Reimburse Good Samaritans?

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Sorry, I did not read any of the Vortex thread, and only took the initial post at face value, specifically regarding AED pads. I expanded that (in my mind) to include gloves, gauze pads, and the contents of an O2 bottle. I had no thought (and refuse to comment) on anything that happened at Vortex.


Sorry Frank. I meant to quote CD....:doh:. It's been corrected.
 
How many people are going to realize that those pads are one-time use? How many are going to know what they cost or guess that the price is anything but trivial? Who is going to suspect what it costs to get an O2 fill?

Do you plan on sending them an itemized list of your expenses, just out of the goodness of your heart to let them know how much you sacrificed in your selfless act?

Sorry if I'm snarky but this is one of the most inane questions I've ever heard. Seriously. Why carry gear to save someone's life if your so concerned about what it will cost you to use it?
 
If you volunteer your services, you are a volunteer. Period. End of story. If you decline further service beyond first response due to financial obligations that is acceptable, but it is never acceptable to request reimbursement for your costs as an individual volunteer.

In my SAR experience, quite often either the family of the lost/deceased will offer to pay for food or buy food or someone at Incident Command will do that either on local charity offerings or from city/county/state dollars depending upon who's the Incident Commander.

I have not been diving long enough to be part of any sort of emergency more major than a blown o-ring at the surface, but if I am involved, it will be as always, a volunteer trying to help any way I can that doesn't cause more harm. If I incur expenses it's on me to cover them.
 
Obligated, no ... ethically? Sure.

I once pulled up to a guy at a stop light and his engine was on fire. I pulled out my extinguisher and put the fire out. The guy thanked me and I drove away ... only then did I think of the cost of refilling my extinguisher. As it happened I ran into him at the supermarket a few weeks later, he'd had the same thought and gave me a twenty, so I made a few bucks on the deal.
 
Nice gesture does not translate into "Ethical Duty" IMO.

It's hard to translate anything into an "Ethical Duty" because everyone has a different view of what constitutes ethical.
 
Ethical duty to repay? As was eloquently stated above, the recently undead person has got too many other worries to be expected to repay the relatively small cost of consumables.

More importantly, I wouldn't accept payment even if they offered, for exactly the same reason.

Of course, if the injured was rich and offered me a fully paid Caribbean trip as my reward, I'd accept it in a flash. :)
 
It's hard to translate anything into an "Ethical Duty" because everyone has a different view of what constitutes ethical.

Agreed. There is no one ethical standard.

I certainly WOULD attempt to ascertain and reimburse a good samaritan who expended $ to save my life.

It would NOT be a requirement, but from my perspective an ethical responsibility.
 
In the hospital setting we charge for everything (getting paid is a different story). I would never consider asking for reimbursement for supplies used in a volunteer rescue. In fact, I used to be a paramedic on a volunteer rescue squad, and we never asked anything from our patients and their families. We relied on fund raisers, and donations for our expenses.
 
OP: "Do many grateful survivors have a blind spot and fail to even consider restitution?"

OP did not propose, or insinuate, that a lifesaving donor demand payment for equipment and supplies rendered in an incident. The point was awareness by the recipient.

If you expend your resources to save my life, I will joyfully compensate you for your expenses. Would I anticipate your demand for payment?

Perhaps from a government agency, ie mountain rescue, not from a good samaritan.
 
OP: "Do many grateful survivors have a blind spot and fail to even consider restitution?"

It's hard to give an answer to that question unless I find myself in the role of a grateful survivor. There is no way to predict how I'd react in that situation, but I hope it would be appropriately.

That's the reason I chose to only address the other question.
 

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