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“Addictions can be very, very bad but addiction itself is not bad.
It’s a case of what you’re addicted to.
You better live each day like it’s your last, ‘cos one day you’re going to be right”.
Ray Charles.
Link tip a friend
Global Rescue (GR):
We have chosen to profile a business in the US called Global Rescue.
They are a niche provider, they have an excellent reputation and if it’s good enough for the peak body of climbing in the US, the American Alpine Club (AAC), to partner with them, that should be enough to reassure anyone that they are the real deal.
They’ve done a good job on their site to clearly explain what they do and how the system works but here is a brief rundown of salient points that might be worth considering before checking the site in detail.
This list is a random selection and is in no way complete; they just struck us as useful knowledge before you begin digging deeper and the first point is from the AAC’s site and it explains things perfectly:
1. GR is not an insurance company but a rescue and emergency services company. A good way to think about GR is like an automobile club. If you have AAA and break down somewhere, you can call them and they will dispatch either a local tow truck or their own teams to come tow you away, but they don't pay for your auto repairs, and they don't pay if you arrange your own tow truck and send them a bill three weeks later.
2. If you’re covered by GR, a myriad of backcountry activities are covered, including climbing, hiking, skiing, kayaking and mountain biking.
3. The benefits of Global Rescue Service apply to any land-based backcountry activity (anything beyond the trailhead). GR will coordinate a rescue from the time you are beyond the trailhead and/or in the backcountry until the time you return, provided that GR is contacted when rescue is needed. If you choose to upgrade to the full Global Rescue service, this rescue service only begins once you are at least 160 miles from your home. The basic GR membership does not have this mileage restriction.
4. There are no elevation limitations with GR. Any elevation is eligible for a GR-coordinated evacuation but understandably GR cannot guarantee rescue in United States’ State Department “Travel Warning List” countries, war zones and/or in places where there's a high chance that the rescue team's lives are in imminent danger.
5. Remember that the Global Rescue Benefit applies only to rescue and evacuation expenses and does NOT apply to a search process.
“Searching” is not part of GR’s covered member services at any level, neither the base Trailhead Rescue level or the Full Membership level.
(NB. This is important to remember, just like what was needed in the Dobson case, GR does the Evacuating part only).
CORE MEMBER SERVICES:
* Medical consultations in English by world-class physicians
* Deployable medical, security, and search and rescue teams
* Evacuation and transfer services on medically equipped jets, turboprops, commercial aircraft, and ground
ambulances
* Transportation to member choice of home based hospital
* Aircraft can be launched in as little as 90 minutes
* All U.S. based Global Rescue authorized medical service providers are certified by the Commission on
Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems
* Emergency message relay to family members
* Local physician locator services
* Telephonic interpretation
* Visa and passport services
* Local legal referrals
* Transport of mortal remains
* Services are available 365 days per year, 24 hours per day
There are several policy choices you can choose from:
MEDICAL AND TRAILHEAD RESCUE … the first level.
24/7 medical advice and support from world class physicians at Johns Hopkins Medicine
Field rescues for medical emergencies requiring hospitalization in the event you are in a remote location and cannot get to a hospital on your own
Lost medication, visa and passport assistance, legal referrals, and more
SECURITY ….. you can choose to add this upgrade to the MEDICAL level cover.
Emergency evacuations for non-medical reasons, including war, civil unrest, natural disasters, or other causes
Evacuation in the event you are more than 160 miles from home and there is a government declaration to leave the area, or you are facing imminent grievous bodily harm
Deployment of security teams and transport on fixed and rotary wing aircraft as necessary
FULL GLOBAL RESCUE MEMBERSHIP… available either per trip or annually.
The member is provided with up to $500,000 of rescue and evacuation services and services don't end at the closest clinic to the trailhead, members who need to be hospitalized after a rescue can choose to be transported back to their home country hospital of choice.
For example, rather than spending a month in the Interlaken Regional Hospital in Switzerland, GR will bring you back home on a medically-equipped aircraft or with a medical team on a commercial flight to be hospitalized close to your friends, family, and own doctors who can provide continuity of care as you recover. Full Global Rescue members also benefit from Global Rescue’s best-in-class medical advisory services, offered in conjunction with partners at Johns Hopkins Medicine, a top-ranked hospital in the U.S. for the last 17 consecutive years.
OK, there it is, a valuable option to consider which is available on a global basis.
Statistically, most trips to foreign and remote locales go well and people don’t experience serious problems but if they do, the ramifications can be immediately enormous, not just for you but for your family at home.
Put bluntly, they can lose everything they own just trying to get you back.
More info from GR’s site here and some interesting case studies from evacuations they’ve run here
NB: All photos courtesy of Dave Bremers and thanks for them Dave.
By way of background, the images on these pages are of a trip that DB and some crew did in the depths of the Tasmanian wilderness when attempting to pioneer a new route through primordial forest; stuff that has to be experienced to be believed. During one 3 hour session they progressed just 90 metres! 30 metres hour, that’s 18 inches a minute ….
After being in this slaughterhouse for weeks, being out of water and at risk of serious injury, for some reason the sentence: “Tasmanian Police helicopter, type Messerschmitt-Kawasaki BK-117 with 1000 shaft horsepower and a rescue winch” just popped into their addled brains and before they could say the words Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon, they were having a pub lunch.
On this trip they didn’t need to buy Global Rescue peace of mind because they were in a first world country and that’s what taxes are for.
But maybe for the next one …….
