounds initialy at least attractive. Our insurance costs for example creep ever upward, so does the cost of the fuel we use, the equipment we buy. The biggest potential cost for any team would of course be time spent doing the job, and I guess that state funding of any aspect of the currently all volunteer service could lead over time to further expense as peoples workplaces look for compensation as their members are absent when they go off on a callout. We are not an especially busy team, at an average of 40 shouts a year. We are full of admiration for some of the Lakes teams who double treble or even quadruple our numbers; I do wonder how that level of commitment can be sustained. Last night we were out till 3am searching, with a positive result. Would I want to go out again tonight and the next on equally important callouts, yes of course, but then fundraise on the weekend...errr no thanks.

So please donate when you feel you can.

Save us from the paperwork.

It would be better if the government gave a commitment to exempt Mountain Rescue from VAT.

I think it will come from redirecting money away from less important cosmetic operations towards life saving services. Unless you think that boob jobs or sex change is a good use of tax payers money?

What you mean is [b]you [/b]don't need it so you don't want to pay for it.

konabunny

nope I am Mountain Leader qualified and I certainly think the are needed. I have insurance cover including Europe to cover my adventure activities. Get air lifted from a mountain in Europe and see what bill you get hit with. Search and Rescue (SAR) which is what is in the picture is funded centrally, they are RAF. So clearly the model of central funding is already in place. It just needs expanding to include Air Ambulance. When we are in financial difficulties we should prioritize our funding. I cant see why such a commonsense approach is wrong?

I don't think they are hilarious your taking it personally. This is about medical need in an emergency and where we should spend the money. I think routine non emergency treatment is less of a priority than the emergency service air ambulance provides. And I would add that I am not medically qualified to make such choices but in society I am allowed to contribute to the debate.

My view is we pay enough already it should be free at the point of delivery. The alternatives are charity or follow the European model and pick the bill yourself.