Criticism against rescue workers

[bivar 0]

The sister of a 52 year old stuntman who died when Base jumping at Kjerag (Norway) two years ago, has pressed charges against the local police and rescueworkers.
She claims that hesitation by the rescueworkers caused her brothers death.
Members of the voluntary alpine rescueforce are now questioning whether it is worth the effort or not, Rescuing people from 2000-3000 ft. cliffs, voluntary, unpaid work by the way, at the risk of getting sued yourself. They are working under extreme conditions, risking their own lives. Without these brave men and women, BASE jumping would be banned instantaneous. Anyone that have seen Kjerag knows that it does take some time to climb up and rescue someone hanging 1500-2000 ft up.

I am not an BASE jumper myself, but the general population and politicians do not see the difference between BASE and Skydiving. New laws and regulations will affect us all.


You can read more about the accident itself here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4033926,00.html and here:http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4115043,00.html

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Be safe !

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

The sister is a complete jackass.

[jfields 0]

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The sister is a complete jackass.

I think Chuck summed it up pretty well.

Hell, if I ever get hauled out of a bad situation by any vounteer or bystander, I'd be happy they tried, even if the end result was that I died in the end.

[kingbunky 3]

let me get this straight... the guy was a stuntman and a BASE jumper... one a vocation and the other a hobby, both of which mean the participant puts him/herself at more risk than the average person, and his sister wants to sue someone who tried to save his ass because they didn't have rocket boosters up their butts to enable them to scale a cliff quick enough. is this woman american?

"Hang on a sec, the young'uns are throwin' beer cans at a golf cart."
MB4252 TDS699
killing threads since 2001

[ernokaikkonen 0]

>is this woman american?

My first thought exactly(apologies to all the level-headed americans). But no, I understand she's british.

Erno

[FallRate 0]

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But no, I understand she's british.

She must have a cable feed for the Fox Network!

FallRate

[Remster 30]

Unfortunatly, British society is just one step behind the US one....

Just a few days ago, schools were banning kids from doing hand stands for fear of them getting injured, and doing daisy chains for fear of spreading germs.... but dont blame the schools, they are only reacting to stupid parents' compalints.....

Remster

[skreamer 1]

Hmmm yes, the coroner says the following :

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In my view there should be serious concerns about whether the jump should have been made in changeable conditions

So, he chose to jump in those conditions and now somehow the rescue team is to blame for this??? You only need to look at how many of the fjord BASE fatalities are foreigners to understand why the Norwegians are getting (rightfully!) fucked off. This sort of thing will only bring in legislation and mess up BASE jumping for them in their own country.

Will

[Jasmin 0]

I have nothing but respect for the Nordies, and a total lack of it for dumb profiteering cows like the aforementioned.
BASE jumping is virtually illegal here and I agree with the reasoning behind it, but not the means by which they try to alay their concerns.
A mate died in Norway 3 years back and they searched for his body for 7 days. In the end his body was brought down by a climber, months later. My tutor told me the first 2 years of BASE jumping were about surviving, the statistics backed him up.
If you're going to BASE jump, you must be prepared to deal with the consequences, and likewise your family should be prepared to del with whatever the consequences of your actions may be.

xj

"I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

[TomAiello 26]

Bivar,

Do you know if there is a legal defense fund for the rescuers, and if so, where donations could be made?

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[fasterfaller 0]

That is total bullshit . ALL rescue workers need to be exempt from bullshit lawsuits .

[TomAiello 26]

I wrote this piece in the wake of another BASE fatality, with similar family actions after the fact. I'll repost it here. If you are a BASE jumper, I urge you to read and consider this, as well as the complete thread of responses to it:

http://www.blincmagazine.com/cgi-bin/forum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=2650&forum=board

These kinds of legal (and other) actions are the reason that many responsible BASE jumpers have left signed (and often notarized) letters to their family and friends explaining their motivations for BASE jumping, and taking full responsibility for any (and all) outcome of their decisions.

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

Death.pdf

[bivar 0]

No, I don't think there are any such fund.

Bi

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[bivar 0]

Basejumping to be banned in Norway?
The news now (I am referring to to norwegian newspapers) is that the sister of the BASE jumper who died, want the rescueworkers, some policeofficers and a helicopterpilot charged with involuntary manslaughter. She also want BASE jumping to be banned in Norway, because her brothers death "was barbaricly evil, on the boundary to mental and physical terror".
She also wants to bring this case to the european human rights court in Strasbourg, if the case is beeing dismissed in norwegian courts.
She says that: "it is clear that he (her broter) was under the impression that help would only be minutes away if an accident accured".

I do not know what to say... This is just sad, very sad.

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[ernokaikkonen 0]

>She also want BASE jumping to be banned in Norway, because
>her brothers death "was barbaricly evil, on the boundary to mental
> and physical terror".

>She says that: "it is clear that he (her broter) was under the
> impression that help would only be minutes away if an accident
>accured".

Un-freaking-believeable. Just leaves me plain speechless.

Erno