People planning to climb Wollumbin (Mount Warning) are being urged to go prepared after two needless rescues took place over the Easter holidays.
Around 5pm yesterday (March 28) the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter was tasked to the summit and winch a dehydrated walker to safety.
The man was stabilised and airlifted to Lismore Base Hospital.
Members of the Tweed District Rescue Squad earlier had to perform a rescue on the mountain and captain Mal Pearse said it was frustrating when people who attempted the climb weren’t ‘prepared for the task’.
‘We’ve had people go up there wearing thongs, no lighting,’ he told ABC radio.
People [who] haven’t allowed enough time and they get stuck up there because they haven’t got any torches to come back down. Little things like that are very frustrating,’ he said.
Well !
Leave them there, and they can walk out in the morning.
Why make a needless drama out of it ?
G”)
Hypothermia? You’re prescribing a death sentence if you leave them up there unprepared for 0c, and we just don’t do that in this country.. be that for better or for worse.
Some irresponsible people seem to think that they can do whatever dangerous activity they want and someone will always come to their rescue.
The rescue services are already stretched to their financial limits – having to rely on public donations in order to survive and we are all having to pay for the stupidity of others – helicopters are not cheap to operate.
Swimming at unpatrolled beaches has repeatedly been rammed down our throats as being dangerous, yet one man last week paid with his own life trying to rescue a child taken to an unpatrolled beach by the mother.
Motorcycles are known to be dangerous even when you are young and fit, yet the rescue copter also attended to a 67 year old motorcyclist who had run off the road.
The few (but increasing number of) people who have no concept of accountability are not only costing us money and wasting valuable time and resources, but are risking the lives of the general public and those who go to their rescue. Easter (full moon) and Christmas (full moon) seems to bring them all out.
The loss of the rescuers’ lives is totally unacceptable.
We should all be insisting that a “stupidity tax” be paid by those who are rescued from preventable situations and that compensation be paid by them to the families of the unfortunate rescuers who have lost their lives.