When impaled by something, be it pole or knife, it is usually best to not pull it out because it kind of keeps it plugged to some extent. Also, if the right picture shows him impaled it doesn't look like it hit any bigger blood vessel or pierce the lung.

Source: I am a First Responder at my work and was MFAP B in the German army

Is detail pointless? Guess that must be a twitter generation thing.

"I understand you were impaled but we have a few more stops before we get you to the hospital."

My mom was on Medicare here in the US (the insurance that the disabled and elderly get, that Bernie based his single payer plan off of expanding). Her bowel ruptured, several hours in the ER, 1 hour helicopter ride, 30 days in the ICU, a few days in a step down, an ambulance ride 2 hours back to her house.

Never got a bill for it.

But nooooo, it'd be so horrible if all Americans had access to that.

Here in Slovenia tourists with inappropriate mountaneering equipment constantly get hurt in the mountains and are rescued by helicopter without having to pay for anything.

That's fucked up, man... The time has come for violent protest. We need to organise and stop this bullshit. Half decent coffee in a healthcare setting is a human right.

Not overly related but I rarely hear of STARS. At one point our school (grades 7-12)did a 24 hour relay marathon for STARS (no idea on money that was raised), but being a fat kid I was support crew making sure people were ready for their lap had water etc. They didn't technically budget the support people sleeping time or spots to sleep. I slept in the closest bathroom since it was done in a city park, but not long or often. Though runners will still up about every hour for their lap (probably 10-15min or so run been awhile) which I'd have hated more anyways.

Overall I think it was still good to put effort for STARS but you wouldn't have heard me saying that at the time.

It sounds like the hiker was reasonably qualified, and had a device to contact emergency services if things changed (assuming he was still able to use them). Certainly not the choice I'd make, but my qualifications are much different.

Nephew got bit by a tick while on an island in Stockholm's archipelago. Developed a ring around the bite. Rather than have them wait for 3 hours to take the boat, or even get a taxi boat, a helicopter had him at the hospital and under care within an hour. For that and two nights in the hospital, they got charged nothing.

When he was released, he was on his way back to the helipad to get a ride back to the island and we had to explain to him that we were gonna need to get the bus/boat.

Which makes sense really. Socialized networks shouldn’t have to absorb the cost of people seeking a dangerous thrill. In the end it comes down to whether you want to treat the cancer of a couple children, or save a rich guy from a mountain and the consequences of his own poor decisions?

False dichotomy; we can do both a thousand times over if we taxed a single rich person properly.

They do cover rescue costs, but only up to a certain limit.

You can get a temporary (and affordable) travel insurance which can cover special activities in the mountains.

If you don't have such an insurance and need a helicopter rescue, the cost will not be as high as in the US, but can still be thousands of euros.