Mt Hood "rescue"

[derekesq]

And then there is this:

"Mount Hood, just an hour's drive from Portland, is one of the most beautiful mountains in the world. That beauty and easy access draws a lot of climbers and adventure seekers, a handful of which will require rescue. When alpine rescue teams can't get the job done, Oregon's national guard choppers are brought in to execute what are often daring operations. This happened yesterday when an Oregon Army National Guard CH-47 was called in to extract a suicidal climber and a rescue team off of the mountain. The ordeal began on Thursday with a call to police from a climber on the summit of Mount Hood who said he was going to take an overdose of medication. Police called the number back but there was no answer. Eventually, a search and rescue operation was ordered which was commanded by the Oregon Air National Guard's storied 304th Rescue Squadron."

full story: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/22 ... ood-rescue

[Wentzl]

Whoever authorized that mission should be fired.

[HikerGuy]

Damn, that chopper pilot has some skills and guts.

[glenmiz]

Pretty impressive.

[Mtnman200]

Whoever authorized that mission should be fired.

I hope you aren’t suggesting that a climber in distress (and he clearly was in distress) should have been allowed to die instead. Please explain what you meant and your reasoning.

[Wentzl]

Climber in distress? That is not what I read in the story. Man intent on suicide. Acknowledge the difference or we have nothing to discuss.

A man calls 911 from the top of a mountain and says I am going to overdose on pills. Send a chopper? Really?

What if the suicidal target had a gun? Not unusual for individuals to use a firearm for their final solution. Would you fly your chopper into that scene?

He obviously didn't want to die or he would not have made the call. Let him walk down.

It was inappropriate to risk that kind of manpower and those resources on someone who did not want to come down. It could have ended badly, and for what?

Too harsh?

I am guessing the OP agrees, or he would not post with the snarky title.

If they gave us a little more in the story, if the caller said something like; "I came up here to die, but now I have seen Jesus and I want to come down, but I am stuck", then maybe. . .

[HikerGuy]

Actually, the story was quite clear. A six-person ground rescue team found the suicidal man. At that point, the subject was under control and the helicopter was called in because snow conditions had deteriorated due to high temperatures and the team determined they could not descend safely. The author ended the article nicely with the last two sentences.

It's amazing to think that the Chinook crew and the six rescue climbers were willing to risk their lives for someone who didn't seem to value their own.

There are true heroes among us.

These heroes didn't question who is "worth" saving. That's good enough for me.

[Wentzl]

At least tell me we can send him a bill for the fuel.

[HikerGuy]

At least tell me we can send him a bill for the fuel.

Maybe! This was quoted in another thread about whether or not SAR charges for rescue.

Volunteer search and rescue organizations are not opposed in principle to requests made by themselves, sheriff's departments or other agencies, for reimbursement for actual extraordinary expenses incurred by the organization, department or agency; provided that such a request is clearly an appeal based upon a perceived moral obligation under particular circumstances, and that it is not a demand for payment nor apparently based upon either legal right or routine policy. Any such requests should be made privately and not publicized, so the victims and their families are not embarrassed, and so the general public does not infer that such requests for reimbursement are routinely made. [source: https://www.coloradosarboard.org/ChargingForSAR.shtml]

[DaveLanders]

At least tell me we can send him a bill for the fuel.

The military usually considers situations like this to be valuable training exercises.

[nyker]

Nonetheless some skilled choppering for the pilots and those rescuers are pretty close to those blades. Man...

[DArcyS]

Climber in distress? That is not what I read in the story. Man intent on suicide. Acknowledge the difference or we have nothing to discuss.

A man calls 911 from the top of a mountain and says I am going to overdose on pills. Send a chopper? Really?

I was walking after work to my car near downtown Denver when a blind women in distress asked for somebody to help her find her way. I stopped to help her, and while maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, I asked her how she became blind (she actually had limited, but very poor, vision). She was rather blunt -- she told me that she was in an abusive relationship and jumped out of a three-story building in a suicide attempt. And that statement was quickly followed by her saying how grateful she is now for each and every day. Even with her blindness. So, I'm willing to bet that while a lot of people are suicidal, those "in the know" actually know that a fair number of suicidal people don't really want to take their life. So, off to the rescue . . .