New Mt. Rainier rescue policy

the review of Nick Hall's death resulted in a new situation/policy for high altitude rescues at MRNP:

MRNP News Release

In an odd coincidence, although this rescue occurred 11 days before that NPS press release, this article from the pilot perspective was published the same day:
www.nwguardian.com/2013/07/18/15942/rese...e-to-the-aid-of.html

In addition to the press release, this article includes an interview with MRNP Chief Ranger Chuck Young:

www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2013/07/mo...scue-techniques23649

"Along with training rangers on short-haul techniques, and commerical helicopter pilots on flying missions at 14,000 feet on the mountain, Mount Rainier staff must figure out how to pay for this change in rescues. Whereas the military flights didn't cost the Park Service any money, Chief Young said costs for short-haul operations will be "in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Where that money will come from isn't entirely clear at this point, and the federal budget sequestration that has sliced roughly 5 percent from Park Service budgets adds a complicating factor, said the chief ranger.

"It’s a matter of reprioritizing money and just figuring out how we are going to pay for it, and that’s certainly a huge issue," he said, adding that rescue missions will continue when needed, not when the money is available...

You need money to pay for things, it has to come from somewhere," the chief said. "It may be reduced servces, it could be increased revenues in some ways. We may be charging for things that we didn’t charge for before. But that’s just planning and conjecture at this point, nothing that’s set at this point.”

Gosh, I wonder if winter access to Paradise might be one of those "reduced services"?  Watch for a pubic meeting not so near you.   

Seems like the rescue insurance system in use in France and I gather the rest of Europe works pretty well.

Back in the'80's it cost around $35 and it seemed like everyone had it--pretty reasonable price, even at that time...

Helicopters carrying "cargo" daily...

It would be interesting to see how private rescue insurance would work here and what it would cost. A neighbor's young adult son was injured (broken back) at the dunes near Moses Lake; first responders called for a helicopter evac to Spokane (he objected, but wisely was overruled by the medics); the bill to the family for the helicopter, which they have to pay/are paying, was $26,000. The bill for the medical services at the medical center was more than 10 times that and will be paid off over several people's lifetimes.

For what it's worth, the county Sheriff's offices that run the volunteer SAR teams don't charge for rescues that involve a helicopter.  Snohomish County's Helicopter Rescue Team used to be funded by grants and federal funds, but that's largely drying up.  Private donations are trying to fill the gap.  Granted, the Huey that Snohomish operates can't really conduct a rescue above 9-10,000 feet.

So in western WA, at least, rescue insurance probably isn't critical yet.  If the volunteer and county run programs run out of money though, it could be as important here as it is in Europe.