Woman has an accident

Intoxication on the Rauschkogel: who pays for the operation now?

It gets really expensive when the air rescue has to be paid for.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

A recent case of a heavily intoxicated woman on the - how could it be otherwise - Rauschkogel in Styria raises questions about costs. The mountain rescue service charges for every operation.

Even if it's not actually a laughing matter, a rescue operation on New Year's Eve in Hochsteiermark caused a smile behind closed doors. As reported, mountain rescuers and air rescuers had to rescue a woman from Graz in a drunken stupor on the Rauschkogel near Turnau, of all places.

Crashed in a drunken stupor
According to the police, the 47-year-old woman and a companion (64) must have drunk large quantities of high-proof spirits at the summit. During the descent, the heavily intoxicated woman fell and was left with a bleeding head injury. Alpine police, mountain rescue and an emergency helicopter were called out and rescued the hiker.

Will the insurance pay?
Now, due to the current situation, there is once again a heated debate: Who pays for this operation? "The Styrian Mountain Rescue Service charges the accident victim for every operation", says its spokesperson Enrico Radaelli. The decisive and, depending on the case, individual question is how the accident victim is insured and whether the costs of the operation are covered. Anyone who is a member of an alpine club or has private accident insurance should generally get everything back.

However, if alcohol is involved, there is a good chance that the insurance company will pull out. And that can be expensive: A standard mountain rescue operation alone can cost between 3,000 and 10,000 euros, and in the case of a helicopter operation, it gets even more expensive ...

Incidentally, the income that mountain rescuers earn from their missions goes entirely towards equipment, materials or vehicles - all mountain rescuers in Styria work on a voluntary basis.