Wyoming Law Would Protect Rescuers from Lawsuits
By Michael Frank on December 12th, 2012
In the state of Wyoming existing laws put search and rescue volunteers at risk of being sued if something goes wrong in an attempted rescue…Or even if nothing goes wrong. A new law would distinguish between search and rescue volunteers and sheriff’s deputies/other public agency officials. The bill would raise the threshold for naming individual volunteers in a lawsuit, shifting them into a category for nonprofits, which are immune from liability in these cases. Volunteers would be on equal ground with volunteer firefighters. Even if the law passes there’s still only a patchwork of legal protections in place for volunteer rescuers nationwide and this sort of bill only underlines the need for mandatory insurance protection for backcountry explorers (to reduce the need for such an ugly money chase in the aftermath of accidents). Via Jackson Hole News and Guide.
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Tags: search and rescue