Yet another rescue of Skyline

[Hikin_Jim]

Dang! And my friends were gripin' at me for my photos in Colorado? I only took about 200 over four days.

[lee]

FYI:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metr ... opter.html
City to charge for air ambulance transports

By Tony Manolatos
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

4:21 p.m. July 31, 2007

Some of the folks airlifted to hospitals on Copter 1, the city's fire-rescue helicopter, are going to have to pay for the ride starting Wednesday.

And by pay, we mean $3,250 an hour.

The San Diego City Council unanimously approved the fee Tuesday.

The service had been free, but the Fire-Rescue Department and the city are trying desperately to recoup costs in a lean budget year.

Patients have been paying for ambulance service for years. So the measure aligns airlifts with emergency ground transports, although the latter is definitely the cheaper way to travel.

“This is a responsible thing to do,” Councilwoman Toni Atkins said.

An official for the private helicopter company that airlifts most patients in San Diego and across the county said Copter 1 isn't adequately equipped to handle medical transports.

“I have a concern when I see the city getting into the private sector, because there's things we can do that they can't,” said Pam Steen, program director for Mercy Air Service, Inc.

Steen said Mercy Air staffs each of its copters with a paramedic and a registered nurse. Copter 1 has a paramedic on board but not a nurse, meaning more advanced life-saving procedures and medications are used on Mercy Air helicopters.

Copter 1 is only supposed to go on runs that Mercy Air can't get to in 30 minutes or less, but it has swooped in and taken other calls, Steen said.

“Sometimes, I think they need to justify the use of their aircraft,” Steen said.

Battalion Chief Greg Donnelly, who oversees the department's Air Operations Division, agrees that Mercy Air is better equipped than Copter 1.

“We're not an air ambulance. They are,” he said. “We're not trying to compete with them. We just want to recoup our costs.”

Mercy Air operates two to three copters in San Diego County, but the units also respond to emergency calls outside the county.

Copter 1, purchased two years ago primarily to fight wildfires, handles about 60 medical transports a year. Fire Chief Tracy Jarman assured council members that Copter 1 won't be sent on medical runs if a wildfire is raging.

People who are rescued on Copter 1 would be stuck with the bill if they don't have insurance, or if their provider doesn't cover the cost.

Fire-Rescue officials said private companies like Mercy Air charge about $9,000 an hour. Steen said Mercy Air's fee is higher than the city's, but she wouldn't discuss specifics.

For all of Mercy Air's medical readiness, its copters aren't equipped with a hoist, meaning cliff rescues are left to Copter 1.

Fire-Rescue spokesman Maurice Luque noted the city won't charge folks for rescues, just hospital transports.

So if you need a lift off a cliff to a waiting ambulance, you won't be charged. But if your injuries are severe, and you find yourself on Copter 1 en route to a hospital, you might want to tell the pilot to speed it up.

[lee]

Cy, I would like to document one of your trips down to Flat Rock, if you don't mind. Something like this series of pictures:
http://urbanexplor.meetup.com/62/photos/134760/1085321/
(there are 485 pictures in 4 albums)
or this one:
http://urbanexplor.meetup.com/62/photos/143013/1174327/

From the tram to Flat Rock is not far and I *think* I can keep up with you

If this works out then I'll wait till you are 80 or when my time matches yours to document you doing the full Skyline

Thank you for the heads up on where to take pictures of folks finishing their Skyline but I don't want to take pictures of people who may not appreciate having their pictures taken. And I live 135 miles away.

magikwalt, Thank you for the info. I know I have a long way to go to catch up with Cy. On hikes by myself, I generally like to take my time to enjoy the scenery and to take pictures but I do try to keep up with fellow hikers to give my pictures some perspective. In San Diego, this is pretty easy to do but Skyline is a trail I don't think I can keep up with anyone and do the document I want at this time.

Perry, Thanks. I will sign in and let you know when I have the rest of the pictures posted.

[Cy Kaicener]

,Lee - We could start off by going half way down to Flat Rock and seeing how long it takes for the round trip. You might want to take another camera enthusiast/hiker along if you like. I will be taking the first tram up this Saturday and next..
Here is an interesting website you might enjoy - http://www.marcadamus.com
http://www.gpsmountaineering.com
from a thread called Personal Websites under General in http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB2/

[lee]

Cy, Thank you for the links, especially www.gpsmountaineering.com. I downloaded their "Google Earth KMZ file of Cactus to Clouds Route with Photos". I love their presentation. Will try to attach pictures to my own GPS track when I have time. I set my GPS toy to record my position on Skyline every 3 second which resulted in a monstrous GPS track with 16,669 points for my 14-hour "record". Their .gpx file, which I also downloaded has 2,754 points for the entire Cactus to Clouds trail.

I can take the first tram up with you on Saturday, August 11th. 8AM? What I have in mind: you will just do your regular hike, perhaps slow down a bit , down to Flat Rock or wherever you feel comfortable for me and I will try to be 10 to 20 ft behind. Please let me know if this is reasonable.

The few photography people I know think hiking Skyline is crazy, besides travel distance from San Diego. I will talk to them about this particular hike.

[Cy Kaicener]

That sounds good Lee. See you on the 11th

[Ken]

Uhh, Lee and Cy......do you guys know how to use e-mail to arrange your trip?

Failing that, is it possible that you use a thread devoted to your trip, rather than make your trip arrangements in a thread about rescues?
(this is known as "thread hijacking", and may fall under the new Homeland Security regulations.....)

....unless you are planning on needing a rescue?

[KathyW]

Actually, I think Cy and Lee rescued this thread.

[Cy Kaicener]

Sorry for hijacking this thread Ken. We thought it was dormant for too long. Thanks for understanding Kathy.

[Ken]

Cy, sadly, I've done it myself. I understand enthusiasm.

I think that one of the values of these threads, is that they stand as a guide for others Their utility, however, is in the ability of folks to find information that is related to what they think they are looking at. That generally means sticking to the topic.

Over on the PCT_L, it sometimes becomes unreadable due to the byplay, and we, as readers and participants, set the tone. I'm not trying to tell people what to say, and shouldn't. But I have seen how quickly things can innocently get out of hand, and would hate to see this great resource become less than it is.