View topic - Emergency evacuate fees

I recently injured myself (broken ankle) on a canoe trip, upper portion of the Petawawa river. I was fortunate to be with a bunch of great competent people in my group and it was on the last portage to the waiting vehicles
My question is if this had happened earlier in the trip where there were no roads and a helicopter was required to get me out, am I stuck with the bill? or is this covered by OHIP?
thanx
jim

As a prerequisite for the Yukon River Quest canoe/kayak race, all entrants are required to show documentation that they have sufficient health insurance, valid in Canada, to include coverage for emergency helicopter extraction. Even so, Each C1/K1 and C/K22 boat captain is charged a $500 credit card hold deposit, $1000 for C4-voyageur canoes, to be credited back at the end of the race if extraction was not required. There was one K2 women's team team that needed such an extraction for medical reasons only 100 miles from the finish of the 440 mile race a couple of weeks ago.

I believe it is covered by the Ontario Search and Rescue system. If you called them in without a valid reason, or multiple times then you might get charged, but for a valid emergency it is covered by the government.

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shearjoy Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. Thich Nhat Hanh

^^^^This ^^^^

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"It's healthy to be dirty" - Lars Monsen

Yup, it's covered. Had to medivac a kid out once on the helicopter. Very highly trained people on board. Makes me fairly angry when I hear of someone calling in the helicopter because they lost a paddle or some other inane reason.

I recently went through a lengthy exchange with my insurance provider about this - and the short answer is yes it is covered by OHIP.

In terms of buying insurance for going abroad - e.g the hike in the Adirondacks that we take the Scouts on every year - as long as there are no harnesses and ropes required in your climbing most cheap out-of-country insurance policies will cover medivac from the top of a mountain or whatever.

That is to say if you are just hiking up a mountain you are covered. If you have ropes and harnesses and doing that kind of climbing, you need a much more expensive policy.