BC SARS calling it quits

It's disturbing, but it's not really anything new. People sue emergency workers, and agencies, all the time. That's why we are taught to be so careful in everything we do and say. "CYA, guys." How many times have we all heard that line?

It's a fairly typical response for the fellow to want to blame someone besides himself, and his deceased wife, for the tragedy. That happens all the time, also. It's sad, but that is just the way it is.
 
sasha said:
Let me get it right Blackburn got himself into a pile of s**t when HE got lost. He wasnt prepared and now he sues the SAR team for not getting him out of his own doing???? The all thing should be thrown out of court... Sound more like CA if you ask me.. Then they complain why the state try to control everything as if we were five year olds. It is just wrong for people to take a chance to lose it all just for trying to help a fellow man..

Sasha
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More to it then that, he and his wife checkout of the hotel, did not tell anyone they were going. Then went out of bonds. The RCMP were alerted twice to the fact that someone had posted an SOS in the snow but did not have it investigated because there was no one reported missing. The guys wife took a couple of days to die, he believes that if the RCMP had responded to the calls about his SOS, his wife would have survived.

I personally think the guy is wrong in what he is doing, because almost all of the fault lies with him.
The real issue for the SAR's is that they want the province to pay for their liability insurance. I think it is a no brainer that the province should pay for it.
As far as North Shore they have already said they will continue on regardless.
They lost one of their members last month during a rescue.

My hats off to all SAR's everywhere
 
If people start dying because of Gilles Blackburn's frivolous lawsuit, I certainly hope their survivors sue the crap out of him.
 
this is another program ive heard of that has had to quit because of the cost of insurance in Canada. I have a buddy who i played rugby with here who moved to Canada to work and cant play rugby because the liability insurance for his team is through the roof and the league disbanded. maybe big government is a bad thing. I dont know. ive got a few beers in me.
 
Guyon said:
If people start dying because of Gilles Blackburn's frivolous lawsuit, I certainly hope their survivors sue the crap out of him.
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Unfortunately, this simply exacerbates the frivolous lawsuit problem. What should happen, after the SAR crews bis-dand of course, is all lawyers who participate in these lawsuits should be taken on an all expenses paid ski trip to those areas...just take out the signs...
 
glad to hear north shore is still gonna keep doin what they do. they've done plenty of body recoveries when people were found dead (there was a man found dead in lynn canyon a while back) and they were the ones who did the recovery on the body so that he could be buried properly.

bc's industry is tourism and eco-tourism is definetly one of the things out there that helps keep the province afloat.

if i ever run into this blackburn guy i'd give him a piece or two about being unprepared and then blaming someone else for his own faults.

and people i know think im crazy for packing a first aid kit when out hiking and carry a blade.

i've always thought that this sign should be at every park and resort area in BC but i guess it'll just have to remain at lynn canyon.

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my hats off to the BC Search and Rescue teams.
 
This maybe off topic but can someone explain to me again why the don't have a PAID SAR service? I'm not from BC so the whole situation seems a little confused to me.
Kudos to the SAR people, that they are civic minded enough to volunteer their time is commendable but really between the government tax revenue from tourism and the profits made by those running the ski resorts and the connected industries there must be more than enough money there to actually pay SAR professionals for their labor.
Or am i missing something?
 
Situations like these are ridiculous but it seems like those agencies are over-reacting. Do you guys up north have something similar to a 'good samaritan defense'? In this particular case, what is he suing for? negligence? its essentially a 'failure to act' lawsuit? I hope he gets a judge who gives him what for...
 
I wonder if the RCMP should lay charges against this Blackburn fellow for
gross negligence in the death of his wife.
After all, it was he and his wife that ignored the danger warnings.
Maybe he should go to jail for causing or contributing to his wife's death!
 
gravydan said:
Do you guys up north have something similar to a 'good samaritan defense'? In this particular case, what is he suing for? negligence? its essentially a 'failure to act' lawsuit?
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Good samaritan laws usually protect people passing by who stop and try to help. SAR and RCMP are being sued for failure to fulfill the responsibilities the couple believed they were entitled to rely on.

d_filgate said:
I wonder if the RCMP should lay charges against this Blackburn fellow for gross negligence in the death of his wife.
After all, it was he and his wife that ignored the danger warnings.
Maybe he should go to jail for causing or contributing to his wife's death!
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Ignorance and stupidity are not criminal offenses. They had every right to fail to prepare. What they failed to realize was that they did not have the right to demand someone else be there to correct their errors.
 
Can the government defendants counterclaim for the negligence of the plaintiff, the injury being the expense of rescue and treatment?

I don't favor routinely suing the rescued on policu grounds (discourages signaling for rescue), but if the rescued sue, there should be a right to counetrclaim when it was the neglect of the recused that caused the whole mess in the first instance.
 
Thomas, this question came up in a long discussion on SARS recently. Basically, a counterclaim advancing a new theory like that looks clumsy to the courts when SARS hasn't even been charging people for rescue all along.

If this one ever comes to court, it would certainly make sense to point out how his actions made it extremely difficult for SARS to know what was going on, and that a few simple precautions on his part could have avoided that..

But countersue? I don't see it.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Good samaritan laws usually protect people passing by who stop and try to help. SAR and RCMP are being sued for failure to fulfill the responsibilities the couple believed they were entitled to rely on.
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Yes I realize this. If the agencies are suspending service in order to review their insurance policies (if they have any) to determine whether negligence is covered (not always covered by insurance)- then yes my comment was not on point. However, if they are suspending services simply to ascertain liability - then Im still interested in the answer to my question.

Ignorance and stupidity are not criminal offenses.
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Perhaps not in themselves, but both ignorance and stupidity can be criminal offenses- for instance, if it was reasonable to avoid said ignorance and stupidity which led to the harm or death of another individual.
 
tholiver said:
This maybe off topic but can someone explain to me again why the don't have a PAID SAR service? I'm not from BC so the whole situation seems a little confused to me.
Kudos to the SAR people, that they are civic minded enough to volunteer their time is commendable but really between the government tax revenue from tourism and the profits made by those running the ski resorts and the connected industries there must be more than enough money there to actually pay SAR professionals for their labor.
Or am i missing something?
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major ski resorts usually have "sar" teams but from my experience all they do is stay on trail and assist skiers and snowboards who get injured.

they are no where near the skill or capacity of actual sar teams which operate in bc.
 
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