Some of it is voluntary, some of it paid. The friends I've got who volunteer are either part of the Lifeboat crew or Coastguard cliff rescue team. But lifeguards are paid, and so are the Helicopter crew.
Not sure about banging people up lol, but yeah there's a case to be made for repeat offenders to be charged. Trouble is, it will likely be people who are skint anyway and could never afford to pay the bill.
Why not I say. I've always suffered with problems around my MH, if I gave any indication I would harm myself particularly when in my youth, you'd get locked up for your own safety (don't know if that's still a thing). So why not people that put themselves in harms way through irresponsibilty. Although the lack of prison places these days, they'd probably just ban you from the pub instead.
Also those stupid ****s who try and climb mountains they’re nowhere near capable of. Some Dutch vegan tried to do Everest fairly recently to prove, in her words, vegans could do anything. She died. Sherpa had to carry her corpse to base camp to get flown home. Someone in her group who also died was attempting it for the fifth time having failed each time before.
sadly NHS mental health services have been badly neglected. They do an amazing job with the resource they have still, but could do more. Feels like they are under pressure to push medication rather than help/treatment due to cutbacks.
A lot of dickheads trying the 3 peaks challenge ill prepared, mountain rescue are seeing a record number of incidents happening, up 400% in some areas and are getting sick and tired of their lives put at risk through the actions of idiots, one rescuer calling for a charge to be made in incidents where people are putting the resources to breaking point in places, where theyre going ill prepared. Scafell rescue team called out on 8 occasions in one weekend alone back in may, the team stating 6 of them were preventable, 2 were bad ankle injuries, which can happen anywhere and are accepted as long as people are wearing the correct footwear. One incident a few years back, 4 friends decided to do Ben Nevis on Boxing morning, it was -20 with a wind chill making it -32 on top, they were wearing trainers, and just normal winter jackets, no winter wear whatsoever one even in jeans, needless to say they had to be rescued, the mountain leader was furious with them, stating they'd have died of hypothermia probably within the hour, he went as far as to call them morons in the local paper and said they needed charging for the rescue.
Like the RNLI I believe these are all volunteers? crazy that when the conditions are the worst, both are called on to risk their own lives to save others. time to look at getting government funding for these services.